Birthdays

** Please note this page is being edited and will look much more inviting once finished.

On this page, I have collected various bits of information; from ideas on what to do for certain ages, venues, entertainers and cake makers [KT1] .

Some General Thoughts

Throwing your little ones’ birthday party is usually both exciting and exhausting. For my daughter’s first two birthdays, we held the parties at home. After all, their first birthday in particular really is for the parents, family and close friends.

After my daughter’s second birthday celebration at home when one of my friends told me she had rescued my playroom wall from a child who was hitting it with a bus and making dents on it I thought it was time to do something outside of the house for the next few years. You will get to a point when you feel it is fine to do it at home again, but until then, here are some tips.

One general thought: Many children become overwhelmed at their own parties and while they might be having an absolute ball at other children’s birthday parties, they might not enjoy their own. This can happen at the party or just when everyone sings Happy Birthday to them. Our nanny always used to practice singing Happy Birthday with our daughter when she was really little. Funnily enough, my daughter who is an absolute social butterfly, who loved all her birthday parties and never had a bad reaction, suddenly got very self-conscious when presented with the cake and being sung happy birthday to for her fourth birthday party. For some reason she didn’t like it and since then she has not wanted to celebrate her birthday. She told me she doesn’t like to be the centre of attention.

Gifts & Invitations

KinderGifts[1] is a great initiative that helps you manage your invitations as well as presents for your child and you can raise money for charities at the same time.

Since my daughter was 5 years old, we have always asked for a donation to a chosen charity instead of presents. It started when one of her friends at school needed to raise money towards a very specific treatment for neuroblastoma cancer. My daughter wanted to help ‘buy her medicine’ – it was her idea. I was so proud of her and ever since then we have continued doing that and are now doing the same with our son. I felt it was a good way of introducing my children to the concept of giving back. KinderGifts[2] makes this a very easy thing to do.

If your child is in nursery school or school the custom here is that you invite everyone in your child’s class.

Birthday Party Tips for Various Ages – Some Ideas from My Own Children and Their Friends

1st Birthday

This is definitely the birthday party for the parents! We had ours at home and invited our friends as well as our daughter’s little ones.

2nd Birthday

The lovely and energetic Anita of Caterpillar Music[3] is a perfect entertainer for this age group.

3rd Birthday

For my daughter’s third birthday, and for the majority of her friends, this party was celebrated at Rascals Softplay[4] in Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre[5] followed by food and cake in the cafe across from the reception area. We have also been to some parties at Treetops Softplay[6] in Talacre Community Sports Centre[7] in Kentish Town. Doing soft play at this age is popular as children like to run around and are mostly big enough that they can cope with climbing etc themselves. Please note these venues tend to book up months in advance and that you need to book the soft play and cafe separately at Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre.

Another popular softplay centre nearby is Hullabaloo[8] at The Sheriff Centre[9] in West Hampstead where many birthday parties take place.

I have also been to birthday parties given by Creative Movements[10] and Amanda’s Action Club[11] and my children had lots of fun.

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4th & 5th Birthday

Tarka[12], Sharky & George[13], Latino Bambino[14], Playball[15] and Mr Marvel[16] are often great options for these ages

6^th & 7th Birthday

For my daughter’s 6th birthday party, it was all about bowling. We hired the King Pin Suite at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes[17] and everyone loved it! It was so fantastic that my husband and I threw a big adult party there ourselves.

Some also organise ice skating partiesat Queens[18] or Planet Ice[19] , pottery making parties at Art 4 Fun[20] and art parties at Mini Picassos[21].

Mad Science[22], Mother Nature Science[23] and Little House of Science[24] are also great for this age group and up.

Pizza making parties are always successful and fun. Pizza Express[25] offers them in some of their branches as does Franco Manca[26].

The A Academy[27] do fantastic football parties. My son had a blast at his football party with The A Academy.

8th Birthday Parties

Many of the above suggestions tend to still be popular with this age group as are rock-climbing, sleep-over and cinema parties. Odeon[28] and Vue[29] do them, but the most popular ones I have come across are by Everyman Cinema[30].

From age 8+ it seems children mostly want to do small parties like sleepover ones or taking their closest friends to the cinema.

Venues

There are quite a few church halls you can hire. Locally, most church halls like St Mark’s Church[31] and Church of Our Lady[32] are available to hire, but worth bearing in mind that noise levels become almost unbearable with just a few children and adults there (and this is before any potential entertainment has started) and especially since some children really don’t do well with noisy environments. Some pubsandrestaurants have function rooms you can hire.

Below are some other local venues.

b_together[33] on St John’s Wood High Street are worth checking with.

The lovely Crocker’s Folly[34] here in St John’s Wood do fabulous food and you can also throw parties there. You would have to get your own entertainer and if you want a specific cake, you have to organise that too, but that is easy. Everything else, they can do for you.

Pizza Express[35] on Abbey Road offers private rooms upstairs and is a popular venue.

Food & Cakes

Cool Kids Table[36] are able to cater for parties.

Unico[37] has a variety of food (sweet and savoury) to help you with catering.

Belsize Cake Shop[38] is run by one of my very good friends. She makes not just beautiful cakes – they are works of art – but also delicious ones.

Csilla of Fairy Godmother’s Cakery[39] has baked for me since 2015. She has created cakes for both adults and children.

One of our mums, Ruchi of Ruchi’s Artisanal Bakes[40], makes wonderful cakes.

Decorations & Event Planning

Rossa of Rossa Events[41] is one of our mums and she creates beautiful stories and scenes for parties.

Rossa Events.

Photographer

Jeanette Rauch Photography[42] does a wide array of shoots including birthdays. She has done a lot of work for me including many of the official photos for the NW8-mums’ website.

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Waldemar Zimny[43] is a London based photographer with 20 years of experience covering all types of photography works from big to small. He has done event photos for NW8-mums too. Please contact Waldemar[44] to discuss a package that best suits you and your budget.

[1] https://www.kindergifts.co.uk/

[2] https://www.kindergifts.co.uk/

[3] https://www.caterpillarmusic.com/class-leaders/anita-anand

[4] https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/camden/swiss-cottage-leisure-centre/1f1f5277-a089-48fc-a23a-b7a183ccdf81

[5] https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/camden/swiss-cottage-leisure-centre

[6] https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/camden/talacre-community-sports-centre/1618c306-f039-4cc2-b8f7-9f86b27b3c53

[7] https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/camden/talacre-community-sports-centre

[8] https://thesherriffcentre.co.uk/things-to-do/hullabaloo/

[9] https://thesherriffcentre.co.uk/

[10] https://www.creativemovements.co.uk/

[11] https://amandasactionclub.co.uk/parties/

[12] https://www.tarkalondon.com/