Affordable 3Rd Birthday Party Ideas

I agree about trying the park districts to see if you can rent a space. Elk Grove has a great park district facility with an indoor playground and carousel, but I don't know if you really have enough kids to justify it. My friend had a party there, and she rented the space (don't know the cost) and ordered the pizza and cake herself. She also probably had almost 100 people- the place is huge. Check your own park district first because the cost is probably lower for residents. Good luck!

Hi M.,

Check out my website, www.kidwinks.com. We list over 100 birthday party places in the Chicagoland area in the Services section. Here's the link to the exact url: http://www.kidwinks.com/ForKids/KidsParty/.

If you become a member of kidwinks, which is free, you can sort these 100+ results in order of distance from your house.

Kidwinks.com is a resource for parents in the Chicago area looking for kid-friendly events, activities, restaurants, shops and services (like birthday party places!). In the restaurants section, you'll find our Kids Eat Free Calendar, where you can click on a day and get a list of restaurants offering kids' dining deals (like "kids eat free") for that day. Check it out!

Hope this helps,

J.

Hi M.-

I know you said that you tried Chuck E Cheese, but I always found them very affordable, and the best thing about them is that (at least they did when my kids were little) was that they would let you have a minimum of 4 guests, where most places have a minimum of 8, 10, or 12. It was nice when my kids were little and we were only inviting cousins. I also had a party for my son at Cerny Park in Warrenville. They have a large covered area with pinic tables, a playground, a BBall court and a baseball diamond. We played games, had Little Ceasers Pizza (super cheap) and cupcakes. You could probably do the same thing at the Riverwalk in Naperville. They have a nice park behind Centennial Beach with a covered area and a playground. Good Luck

Check out your park district or the Y. I know the Downers Grove park district and Indian Boundary Y (59th and Main in DG) offer birthday parties, but I don't know the cost.

Maybe look at some local park districts. Some do have age requirements. I have not done this yet but I think this may be what I use for future parties. Good luck.

You can try the park distircts but they are probably going to be booked at this date. One thing you could consider is bowling. I had checked it out for my kids birthday--ended up not having a party--and it was $34 for a game/alley and 5 people per alley. You can order pizza to be delivered there. But check with the bowling alley about the pizza because 2 I checked said I would have to order theirs. A 3 yr can bowl, just ask them to assign the bumpers to that one's position/name. We went bowling with the kids for the first time when they were 4 and they had a great time.