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Party Kingdom in Karepiro Drive, Whangaparaoa, is a colourful place filled with opportunities for children to climb, slide, run and jump about.
The walls feature imaginative murals created by local artist Stu Duval – everything from a large red octopus to backdrops for themed party rooms. The ball pit contains 8000 balls.
Presiding over this ‘kingdom’ are Adam and Eve Dickinson, who have two children of their own and also a wealth of professional experience with youngsters.
Kindergarten teacher Eve says opening Party Kingdom has given her free rein with the decorations and she is enjoying taking time to make each of the four party rooms look festive and fun.
“I wanted to carry on working with children, and Party Kingdom gives me all the fun bits,” Eve says.
Adam also runs Playball, which teaches pre-sports skills to children, so he is well used to running around with kids.
“Kids learn while they play and fun activities are so important,” he says.
He says that he and Eve, who moved to Stanmore Bay two years ago, are “massively kid and family orientated”. They have kept things at Party Kingdom compact, for easy supervision and designed their pricing and hours to work for local families – currently the busiest time is the 9am–11am “coffee morning” where it costs $10 for a coffee and playtime on the equipment. Families can bring their own food.
In the weekends, the party rooms have been keeping the little ones happy – there are several room designs to choose from and options such as bringing your own food or having the party fully catered.
Coffee and cold drinks are available, with a healthy twist – the chip fryer is banned and drinks are mainly juice rather than fizzy.
New equipment will be introduced from time to time in the play area to keep it interesting and the couple also plan to offer a selection of healthy snacks.
“Before we opened, we were driving to places like this in Albany,” Adam says. “Party Kingdom was put to the test by our own kids and they came out smiling. Our three-year-old, Lucas, thinks the whole place is his own castle.”
