Do you remember being a kid and letting your imagination run wild? When I was five, I used to decorate my room and have Carnival costume parties with my dolls. As I grew older, my brother and I would pretend to be in Disney World and would have our own pretend vacations. As a mother, I turned our basement into Bikini Bottom one year and Radiator Springs the next year. That is the vision behind our parties - to let your child's imagination drive their birthday. Thank you for choosing ideaventions™ for your next party.
- Juliana Heitz, Co-Founder
Balloons and music? Check. Imaginations running wild? Yup. Science and technology? Of course! Celebrate your child’s birthday or any other party in our bright and spacious science center, an ideal place for birthday fun. All our parties are driven by a story, tying each science and engineering activity together with an exciting theme. The children might be wizards from Hogwarts mixing up potions that bubble and smoke. Or they might be Jedi Knights steering robotic cars across the treacherous terrain of Tatooine. No matter what the theme, their imagination is nurtured by exploring a range of activities led by ideaventions™ Laboratory Leaders. And no one leaves empty-handed because every guest takes home an ideaventions™ water bottle.
Stepping foot into our science center transforms children into spies, archaeologists, fairy princesses and more. With about a dozen themes, we have lots of options to choose from. Want to tweak a party plan? Just ask! We are happy to customize the themes depending on the age range of the guests, the size of the party and/or if the birthday child (or parent) has special requests. The age range for the activities listed below is from about 5 to 11, but some of the listed activities may correspond to the younger side of the range and some to the older side of the age range.
Our standard themes are: Ancient Egypt (and Ancient Civilizations Alternative), Construction, Cars, Dinosaurs, Fairy Magic, Pirates, Robotics, Space, Secret Agent, Spa, Undersea, Veterinarian and Whodunit?
We love to customize parties! Please email info@ideaventions.com with questions or your requests. We have done Ninjago, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Dinosaur Train, Penguins of Madagascar and Thomas the Train Engine parties, among others. We have a great time with custom themes!
Walk like an Egyptian into the ancient world of pyramids, mummies and hidden artifacts.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they make a cartouche, a type of Egyptian nameplate.
Activity 1: Start the mummification process of an apple with us, which you can then finish at home over the course of one week. (For younger kids, we play a mummy game with toilet paper.)
Activity 2: Go on archeological dig using sand to excavate artifacts and jewels.
Activity 3: Explore a model tomb using Wii-controlled robots.
Discover the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians as you wander between different ancient civilizations.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they make a cartouche, a type of Egyptian hieroglyphics.Activity 1: The Roman Empire - Mount Vesuvius: Make a volcano and watch it erupt.
Activity 2: In ancient Egypt: Start the mummification of an apple with us, which you can then finish at home over the course of one week. (For younger kids, we play a mummy game with toilet paper.)
Activity 3: Ancient Greece - Mythology: Tell the story of Icarus and make a glider.
Activity 4: Roman Empire: Make a cast of the items buried by the volcano.
Let your creative juices flow and get your hands dirty with your construction crew of friends.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they play with construction toys.
Activity 1: Tallest Tower - Build the tallest tower using Keva planks.
Activity 2: Strongest Bridge- Using K'NEX to see whose bridge can hold the most weight.
Activity 3: Fastest Construction Site – Use NXT bulldozers to push your load.
Ready. Set. Go! Rev your party engines like Lightning McQueen or any other fast-paced car or train you can imagine.
Note: This party can be modified depending on the age of the guests. We have done Hot Wheels and Cars parties, or general automotive.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they play with Hot Wheels or Shake and Go cars around track.
Sample activities for younger children:
Activity 1: Design and race cars using K'NEX.
Activity 2: Pair up and build from Pixar Cars DUPLO kits.
Activity 3: Decorate and launch rocket-powered cars.
Sample activities for older children:
Activity 1: MINDSTOM Robot track races.
Activity 2: Pair up and build from Pixar Cars LEGO kits.
Activity 3: Examine alternative power for cars - solar or stirling.
Discover fossils and clues as you learn about a time millions of years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they create their own dinosaur scene with stickers.
Activity 1: Fossil Dig for dinosaur "bones" and fossils.
Activity 2: Make and erupt your own volcano.
Activity 3: Examine pond life with microscopes and discuss underwater life in the time of the dinosaurs.
Activity 3 alternate for younger children: Model fossils using mini dinosaurs and clay.
Once upon a time, elves, fairies and dragons wandered the earth. Use your powers to conjure up a magical time in this party.
Note: This party can be tailored to be gender-neutral by becoming a fairy and elf party.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they create their crowns to wear throughout the party.
Activity 1: Check to see if the Nature Fairies all have their powers by mixing magic color-changing potions.
Activity 2: We need to fly faster than the dragon – build a flying fairy with an Alka-Seltzer rocket.
Activity 3: Explore pond life under microscopes to search for underwater allies in the battle against the dragon.
Arrr matey, we’ll launch our trusty ships into the seven seas to search for treasure and learn a thing or two about fending off enemies from our loot.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they do a pirate-themed craft.
Activity 1: We learn about ship building by building a simple ship and blow the ships across a stormy sea.
Activity 2: We build a "pop cannon" and launch cannons at a rival band of pirates.
Activity 3: We learn to navigate then hunt for treasure around the seven seas (Scavenger hunt), which leads us to the Treasure.
Build and program remote-controlled robots that compete against each other in our version of a robotics challenge.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they build a habitat for micro robotic creatures with Hexbug Nanos.
Activity 1: WiiBots: Using Nintendo Wiimotes and LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics kits, we will compete in a remote control robotics challenge. Create, program and race robotic vehicles through an obstacle course.
Activity 2: Sumobots: Design LEGO MINDSTORMS robots to compete in a traditional Japanese sumo match - where the goal is to push another robot out of the sumo ring and avoid falling out. Learn to program light sensors to detect the edge of the sumo ring. Whose sumobot will be the last one in the ring?
Note: This party works well with older children.
In the outer regions of space, rangers will train and complete important missions filled with intergalactic fun.
Gathering activity: As guests arrive, they learn about Martian terrain and build a volcano.
Activity 1: Build and launch alka-seltzer rockets or pop rockets.
Activity 2: Build asteroid blaster air cannons to fire at targets.
Activity 3: Explore Martian terrain with a robot.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is a crash course on what it takes to be a secret agent. All agents-in-training are tested on their new, highly classified skills.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they check in at the "lie detector" set up, get our codenames that are written in invisible ink, and make badges.
Activity 1: Build and launch missiles using Alka-Seltzer rockets. They are "tested" to see whose goes the farthest.
Activity 2: Build a flying helicopter with Snap Circuits. Secret agents are "tested" to see if they can make it fly.
Activity 3: Control a robot to diffuse bombs (pop balloons with the robots).
Grab your goggles and come to our very own spa lab. We use our senses to create our very own set of products to take home.
Gathering activity: As guests arrive, they get their goggles and test bubble bath.
Activity 1: Make glycerin soap.
Activity 2: What's your scent? Mix some colors and scents for the best lotion in town.
Activity 3: Make bath fizz.
Note: This party works well with older children.
Dive deep into the mysterious and expansive world just below the surface of our ponds and oceans, looking for creatures that inhabit the murky depths.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, they do a fish craft activity.
Activity 1: Discover Atlantis using LEGO kits.
Activity 2: Use microscopes to examine pond water for traces of underwater life.
Activity 3: Sand dig for shells, underwater fossils and treasure.
Bring your favorite stuffed animals and grab a stethoscope to explore the wonderful world of canines, crickets, fleas and lots more.
Gathering activity: As guests arrive, they create an animal craft from a kit.
Activity 1: Examine their (pretend) animals with toy stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors, and more, to use to "examine" the stuffed animals they bring (we'll have extra animals on hand in case anyone forgets).
Activity 2: Build a habitat for a cricket or pretend animal.
Activity 3: Make collars/check in items for their pets.
Just the facts, ma’am. Become a private sleuth uncovering clues, analyzing evidence and solving crimes.
Gathering activity: As the guests arrive, perform a chemical analysis of the soil found around the crime scene.
Activity 1: Practice taking fingerprints and then analyze suspicious prints and hair found near the scene of the crime.
Activity 2: Go on a scavenger hunt to find balloons with clues in them. Once the balloons are popped, the kids have to work together to piece the clues.
Activity 3: Return to the crime scene and perform further analysis to see how the suspect escaped undetected.