Children's birthday party resources

Taiwan Parenting
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We are just starting to plan a birthday party for our daughter, she will be 4yo, but it will be her 1st birthday (born on 29th Feb), so we want to make it special…

At the moment we are starting from a blank piece of paper, however we are looking for a venue, food, party supplies, entertainer, etc.

If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to post them here. One thing we are really interested in finding is an entertainer suitable for young kids… We were thinking someone who can make balloon animals, etc. Wife thinks a magician though i think the kids would be too young to appreciate that.

I will also post any useful contacts/details we find which may help anyone else… hope this can become a useful resource…

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I’ll also include details of the party shop. They have stores all over Taiwan, and are a good place to pick up things like balloons, party bags, etc. They offer a lot more than that. Try visiting the site party store or go to their store behing the zhongxiao fuxing Sogo.

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Connel, I was just at that party shop you recommended in January. Not as large a selection as back home, of course, but a start! And if you want the works you can order at Birthday Express in the US.

Florida Bakery (the one in my neighborhood at least) on Zhong Shan N. Road Section 3 has a small selection of party goods from the US and some really nice candles for the top of your cake. Not much of a selection but if it’s a very small party, and if it’s more convenience, you can pick up a set of plates/napkins/cups for about NT600/8 people, or about 350-450 for 8 plates + napkins.

Picked up a Party Box catalog at the Community Services Center in Tianmu. Their website and catalog are in Chinese but you could try giving them a call to see if you can order by phone. The catalog says, “We speak English!” 2834-8642 or 03-280-6809 service@partybox.com.tw

I have a friend who does children’s party entertainment. She is Taiwanese and speaks English well enough (if that’s important to anyone) to keep kids entertained and having a blast. She used to work for Gymboree, now teaches “Lasy Children’s Engineering” and kids LOVE her. Call Amy if you’re interested at 0953-806-797. She also does balloon animals. I can’t remember her hourly rate, but estimate 1000-1500/hour. Also keep in mind that if you have a lot of kids at a party, balloon animals can easily take up a lot of time.

Just remembered a few possible party venues:

My Story Island also does birthday parties. The minimum is NT10,000 if I remember correctly and you’re able to bring food, and your guests enjoy the storytelling. When a friend and I visited them in December they said the space was suitable for about 50 people.

There’s also Playspace. I believe they also have a minimum of NT10,000 or so to book the space for your party but food is not allowed. If you like Playspace though you might be able to ask if you can have cake in the little snack area.

Party rooms available at these play places too, I think:

Tom Dragon

Yu Kids Island In Taipei there are locations in Neihu and Tianmu.

Things change so quickly in Taipei though, so call for details!

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Here’s another party supply resource, courtesy of users of the Family Forum at Parent Pages:

Her name is May and you can email her at partysupp AT yahoo DOT com

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I’ve been to parties at both MyStoryIsland (near Dun Hua S Road/Chung Hsiao E Road) and Yu Kids Island (in DaZhi) and both were really great.

MyStoryIsland has three different areas and they can provide an interactive storytelling experience in English or Chinese for the kids.

Yu Kids Island is more like a gym playspace that the hyperactive kids can run around in. My friend booked the back room for privacy and do the food and cake there.

For a 1 year old’s party, a fun thing that MyStoryIsland did was the “grabbing game” that you could do at home yourself. You place a bunch of random different things that represent various professions, like say a book for a teacher, a toy instrument for musician, a calculator for engineer, etc, and see which one your little one crawls to. It’s pretty funny and I think a tradition here.