Planning a birthday party for your kid can be a surprisingly stressful task. Between the budget (big or small?), the guest list (just family? Close friends? Their whole class?) and the theme (do we like sharks or dinosaurs more this year?), there are a lot of factors to make your kid’s birthday one to remember. While I love an in-home birthday, the last thing I want to do after a busy summer is clean up after fifteen 5-year olds. Luckily, there are plenty of places all over the Northland to host your kiddo’s celebration, with options for all types of budgets and age ranges.
Show Your Artistic Side
Orange Easel, the art school for kids, offers birthday parties with a ton of different activities so you can find the right one for the birthday kid. From unicorn crafts to dinosaur themes, there’s something for anyone at both their Platte Woods and Liberty locations — and you can rest easy knowing that your carpet is safe from paint spills.
Tumble Time
There are lots of different gymnastics studios that rent out their spaces for parties. Mercury Gymnastics and The Edge (both their Smithville and Riverside locations) offer birthday party rentals, which include decor, paper goods, an activity, and best of all — clean-up.
All Aboard!
If you’ve got a train lover in the house and happen to have a birthday that falls between May and October, you can rent out the Northland fave, the Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad near Line Creek for a party by the hour.
Bounce Off the Walls
Luckily, the Northland has lots of indoor playgrounds that are perfect for a birthday party, no matter the season. Above All Trampoline Park rents out spaces for parties, as well as its neighbor, Fun Run. Rush Funplex, with its indoor laser tag, foam pit, bowling alley, arcade and go karts also has rooms for parties and is perfect for preteens and younger kids alike.
Carousel Museum Leavenworth
If you’re looking for something a little unique, you can rent out the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth. They have a party room and children can enjoy rides on the restored carousel that’s over 100 years old.
Rock On
If you feel like your kids are climbing the walls at home, let them do it somewhere else. The RoKC climbing gym in North Town has birthday party packages that include rock climbing orientation, a party room, gear rental and paper goods for up to 10 climbers.
Go Natural
If you’ve got an outdoorsy kid on your hands, they’ll love the birthday parties at Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary, which include one of their staff members leading a nature-theme craft with the party-goers.
Big Birthday with the Big Screen
If you want to go really big with a party, you can rent out an entire theater at Kansas City’s B&B Theatres for your kiddo’s birthday to enjoy a private screening just for your group.