Creativity Takes the Cake for ‘90s Birthday Bashes : Celebrate: ‘Affairs to remember’ for children range from woodworking parties to kiddie makeovers.

Conspicuous consumption can’t hold a candle to creativity when it comes to celebrating a child’s birthday in the ‘90s.

Even the most extravagant parents have gotten away from the idea that having money to burn makes a child’s party cool, according to Deborah Ruth of Sherman Oaks, whose son, David, recently observed his fourth birthday.

“Those wildly extravagant parties where people would spend thousands of dollars were a symptom of the ‘80s,” she said, “and those times are mostly gone.”

Now parents take their children to the park or host a back-yarder, and upscaling means doing the zoo, bowling alley, skating rink, movies or Chuck E. Cheese’s.

But for parents who want to throw their children at least one “affair to remember,” there are some new acts, as well as old favorites, on the party scene.

Some of the selections, in the $50 to $200 bracket, include:

* A karate party.

* A home hayride.

* Ponies and a petting zoo.

* A woodworking party.

* A “let’s put on a Broadway show” party.

* A beauty salon make-over party.

* A ballet dancing party.

* An aerobics party.

* A miniature-golf-course-in-your-back-yard party.

But, according to child-care professionals, there is nothing that says dollars in the multiple hundreds make a party perfect.

“Your child’s best party may be the one where there are just a few kids and they do almost nothing,” said Barbara Card, enrichment teacher for kindergarten through fourth grade at St. Michael & All Angels Parish School in North Hollywood.

Of course, there is just so much time that can be spent eating ice cream and cake before the noise level starts elevating, so having entertainment is not a bad idea, according to the educator.

“I like the idea of children having new educational experiences, and much of the entertainment currently being offered seems to provide just that,” Card said.

And with some ingenuity, it isn’t necessary to spend hundreds of dollars to provide it.

Many children attending public school are not being exposed to the theater, music, museums, zoos or other events that used to be a part of everyone’s education, Card said.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea to look at some of the many events being offered around the city, then choose one that fits your budget and your child’s age group and interests.”

Card said she is not opposed to children having ponies or more elaborate entertainment if the parents can comfortably provide it--”as long as the program is appropriate to the age group and the child isn’t overwhelmed.”

Clowns and magicians still seem to be the entertainment of choice for the preschool set, judging by the classified ad section of L. A. Parent magazine.

However, psychologist Kenneth B. Fried of Sherman Oaks warns that for many young children, clowns can be frightening.

“My sister asked me if a clown was appropriate at my niece’s second birthday party, and it was my opinion she would have been scared to death,” he said.

Fried solved the entertainment problem by being the entertainment himself.

“I didn’t wear a costume or even a red nose. All I did was blow bubbles, and the children loved it,” he said.

For parents of children old enough not to be frightened by a clown, fees can range from $10 per hour (for your nephew Kevin) to $100 an hour for the high-end talent.

North Hollywood’s Artie Parti, a kiddie birthday party entertainer for the stars, charges $150 for 90 minutes during which he will juggle, clown, and do magic and games.

When you consider that the price for a fast-food birthday festivity (hamburger, fries, a soft drink) for 20 kids is $70, Artie, who has legally changed his last name to Parti, starts to look slightly more reasonable.

Parti was working as a recreation leader for the Beverly Hills Department of Recreation and Parks in 1982 when a woman asked him to put on a red nose and be funny in celebration of her child’s birthday.

Ten years later, he is still clowning around, performing for the kids of Danny DeVito, Candice Bergen and Chevy Chase. He said he is often scheduled from year to year, and he’s booked solid as far as two months in advance.

“The kids love him,” said Deborah Ruth, who hired Parti for two of her son David’s parties. “He makes sure the parents enjoy themselves, and you can depend on him.”

For the most recent event, Ruth negotiated a payment of $100 for one hour. She provided finger food for adults as well as cake and ice cream.

The children liked the juggling, balloon animals and magic, but they were most excited by the real parachute that Parti brought and showed them how to play over, under, around and with.

The kids were enthusiastic and well-behaved, nothing like the Children from Hell, for whom he has performed.

But only once.

“If there are too many kids, or they are out of control and the parents don’t have a clue about controlling them,” Parti said, “none of the children will have a good time, and I don’t go back to that situation.”

There is a rule of thumb that parents should invite only as many children as the birthday child is old.

Fried said he finds that rule a little rigid, but added that the idea is good. He said parents should remember that the child’s party should be for the child, and if there are too many guests, the birthday child will be lost in the crowd.

At the Little Rascals Children’s Hairstyling salon in Chatsworth, a new fad in playing grown-up was in evidence one recent Sunday.

Samar Afshar, who was soon to be 10, was being stared at by her 9-year-old friend, Rose Ghavami.

“You are going to be gorgeous,” Rose said as she watched the birthday girl get what is known in the modeling biz as “hair and makeup.”

Samar’s powder-blue eyes were being decorated with green and mauve shadow, and her straight, reddish-gold hair was being gently curled. Her tiny little-girl fingernails had been painted a rosy shade of pink that was echoed in light touches of lipstick on her pre-pubescent lips.

Sixteen of Samar’s fifth-grade friends--from both her old school, Wilbur Avenue, and present school, Meadow Oaks--eagerly awaited their turn, along with several family friends.

To jaded adults, this curious activity might look like a casting call for the remake of “Pretty Baby.”

Or worse.

For the party celebrants, who oohed and ahhed each girl’s transformation, the event was, according to one guest, “the absolute best.”

Samar’s mother, Zara Afshar, said she learned about this new rage in girls’ parties from a friend.

The friend, she said, “told me that her daughter had been to a party at Little Rascals where all the girls got to have hair and makeup done. It sounded like a young girl’s dream, sort of playing dress-up, so I booked this party for Samar.”

Little Rascals charged $150 for 15 youngsters, with an additional fee for each child over that number. There was also a $35 fee for setting up and cleaning up the pizza and cake that Afshar had brought.

The tab for Afshar ran about $250. She says it was a special, once-in-a-lifetime occasion that her daughter will probably remember all her life.

Although today’s kids can have a command performance of a whole range of entertainment, psychologists are quick to point out that the money spent, or elaborate preparations, seldom add up to a good time.

Nevertheless, there are some special performances that seem to have lasting appeal, which for the little ones translates into clowns, magicians and ponies.

Kathy Stone of Prancing Ponies in Gorman has been providing animals to private parties at local homes for almost 10 years.

She charges $100 for one pony for an hour, and has a birthday special that includes a clown and two ponies for two hours for $200.

She will also bring a petting zoo to your home that includes eight to 10 farm animals, such as chickens, ducks, sheep, bunnies and pigs, and a pony for the children to ride, all for $150 for an hour.

She can supply a covered wagon with a team of ponies for $200 for the first hour, or a hayride on a 4-by-8-foot wagon for $175 for the first hour.

For parents looking for a cartoon character to visit their child’s party, there are places that will answer the call for between $40 and $100 an hour.

For example, a parent looking for a theme or a particular character can come into Kiddie Antics in Sherman Oaks to scan videos of previous parties and characters, among them the Ninja Turtles, Peter Pan, a mermaid, Mickey or Minnie, or Big Bird. The shop supplies the character for $150 for 90 minutes.

For the youthfully stage-struck, both Broadway Birthdays, headquartered in North Hollywood, and Kids on Stage, in Woodland Hills, can make your child a star for a day.

“What we do at the party is basically rehearse and put on a show,” said acting coach Ellen Hall Katz of Kids on Stage.

Katz, who often works at Disney Studios, said she can do musicals, fantasies or plays that she writes for the occasion for $100 and up, depending on the time involved.

For something just as theatrical but less demanding, there are vendors who will bring karaoke (sing-along) equipment to your home, for a two-hour $200 minimum.

Camarillo industrial arts teacher Don Law, a.k.a. Woody Woodworker, has outfitted a van with woodworking equipment and will spend an hour or more helping children work on a project of their choosing, anything from a spy plane model to a napkin holder. The cost for Woody Woodworker is $7 per child, with a minimum of 20 children, for a total of $140.

The folks who work children’s parties are a special breed, with the one characteristic universally shared being a sense of humor.

“The kids keep you on your toes and laughing,” Parti said, adding that it’s often the parents who cause problems.

Stone agrees about the parents, saying: “I’ve had parents put a tiny child on one of my ponies and then slapped the animal on the rear and yelled, ‘Giddyap!’ The ponies are all older and experienced and don’t lose their heads. Still, you have to wonder where on earth these people keep their brains.”

Stone, like Parti, is often called upon to do celebrity children parties, but her strangest experience came when she brought her animals to a mansion in Studio City.

“The child’s father decided that it was too hot for the ponies outside, so he asked me to walk them around the huge hallway in his house.”

The man told Stone that the ponies couldn’t hurt the marble floor, so not to worry if they had an accident.

The father also provided a miniature train, a Mickey Mouse-like character, a band, puppets and a rolling green lawn full of caterers for his daughter’s first birthday.

Stone says the child looked exhausted by the fuss.

Buzz Gunnarson of Kustom Concession Karts in Sylmar had a similar experience of overkill at a party he did for a 1-year-old.

Gunnarson’s catering trucks provide food from his brightly decorated carts for a variety of events, including movie shoots and birthday parties. Rent for a cart for a day--food and service not included--is $135.

For one party several years ago, during the era of heightened conspicuous consumption, Gunnarson and other concessionaires provided hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream, cotton candy, soft pretzels, snow cones, nachos, churros, birthday cake, pinball machines, a juggler, clown, trapeze artist, a professional umpire to referee a ball game, puppets, game booths and a money machine that occasionally blew out the real thing.

Gunnarson says the 1-year-old baby was terrified by the noise, activity and excitement of this 200-person blowout that he says probably cost nearly $50,000.

Instead of running up that kind of tab, parents should get a reality check, psychologist Fried said.