The Sassy Mama Guide To Planning The Ultimate Kids Party In Hong Kong: Part 2!

New year, new round of parties to plan! As we all know, here in HK, things move pretty fast; exciting new companies open (and close!) in the blink of an eye, and so we’ve updated our fab kids party planning guide for 2013 to feature the hottest new finds, as well as some tried and tested favourites.

 

A Better Way to Celebrate

Planning a party, but your little darling already has toys to the moon and back? Maybe you’re looking for a way to nurture their sense of social responsibility and sharing? Step forward Twopresents, a clever concept in gifting with a charity twist.

The idea is simple. Choose a card and blast out invitations to your guests that let them know you wish to share your celebration with a local charity. Instead of bringing a present to the party, your guests are invited to contribute money online. You donate a percentage of the funds pooled to your chosen charity and use the rest to buy a special present that your kids will love!

Your guests will thank you for saving them the hassle of shopping, and you can feel good about cutting back on all the waste that comes with gift wrapping and packaging. And the best part? A gift for you and a gift for charity. Sounds win-win-(win) to us! To learn more and to see the full list of charities your kids can support, check out the Twopresents website.

Home Entertainment

Chunky Onion has a great selection of roving entertainers on their books, offering a nice twist on the traditional clown show. Magicians, caricaturists, mime artists or comedy waiters will mingle with your guests throughout the party and entertain them for the duration.

Clowns.hk is a one-stop shop when it comes to finding your funyman. Featuring clowns, stilt-walkers, balloon artists and jugglers, the site acts as a booking portal for top HK jesters such as Jan the Amazing and Andy Comic.

If your wee guests just love to get loud (and you have very understanding neighbours) then Drum Jam makes for an exciting musical party activity. They’ll provide drumming sessions for your group at any venue, no matter the size.

Got a garden, mama? Then you definitely need a bouncy castle and Hong Kong Toy Club can hook you up with a rental for the day. If bouncing isn’t your their thing, then they also have ball polls, ride-ons, tents and tunnels for hire.

How about a party where the adults get to relax while the kids get to work in the kitchen? Sounds too good to be true, but book a KIDchen party by Kit Lin and you’ll be lounging on the couch with a glass of vino while Kit helps them cook up a storm.  If a typical underendowed HK kitchen cramps your party style, Kit can provide all the tools, aprons, ingredients and even the oven. Best of all; there’s zero clean-up afterwards as all the mess is whisked away at the end of the party!

Run by HK Mama Adele Nervo, Kid Fun HK offers creative face and arm painting for children’s parties across Hong Kong. Adele also offers balloon twisting and even costumed appearances. Need Snow White at your next party? Adele’s your lady!

Get them busy making their own party bag mementos with a Panda Pottery ceramic decorating party. There are moneyboxes, plates, bowls and a range of other ceramics to decorate, so they can unleash their inner artists to create something beautiful and practical.

With a background in Children’s Theatre and Education, the entertainers at Rumple and Friends certainly know their stuff. They offer a totally tailor-made, themed show for each child, ensuring that your kid definitely won’t have seen the exact same thing at little Johnny’s party two weeks ago!

If your sophisticated tween is more into beautifying than bouncing, a mobile Sparty from Sparadise could tick the boxes. Trained beauty therapists will attend your event and provide junior manis, pedis and facials, using the gentlest organic and natural products around.

Twinkle Dance Studio will host a dance party at your venue, providing props and music for the group, as well as special party bags to take home. You pick the music, with previous themes including Gaga, Justin Bieber (squeal!), and High School Musical.

There’s more face painting and kid-friendly themed nail art on offer at Yan’s Face Painting. In addition to being able to turn a room full of excitable five year olds into roaring tigers at the flick of her brush, Yan can also help with party planning services, including photography.

 

Venues

Let them get messy on someone else’s watch at Artful Kids! Creative party ideas for kids aged 2 plus include making party hats, mural painting and sculpting, and activities are tailored to age and interests. Bring your own refreshments, or have the party catered, and make the most of any good weather on the day outside on the studio’s lovely terrace.

With over 1000 parties to their name, and counting, Kennedy Town’s Fun Zone definitely makes our list. For an indoor party, you can’t go wrong with over 10,000 sq ft of play space, dedicated party rooms and free Wifi and a café for the grownups.

Fusion Kids Parties are held at Fusion’s Academy of Performing Arts’ Happy Valley studio, offering a spacious venue for a dance party. Trained instructors will help your kids carve out a full dance routine to their favourite song, and can also include drama games and face painting on request.

Want a tropical paradise party? Will Lantau do? Palm Beach in Cheung Sha have a whole host of outdoor fun and games for partygoers from 3 to adult. Spread the fun over a whole weekend by hosting a camp at the awesome tepee village or a beach barbie at the club.

PLAY, an indoor snowboard and ski slope in Kwun Tong, will fully customise a party for your child, with instructors on hand to help them navigate the indoor dry slopes, including a stationery slope for absolute beginners and littlies. If they’re more pitcher than boarder, PLAY also offer indoor baseball and softball training, with all equipment available to hire.

Dance your way down to Sheung Wan where they can throw shapes to their hearts’ content at Rockababy’s huge indoor venue. Focusing on music in play, this funky firm also provide an on-site stage area, sensory rooms and a drawing wall to entertain your mini-ravers.

Cakes & Catering

Jamie first told us all about him here, and we still can’t get enough of Ankrish Gidwani, AKA, Baking Maniac! Ignoring for a moment the fact that baking prodigy Ankrish is just 16 years old, his heavenly range of cakes, cookies, chocolates and pastries are both delicious and fully customisable. With an extensive range of gluten-free, vegan and eggless recipes in addition to his standard menu, this should be your first port of call when hosting kids with specific dietary needs.

Cake-A-Licious can create a custom cake for any party, and their photosheet cakes are a charming personal touch for the birthday boy or girl. Their website has an extensive gallery of past creations, so is great for providing iced inspiration!

The kids’ party menu at Delicious is packed with classics, but made with care, using the freshest and healthiest ingredients. It may say burger on the menu, but this is definitely not the golden arches!  There’s also a tailor-made menu option available.

Go Gourmet are the catering arm of the ever-fabulous Magnolia Private Kitchen, so if Deep-South comfort food is what your kids crave then you know you’re onto a good thing here.

For a touch of sophistication, check out Mrs B’s Cakery. The playful and pretty designs include a pastel rainbow-layered chiffon cake layered with cream and fruit.

For a truly personalised cake, how about the birthday boy or girl immortalised in sugar? Japneet Chahal at Party Mate Cakes is an expert in sugar art and can craft something that guests will still be talking about at next year’s bash. (Check out the photo gallery on Facebook for the awesome Jay-Z and Kanye West cake!)

Shamrock Catering catered over 500 kids parties in 2011 so we reckon they count a safe pair of hands! They’ve got all the kid-friendly tucker you’ll need with some fun twists (Ants on Sticks, anyone?) If you’re after a chocolate fountain or candy floss machine, Shamrock will deliver.

How about a BBQ? Tastee Gourmet will fix you up with all the trimmings for a great grill. No more burnt sausages! If your wee one isn’t so keen on the barbie idea, they also offer western and Asian catering options.

The Sugar Factory will whip up personalised birthday cakes, cupcake towers, cookies, cake pops, brownies and pies, and will work with you to create the cake of your dreams!

For super-cute personalised sweets, we love Whimsical Cakes. Their (almost) too-pretty-to-eat creations are a perfect centrepiece to your table.

 

Invites

Printed on 100% recycled paper using soy ink, these invites by Miss Green Party Queen will earn them eco-cred in the schoolyard. Packs contain both invites and thank you cards, so they have no excuse not to send those notes!

Greener still is a kids’ party invitation from Paperless Post. With over 200 stylish and customisable designs to choose from, there is definitely something to suit everyone.

For stylish party invites that will mark you out as a chic kind of mama (and who doesn’t want that?!) check out Petit Bazaar’s flagship kids boutique on Gough Street. There’s also bunting and other decorations to be found in this treasure trove.

Décor and Favours

There’s nothing more exciting to kids than chocolate. Unless it’s personalised chocolate, that is! Choco-YOU is HK’s very first customised handmade chocolate company and with over 100 ingredients to choose from, you won’t be short on inspiration for your favours.

Sassy Mama Discount: We’ve got a special discount on ChocoYOU chocolate bars just for you! Simply enter the code SASSYJAN13 until 31 January 2013 at checkout to receive 10% off your order.

If a party just isn’t a party unless they’re bashing the living daylights out of something, Discovery Bay’s DB Party Lovers can find you the Piñata of your dreams. They also stock a range of balloons and party bags for all occasions.

Cute-as-a-button party bags from Jellybean will send their pals home happy. Just choose a main gift and they will add a small toy, pen, pencil, eraser, sticker and (of course), jellybeans. Bags are designed to match the party’s theme and are sealed with personalised labels.

Papabubble make yummy rock candy and lollipops with all-natural fruity flavours, then package them up in cute retro jars that can be personalised with the guests’ names.

Simply Love’s party boutique in Lan Kwai Fong is stuffed to the gills with gorgeous décor, tableware, balloons and accessories, making this an easy place to stock up if you’re opting for a themed bash.

For everything personalised, check out Stuck on You selection of labels, stationery and even personalised books (great for party bags!)

How about custom cookies as party favours? Sweet Secrets will create a design to your specification and can even bake photo-cookies for the party bags.  They deliver all over Hong Kong, or pop into their stores on Graham Street, Central or Canal Street in Causeway Bay.

 

Need more inspiration?

Just want to hand all your kiddos’ party arrangements off to a professional? We’ve got the ladies for you! Give Sweet Soirees a call – they’re event planner extraordinaires and our go-to party-planning company!

Take a peek at Part 1 of our Ultimate Kids Party Guide, and browse our comprehensive Directory featuring a whole party bag-full of great ideas for hosting a memorable bash for your little one!