Winter birthday? Try these fun indoor party ideas

The fun part about kids having a wintertime birthday: School is in session, so the birthday boys and girls probably are wished a happy birthday on the school loudspeaker in the morning announcements. A star for the day.
The bad news: In the Albany, New York, area, it’s generally cold and snowy, so figuring out how to celebrate gets a little trickier than in the warmer months. Just what kind of party can you throw that takes the elements out of the equation?

There are a number of fun ways that range from little cost to a little more costly, from at home to at a special spot.
To start, there’s always the basic slumber party, an inexpensive event where you invite a small group of your child’s friends to your home on a weekend night. Experts recommend limiting the guest list to five. From there, plan a full evening: food, a movie, cookie decorating, a “spa night” with fun hand creams and nail polish for the girls, maybe video games or knee hockey, if you’ve got the space, for the boys.

For the older kids, who undoubtedly will be bringing a smartphone to the party, set up a fun photo booth with props so they can capture silly pictures with their friends on their phones. It's all about making memories.

Chris Nease, founding editor of the website Celebrations At Home, likes to embrace winter by creating a cozy party with a theme of warming up. One of her favorite ideas, according to care.com, is to set up a tent in the middle of the living room and make s'mores with hot cocoa. She also likes going with a luau theme, complete with leis, hula skirts and coconuts.

If you want to move beyond a house slumber party to celebrate a winter birthday, here are some suggestions from experts via care.com:

• Hotel slumber party: Want to avoid the cleanup at home? Consider hosting a sleepover in a hotel. Reserve a room at a suite-style hotel where you can find rooms for less than $100. While you’re at it, make it a swimming party. Although it’s cold outside, most suite-style hotels have indoor pools and meeting facilities, perfect for a winter pool party. A parent, of course, will stay with the kids.
• Lego party: Set up plastic buckets of assorted Legos for kids who like to create their own masterpieces. Create a Lego-themed party with Lego cut-outs, a Lego cake and even play hide-the-Lego games.
• Top Chef party: A party where kids create their own meal is fun and easy, plus you can adapt this theme to accommodate children of all ages. Make it a pizza party with already prepared dough divided into small balls. Set out bowls of grated cheese, sauce and assorted toppings -- then leave the rest of the work to the kids. Make invitations that look like menus and give everyone their own chef hats, aprons and wooden spoons for party favors.

If you want to get sporty with your indoor winter party, you could try bowling at such places as Spare Time Entertainment in Clifton Park -- for a real challenge, don’t use the bumpers! -- or the trampolines and colorful big slides at Billy Beez at Crossgates Mall in Albany. There’s also soccer, flag football, dodgeball and the Bounce Zone at Afrim’s Sports in Colonie. That’s just for starters. An internet search will lead you to a number of fun, party-ready facilities in our area.
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Don’t let the snow and cold be a deterrent to a fun birthday party. Wintertime options abound in the Capital Region!