bowling alley bday party

[beerlover]

Just thought I'd crowdsource here to see if there's anything I'm not thinking of to bring to my DS's birthday party at a bowling alley on Sunday. I'm making a Walmart pickup order of stuff I need.

We have about 12 people, two lanes reserved. If I recall correctly in this space there's round tables behind the lanes to sit and eat.

I'm allowed to bring my own snacks and dessert, so I have cupcakes and sugar cookies (DS doesn't like cake) plus a big box of the mixed Frito Lay individual snacks (chips, pretzels, Doritos, etc.) Other food has to be purchased at the facility, so we'll order pizzas there for lunch.

I was thinking a couple of birthday tablecloths to designate our area, plus birthday plates + napkins for the dessert. I also have some birthday hats (IDK, they were a buck at Walmart so I threw those in lol).

I'm not sure if I can hang anything up, and I'm not a big decorator anyway, but I know I have a happy birthday banner in the attic so I can bring one along in case there's somewhere to hang it.

What else would you bring? A friend mentioned extra socks in case kids come in flip flops, so I'll do that. Just wondering if I'm missing anything.

[dcn]

That all seems good to me!

[momin2013]

Extra socks is a good idea. Maybe a pump hand sanitizer so the kids can use it before snacking?

I think you’re good otherwise! Are you doing favours?

[scm1011]

Is it 12 kids? I’d reserve a 3rd lane if so. Otherwise it sounds good! DS has done bowling alley parties and they’re always a big hit

[mcppalmbeach]

How old are the kids? Are they likely to have bowled before? I’ve been to tons of bowling parties and only one wasn’t great and easy. The kids were pre-k age and had no clue what to do, obviously couldn’t put their names in the electronic system, kept getting out of order, etc. The mom was clueless and the dad immediately retreated to the bar lol. Another dad stepped up to get the kids organized and show the ones who didn’t know what to do what to do. So my only advice is if you have younger kids, you may need to be more involved! Make sure the lanes are pre set up with bumpers and the rolling assistant things if the kids are the ages where they will need those/

[beerlover]

mcppalmbeach , they're all 7 going on 8 so guessing they've bowled a time or two. My H is a former teacher/HS principal so I think we'll be alright on getting the kids organized!

scm1011 , I was counting my H and I in with the 12 and we won't bowl, probably just one of us just kinda be in each lane to help facilitate. So 10 kids. They said 6 to a lane though. They also said it's not a problem to add another one as Sundays aren't busy.

Sadly this bowling alley has no bar so that won't be a factor here lol.

momin2013 , I was not planning on favors, unless everyone thinks I'm an asshole for not providing them. It seems like most around these boards prefer no favors - I think it's been about 50/50 whether DS received favors at the bday parties he's attended. Thoughts?

[jennistarr1]

I assume you need to get drinks there?

[livinitup]

I vote no favors.

Your prep sounds as tight as a drum.

[momin2013]

Nope, definitely no need for favours - was just checking your possible ‘things to bring’ list.

[beerlover]

Aug 15, 2024 15:53:56 GMT -5 jennistarr1 said:

I assume you need to get drinks there?

Yeah, we’ll buy that too.

[lilac05]

I took a veggie tray to our bowling party. My mom made fun of me for trying to make the party healthier, but the kids devoured it. I now have veggies out at every party we have. (And I’m shocked every time at how much they eat! I would have never touched a vegetable at a birthday party when I was a kid!) It’s definitely not necessary, though.

[beerlover]

lilac05, the owner of the bowling alley kinda made it sound like they required all food to be purchased there, with the exception of chips/pretzels and the dessert, or I'd totally do that!

[polarbearfans]

Aug 17, 2024 8:26:41 GMT -5 beerlover said:

lilac05, the owner of the bowling alley kinda made it sound like they required all food to be purchased there, with the exception of chips/pretzels and the dessert, or I'd totally do that!

Veggies are a snack. I would totally do that and fruit. It is not like you are not buying food there.

[whattheheck]

I would either bring a garbage bag or make sure the bowling alley sets one up. Otherwise I see a million little chip bags all over lol.

And maybe baby wipes/hand wipes so the bowling ball holes don’t get full of Dorito dust.

[beerlover]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. The party was a hit! The kids had fun bowling. They didn't actually eat as much as I thought they would in terms of snacks and pizza but NBD to have leftovers of that. One thing that provided some extra fun was there was a jukebox there, so I bought a bunch of Touchtunes credits and played song requests from the kids from my phone. And since I didn't do favors, I let each kid pick some kind of candy from the snack shop (it was cheap and they were all asking for it so that quieted them down lol).

[momin2013]

Sounds like it was a great success - good job!