I don’t know about you, but birthday parties bring me a fair amount of anxiety. My family loves to celebrate, and we love parties.  But kid’s birthday parties, to me, bring an extra dose of exhaustion.  We live in a small house, so the question always begs – do we have it here?  How many kids do we  invite?  Will their parents fit, and if they don’t, how many kids can I actually watch at once?  Do I make the cake?   And then there is the trip to the party store for the decorations, the craft store for the activity materials  that I don’t plan until the days  before, and the food, and the party bags, and don’t forget to grab balloons the day of the party…    Before you know it, the cheap, easy little party you were planning has consumed your week and budget, and the kids haven’t even arrived yet.

Certainly we all LOVE to celebrate our little’s birthdays, and we want them have fun, memorable celebrations.  How do it and still stay sane?

We think we may have found the answer.

Did you know that our top ranked Madison Children’s Museum now offers birthday party packages?  BINGO!

Yep, there are a lot of different fun places around town that offer birthday party packages.  But I think that this one offers one of the best deals in town, hands down.     For a comparable price to other packages in town, you get:

• Museum admission for up to 12 children and their adults.    This might be enough right here – 12 kids playing at the Children’s Museum (arguably the most fun place in town and certainly the one that my kids ask for the most) AND their adults.  No more worry about whether or not you will be able to track down 12 squirrely kids, cause the adults can come for free.    Pick a time slot earlier in the day and those 12 kids and their adults can stay the rest of he day to explore the museum.  It’s like a giant free gift for your birthday party attendees.
• Birthday cupcakes and Beverages.  And guess what?  The cupcakes are made by Bean Sprouts Cafe, which means that it’s more than just yummy, it’s good for you, and YOU didn’t have to try and figure out how to hide the carrots or beets in the cake.
• A free Children’s Museum Tee for your kiddo.  (Happy Birthday from the Museum!)
• Tableware, Decorations, Set-up, Clean-up, Take down.  All of those details that aren’t exactly fun.  You didn’t have to bring a thing, and you don’t need to make a trip to the party store.   And you don’t need to clean up the green frosting your son smashed all over the floor.
• A “Funstigator” .  Which means you don’t necessarily have to be the life of the party and you can keep your clown nose at home.
• Lots of additional add-on options, including party bags, healthy snacks or lunch items, and party themes (complete with a cool activity – see the “Activity Party” heading, or voila, the “Cooking Party” heading!!)

A Half-Pint mom recently shared with us why they held their 7 year old daughter’s last party there.  “The new museum is her favorite place and we wanted to do something extra special for her this year and we knew she and her friends would have a very fun and memorable experience.”  What was her favorite part of the party?  “The whole thing was awesome, but I’d have to say that the scavenger hunt activity was really great. Emmie and her guests were detectives solving the mystery of the missing cupcakes by gathering clues scattered throughout the museum. The kids even made mustaches and detective badges for the hunt! They really ate it all up!”

(Aside – I don’t know about you,  but I can’t imagine how long it would take me to come up with a full scavenger hunt, and honestly, would I want my child and 11 of his friends running around my house unearthing Gosh only knows what finding things?  No thank you)

So on top of it already being a good deal…

When you come to Half-Pint Resale next week, you’ll be able to SCORE a $15 off-a-party coupon, thanks to the awesome generosity of the museum, a Half-Pint Resale Sponsor. Already a member at the museum – which I would personally recommend-  Get $25 off!

And for those of you who have been *thinking* about purchasing a membership, I personally can’t recommend it highly enough.  With so much to do for our entire family (even us) it’s become a favorite destination.  My almost-6 year old likes it as much – if not more – than our 2 year old, and I adore going because I feel artistically inspired every time I’m there.  I also personally love sitting at the bottom of the Hodgepodge Mahal.)   Between the classes, the discounts around town (which I didn’t even know about until today!) check out their prices online – and did you know that they offer reduced-fee memberships to people who qualify?)

So don’t forget to pick up your coupon when you are at the sale next week.  It will add an extra dose of thriftyness you can’t get anywhere else-

-EC