Looking for a fun and creative place to have your child’s next birthday party, well color me mine is just that place. We have a large variety pieces to choose from that we know your children will love. Birthday parties are up to 2 hours long.

The children paint for the first hour and then during their second hour they eat and open presents. It is $18.00 a child and the children can pick any item up to $12.00. The birthday child also gets a plate that his/her friends sign that day, and that comes in the party package free of charge. The birthday child must be 5 yrs or older. This is a fun party that every child should experience. And of course every child will have there piece of ceramic that will remind them of there event they attended.. Book your child’s next party today! All children have a creative side waiting to be seen.

We were rated readers choice 2009 one of the best of ocean county place for a childrens birthdy party for the Asbury Park Press….
732-864-9300 ∙•1877 Hooper Ave ∙ Toms River

Sparkle diva studios, the ultimate beauty birthday studio. Let your Birthday Diva experience pampering from head to toe, at the only exclusive mommy and me day spa and salon. At SDS we treat your little diva like the rock star or glamour girl she is! You will know the minute you enter our sparkling studio that you and your guests are in for the beauty experience of your lives. With many party packages to choose from, your diva can have pedi’s, mani’s, eye kandy, sparkle hair service and our NEW private sparkle facials. All of our party packages include: invites, thank you’s, beauty goodie bags, the pink carpet, our SDS Dazzle toast, Music, balloons, a full staff including a party host, as well as fun games and dancing! If you would like to pump up your party we have just the thing. Nothing screams rock star or glamour girl like the birthday girls own private white stretch limo pulling up for her and her crew to roll to the studio in! Another great service is our Wish List Registry. With our wish list the birthday girl can come to the studio and check out all of the hottest gifts any diva would love. She then creates her own private gift registry, that only her BFF’s can see and choose the perfect gift from. Now how’s that for Rock Royalty! One last thing, depending on the time of day we have many different food options. However no matter what time your party is, our Candy Butler Service is always a hit. Your party host will indulge your guests with silver trays of everyone’s favorite sweet treats, she will then finish her service off with the fluffiest pink cotton candy ever…. YUMMY! Visit our website today and book your little diva a beauty birthday experience she will never forget. www.sparkledivastudios.com
732-206-1100

Having a birthday this year? Of course you are, so why not book your next party at Shore Ballet School! With their amazing ideas they can personalize your theme and bring your vision to life. A dance class is great entertainment and gives your guests a chance to be involved, even if they have had no formal dance experience.   The director of the school, Chrissy Starr, does all the great party planning herself with that personal touch you can only receive from a homemade business. When her daughter and son came along, she started using the space for their parties, and that sparked her inspiration to start her popular “dance” birthdays. Partygoers adore Ms. Starr’s enthusiasm, and she has fun with the kids and loves introducing the true fundamentals of dance. Ms. Starr is a certified dance instructor. Her teacher training began in London, England when she attended and graduated from the prestigious Royal Ballet School.  It was there that she learned how to work with children of all ages and train students to dance in a safe age-appropriate manner.  Upon retuning to the U.S. she continued her studies obtaining more teaching certifications while still performing in ballets and musical theater productions. The party package includes set up of tables, chairs and goodie bags. It also includes clean up which is a big plus for busy parents! The party itself starts with a 30-minute class of your choosing: Ballet, Hip Hop, Acro or Broadway. For boys popular themes include Pirates and Rock-n-Roll. For girls, Disney Princesses and Ballerinas are top picks. After dancing, eating cake and singing “Happy Birthday” kids have more time for musical games and piñatas. Wanna dress up at your party? Of course, dress up is the rage! All costumes are encouraged and they enhance the mood of the party for everyone. Shore Ballet can even personalize a co-ed dance party for boys and girls. Together brothers, sisters, friends and cousins can have fanciful themes such as princesses & knights, Idol Pop Stars, and countless others.   The historic Shore Ballet building is a renovated church that is spacious and can accommodate up to 80 guests. They even host weddings and showers in their 56×30 foot hall that’s amazingly open with vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows. The school is easy to find and just minutes off Rt.37 East in Toms River. Chrissy Starr is proud to proclaim her school is not a franchise, but a family owned local business that has been in the Toms River area for 32 years. Her growing curriculum and party ideas are all original and her customers love that personal creativity. Her dance parties are just another way of inviting kids and parents into the world of theater and dance. For Ms. Starr, owning the school is not just a job, but a passion. She loves her vocation, and since starting the parties she has had the opportunity to celebrate special moments with numerous families!

By Tricia Berwick

These days, it seems like there are more party ideas for birthdays than ever before. With so many resources to choose from, it’s easy for moms to get overwhelmed in the planning process. However, selecting the right option for your child’s next birthday fiesta doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Before any preparations are made, decide if you would like to host the celebration at home or invite guests to your child’s favorite party place. Once this decision has been determined, the other details will automatically fall into place.

First, it’s best to figure out how many children will attend the party. If the birthday boy wants to have fun with his entire class and neighborhood friends, think about whether or not your home is large enough to comfortably accommodate this type of guest list. Even with a long list of family members and friends, Neptune mother of three, Aimee Lomerson decided to have her twin sons’ birthday party at home last year.

Check out more places to have your child’s birthday party.

“When trying to find a place to have a party, we always need to look into something that caters to a wide range of ages and can be suitable for boys and girls, since we have a lot of cousins within a few years of each other,” says Lomerson. “There are a few places that do this, like McDonald’s or indoor jungle gym places. But, once you have attended several parties at each of these places it becomes boring. And it’s very expensive. So for my boys’ fourth birthday we decided to have an at-home party. We didn’t have $350 to spend on a birthday party and we felt like the old-school home party is actually something new and exciting to many kids. Having it in a place has its perks – they usually do everything and all you have to do is send invitations and show up. That is great! But sometimes having fun with a theme and needing to be creative is also great.”

Once the Lomerson family decided to throw a home party, they created a plan to keep the kids busy and entertained. Having organized activities keeps the party flowing smoothly, the kids out of trouble, and the sanity of the parents maintained. To reduce her level of stress, Lomerson kept the menu simple so she could channel her energy and concentration into entertaining the children, which was her top priority.

“We knew that we would have a packed house and that we needed to care for adults as well as kids,” says Lomerson. “So we kept it simple with the food. We served a sandwich platter for adults and had kid-friendly foods that matched our combination Wiggles and Spider-Man themes, like ‘Dorothy the Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets,’ and ‘Spider-Man Macaroni and Cheese.’ After the kids ate, we had arts and crafts projects set up on a big table and then played ‘Wiggles Freeze Dance’ and ‘Pin the Web on Spider-Man’ using a Spider-Man poster and webs that I printed from the computer.”

If you have the time to plan activities and can accommodate the guests in your house, home parties can be very rewarding and meaningful for your child. All it takes is a little creativity and preparation ahead of time.

“A person can have lots of fun creating an at-home party,” says Lomerson. “The ideas you can find on the Internet are endless. And if you can afford to spend a little more, there are all types of fun parties to have in your home – carnival themes, a petting zoo and pony rides. I think that switching it up each year keeps it exciting.”

Another advantage to having an at-home party is that the schedule of younger siblings does not need to be affected. Whenever it is one of her older girls’ birthdays, Brick mother of four, Penny Chandler always chooses this option because it works better for her little ones.

“A big advantage to having a party at home is that babies can nap in their own cribs and they’re not off of their schedules,” says Chandler. “Also, at home you don’t have to worry about any of them slipping off with someone else. You know all of the kids are safely inside your house. Plus, the party can last as long as you want and you’re not restricted to how many children can be invited. The more the merrier!”

Of course, all of this sounds gre

at, but the important thing to realize is that after the party is over, all of the mess needs to be cleaned up—by you! This factor alone is the main reason Howell mother of three, Tracy Hill has all of her parties outside of the house.

“When my sons were younger, it was nice to have parties at home, because we mainly had family over,” says Hill. “But now that the twins just turned five and my younger son is three, I prefer having it somewhere where they can run around, play with their friends and I can simply enjoy watching them laugh and have fun and not worrying about cleaning up the house. Having three boys means finding a place that fits their high energy levels and lets them feel special playing somewhere new. We are home every day so having a birthday party at the house seems like the same old routine. Plus, having it outside the house usually means a meal, the cake, and goody bags may be included. That’s one less thing for mom to worry about! The kids seem to really enjoy being at a birthday party and playing with new things and taking part in different activities.

If you decide that having the party out is your best bet, look into hosting the celebration at a park, family fun center or restaurant. If you’re not sure of what may be a hit with the kiddies, ask friends and family members for ideas about which places deserve a call and which ones you should seriously avoid. Most birthday party establishments offer discounts for weekday events,

so it might be worth it to plan the party on a Tuesday and save a few dollars. The beauty of having the party out is that other people will take care of the activities and food, but you should still be able to infuse some of your child’s theme into the event.

So, grab your calendar, pick a date and begin the planning process. Remember to include your children in the party details, too. Who knows? Your child could surprise you altogether and choose not to have a party—either at home or at a favorite place.

“This year we skipped a party all together and gave the kids the option to go to Great Wolf Lodge in Pennsylvania instead,” says Lomerson. “They were thrilled! Variety is the spice of life!”