Birthday Party Guide: Themes & Venues For An NYC Celebration

Super Soccer Stars

When it comes to birthdays, everyone wants to make their child’s dream a reality and make their birthday celebration unforgettable in every way! NYC offers such an incredible menu of birthday party options that there is a venue and theme for anything your child can imagine. You can give your child a party they will always remember and that guests are sure to enjoy as well. Not sure where to begin? Check out our guide here!

Ultimate Playgrounds

Make your kid’s biggest birthday dreams of playing in an ultimate indoor playground come true. At the Playroom NYC, your child chooses the theme for their birthday party and has access to a massive indoor playground. Kids can play in the indoor gym maze, dress-up room, train table area, grocery bodega or baby play room. It will be a birthday beyond their wildest dreams! From a 1,500-square-ft indoor playground and CitiGym to live entertainment, Citibabes has exciting, entertaining, and enjoyable birthday parties from a Day at the Circus to Princess and Pirate Parties (plus they can bring the party to you with their Parties To-Go)! apple seeds’ all-inclusive indoor playground parties are chock-full of fun because you pick your favorite birthday theme and let them do all the rest.

Crafty & Creative Parties

Let your birthday girl or boy’s creative genius shine through at one of these amazing art parties. Paint the town in sizzling style with a party at the Craft Studio. There are parties for kids of all ages with crafts suitable for babies to teens! Choose from a scavenger hunt party, a black light bulb dance party, or paint chocolate houses and flower pots. There are tons of outstanding options to choose from, and the Craft Studio will help your child dream up just about anything they want. And Craft Studio To Go offers options for parents throwing parties outside of the studio as well. At the Art Farm in the City, your little party animal will enjoy a petting zoo, music, art, and themes like treasure hunt, exotic animals and farm foodies. Kids at Art’s Arty Parties start with all children painting a mural followed by an art project tailored to your child’s interests like decorating backpacks, treasure boxes or pajamas. Tie Dye Town hosts totally tubular tie-dye and tie-dye slime birthdays. Young ones will have a blast rolling up their sleeves and diving into an assortment of goopy, gooey, and slimy materials to make beautiful tie dye t-shirts and messy foam paint pictures.

Cozy’s Cuts for Kids

Athletic Adventurers

Is your little tiger a future professional athlete? Let your bundle of athletic energy have a winning party at Kids in Sports. It is your one stop shop for custom sports parties for every interest and skill level. With options including sports carnivals, obstacle courses, relays and more, Kids in Sports will jam pack a party full of sports action, sending guests home happy (and tired). Keep your athlete and their friends active and cheerful at Asphalt Green, where you can get wet and wild with a pool party! Parties are filled with super-charged sports and activities. Super Soccer Stars’ birthday parties are kickin’ with soccer activities that can even be customized with superhero or princess themes. Yorkville Youth Athletic Association can do combination sports parties or create your own from variations of games like ultimate Frisbee or old school street games.

All Dolled Up

Your daughter will be the queen of the birthday castle at Let’s Dress Up!. Fill her special day with magic and splendor with a Cupcake, Princess, Mermaid, “Frozen” or Red Carpet party. Each party includes full dress up, a tea party served on beautiful theme related dishes and linens, themed party favors, framed individual photos for each guest and a darling group photo! Celebrate your child’s distinct sense of style with a party at Cozy’s Cuts for Kids. Get the VIP treatment your glamazon deserves with the Beauty Bash Deluxe, including hair styling, braids, beads, mini manicures, makeup application and art. Oh, and of course a tiara for the glamorous birthday girl. Let Classic Kids Photography roll out the red carpet for your child’s celebration. Parties include private use of their studio, music, hair and makeup stylists, goody bags, decorations, and a photographer to catch it all. To bring these picture perfect moments to life, they design a custom album capturing every birthday party moment.

Center Stage

Ready for a birthday performance of a lifetime? At Ballet Academy East your little prima ballerina’s birthday begins with a fun warm-up that leads into a personalized class with a festive birthday theme. The children dance a beautiful ballet birthday story narrated by the teacher and each dancer receives a crown or wand to dance with and keep. A Premium TADA! Youth Theater party incorporates musical theater activities, exclusive use of TADA!’s rehearsal studio and tickets for up to 25 kids to see a TADA! Original Musical with a personalized birthday song performed by the cast and a photo opportunity on stage with the cast at the end of the show! The JCC Manhattan is another popular spot for kids’ birthday parties. Choose a favorite JCC activity like hip hop and turn it into a customized party with friends complete with a personalized play list, costumes and performance. It is sure to make your child’s birthday special in every way.

The Art Farm

Party Like A Mini Rock Star

Rock out with a mini pop star party at the Chord Club. Your little rock star and their entourage will enter the recording studio and learn to sing two pre-selected songs of the child’s choosing. Then, with help from party “Chord-inators” and a professional sound engineer, they will record these songs with the birthday rock star making a solo debut. Little Maestros offers fabulous birthday parties with Broadway-level entertainers for a high-energy customized performance that features instruments, puppets, bubbles and classic kids’ songs, original interactive songs and popular music. TLB Music’s Music & Play Parties are their signature singing parties—and the combo will be music to your ears. Just pick a theme from Jungle Boogie, Superhero, Baseball Bash, and more, and the staff will put together a personalized music class complete with a professional pianist. After your music class, you’ll have use of the entire TLB Playroom. At Symphony Space, choose the arts-themed Just Kidding Theater Party where pint-sized Broadway stars to-be are sure to love the festivities, including a show, music, birthday treats, and more.

Spin, Strike & Swing!

Looking for a swinging good time of a birthday party? Chelsea Piers‘ parties are action-packed with more sports and activities than anywhere else—a perfect party pick for kids of all ages. Whether they swing their hockey stick at the Sky Rink or swing their driver at the Golf Club, it’s always a blast! Put a new spin on your party at SPiN, where they offer a unique birthday party with a different type of swing—a ping pong paddle! Lucky Strike Lanes gets the birthday ball rolling with bowling, kid-sized shoes, low-weight balls, bumpers, rolling ramps and endless fun. Strike! Thinking of serving up a terrific tennis party for your champ? Advantage Tennis keeps the tennis ball rolling in the most fun direction, combining court time with tennis professionals and a great party in the lounge. From the courts to the clubhouse, Gotham Tennis Academy’s parties include an hour of tennis with their Certified Tennis Professionals, followed by an hour in the private party café where they will eat and celebrate. See you on the court!

Parties For Junior Olympians

For the perfect pint-sized Olympics-themed party, there are lots of wonderful options in NYC. Gymboree lets you choose your child’s favorite theme and create a private, personalized party experience filled with fun, especially for the 1-5 year-old set. Gymtime Rhythm & Glues‘ newly expanded, state-of-the-art gymnastics, sports and education center allows for endless fun, and their Gymtime mascot—Mr. Bananas—is sure to make your kid go bananas! Jodi’s Gym provides non-stop action where kids can play by swinging from the bars, balancing on the beam and tumbling, climbing, and squealing with birthday delight! For a swinging good time, let your birthday boy or girl channel Peter Pan and take a special ride in the flying birthday swing at MAGIC Activity Center. From up in the air, they can watch their best friends having a blast in the bounce house, trampoline, and giant gym below. Enjoy the exclusive and extensive facilities at NY Kids Club and find something to make everyone happy, especially parents—let them do it all for you with their All-Inclusive Package.

The Chord Club

Build, Create & Innovate

Pixel Academy’s Birthday Experiences are creative events where party-goers get to interact with advanced technology in original ways. The Minecraft Experience lets your child create and game together, playing in Minecraft VR, then experience a Minecraft-themed laser show and commemorate the experience with a customized laser-cut birthday card “signed” by all of the guests. ConstructionKids‘ birthday parties are designed for kids ages 4-8 and offer a variety of projects for those who love to build—cars, airplanes, boats, animals, dragons, flowers, or bugs. LAUNCH Math & Science Centers help you host a stimulating birthday party for your child with activities including Scratch programming, chemistry and physics projects, model airplanes/cars/boats, robot kits, and architectural creations. RoboFun’s birthdays are a robotic blast! Pick from LEGO robotics, scratch video game design, stop motion animation and minecraft activities. Have your budding scientist’s party at SciTech Kids. The signature party has kid chemists, outfitted in lab coats and safety goggles, enter the Mad Science laboratory to conduct two science experiments in a smoke-filled room made with dry ice. By the time pizza is served, they’ll be ready for their fuzzy, bubbly drink—served in a beaker!

Chic Celebrations

Let your birthday guru lead the way to a Karma Kids Yoga Spa Party. Enjoy flowing yoga and restorative poses with props and music along with aromatherapy, hand and foot massages, relaxation through visualization, henna tattoos and more. For the child who loves crafting, sewing, or fashion, a Pins & Needles birthday party is custom-designed for them! Whether making hand-sewn, machine-sewn, or other DIY project, kids will love showing off the applique pillows, infinity scarves, or cupcake purses that they’ve hand-made. Or host a party at Applike Couture, where guests create their own customized outfit, complete with headbands and t-shirts. With over 30 appliques and custom rhinestone letters and numbers, kids can make their own one-of-a-kind ensemble.

Jodi’s Gym

Romp & Play

Looking for the perfect party space to run, tumble, romp, and play? For Kids Only at Equinox Sports Club birthday parties are a simple solution for all your party needs. Activities include sports, rock-climbing, a toddler gym, dance, movement, art, music, carnival-style parties, and much more. Want to have birthday play both inside and out? Head to the 14th Street Y for a diverse menu of playful birthday bashes. You can play all day between the various indoor spaces and an outdoor roof. Have a birthday blast at Kidville in their Private Party Zone. Kids can pick from awesome themes, art table activities, and use their ginormous gym, plus parents can pick from two all-inclusive party packages or let Kidville’s party planning experts create a custom package that is just right for the family.

Sweet Sensation

CuRious Candy, by fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, offers a wide selection of parties from cookie castle making to animal show and tell. Your child will be on birthday cloud 9 surrounded by cotton candy cloud centerpieces and edible serving ware and countless candy confections. The Dylan’s Candy Bar Sweetie Pie Party has sugared up candy-inspired games and crafts, with candy decorations, a candy craft activity, two candy games, and the signature candy spree. Everyone is sure to be on a birthday sugar high! HiArt!’s Arty Parties bring life to the imaginative party of your child’s dreams. Host a candy sculpture party or plan a pretend pajama party, because anything is possible in the 2,500 square foot studio and gallery. Guests will enjoy custom making their own ice cream “messipe” with a party at CoolMess. It’s a delicious delight!

Where To Party In NYC