Best Place to Host a Kid's Birthday Party: This Week's Readers' Choice
Give us your tips on kid-friendly venues for birthday celebrations!
You could do it the old-fashioned way: bake a cake, decorate the house, buy ice cream, make a punch, set a festive table and put up a pinata.
But if you have your child's birthday party away from your home, you often can combine good food and a fun activity for a memorable occasion -- not to mention a little less stress for Mom or Dad.
So this week's Readers' Choice wants to know: Where's your favorite place to host a kid's birthday party? A local pizza joint? A kid-friendly gym? What about a tour of the local candy factory or ice cream parlor?
Beginning today -- Sunday, May 27 -- and through 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, we'll be asking for your recommendations for places to have a child's birthday party.
Give us your recommendation in the comments section below. With your help, we'll put together a list of nominees. Then look for our poll on Thursday, May 31 and vote! We'll select a winner at 5 p.m. Friday, June 1 and announce it in a story on Saturday, June 2.
In judging, we'll consider comments, poll votes and reviews in our complete directory of local businesses. Be sure to check out our contest rules in the PDF at right.
Shannon McKee
1:37 pm on Sunday, May 27, 2012
Many of the parties I've been to involve leaving Kent, actually. But, the best ones in town that my kids have attended have been at the Kent State Rec Center. Or at a local park like Plum Creek or Fred Fuller. I'm very curious to hear from others... Heavenly Cupcakes does a nice tea party.
Diane Gwyn
5:29 pm on Sunday, May 27, 2012
Kent Roosevelt High School has a great pool for kids parties. I like that the shallow end and deep end are in one pool. They have a great lifeguard team. They provide tables and chairs. All you have to bring is your refreshments. Very affordable.
BILL WHITE
4:53 pm on Monday, May 28, 2012
BILL WHITES AKRON LANES, NOT ONLY DO THE KIDS GET TO BOWL A GAME OR TWO,SHOES INCLUDED WITH A SLICE OF PIZZA AND A PITCHER OF SODA AND ALL TABLE SETTING PLUS THE BIRTHDAY KID GETS A HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOWLING PIN.
Carla Grow
7:37 pm on Monday, May 28, 2012
Kids Love Pony Parties in Suffield is only about 15 min. south of Kent. They have a party room in their barn, lots of activities for the children to do as well as ride a pony! Something different for the children and very kid-friendly.
Laurie Herington
10:04 am on Tuesday, May 29, 2012
My son just went to a skating party in Chagrin Falls. Not the closest location, but they all had a blast, which can be challenging when you're talking about 5th graders.
We too love using the Kent High School pool. We've done it several times now, and the staff is great! Friday nights are usually just parties, and it wears the kids out for the two or three friends they want to sleep-over afterwards.
I will be curious to see if there are any more mentions about Fred Fuller park. I was thinking of booking one of the indoor shelters for my daughter's 3rd birthday in the fall. The weather can be too unpredictable that time of year. And we will be giving her a puppet theater as her big gift and incouraging friends to bring puppets to add to the fun.
Matt Fredmonsky
10:07 am on Tuesday, May 29, 2012
I'm surprised no one's mentioned the ice arena at Kent State...
Shannon McKee
10:15 am on Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Ice Arena is good but it totally depends on the time of day. It can be chaos to keep track of kids if there is a hockey game or during evening hours. My 10-yr-old daughter had a hard time at an evening party because the older kids - high school and college - get there and pretty much take over the arena in the evening. Sadly, they run into and make fun of the younger kids.
Danielle Urban
3:05 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Acorn Alley is a great place to have a birthday party! There is us, (The Arctic Squirrel) to provide the ice cream and all the wonderful toppings, a perfect place for seating (The Earl's Nest),and a store that carries great gifts for prizes for games (Off The Wagon).