Hands-On Birthday Party Fun at SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium!
By Kerry Smith, Salt Lake City Editor for KidsOutAndAbout.com
What do a tortoise, a tarantula, a macaw, and a snake all have in common? They’re birthday party guests if you celebrate at SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium, located in the Layton Hills Mall.
Perfect for boys and girls, SeaQuest party packages offer tons of hands-on experiences to make your party one that will be remembered for years. Click here to see all that a VIP birthday party package includes. You can invite up to 30 guests, and the party atmosphere and entertainment is provided at the aquarium. Just supply any food or drinks you’d like, including cake and ice cream, and you’re set to go! Make it extra special and pay extra for a mermaid or pirate visit. Or just go and enjoy what the aquarium already has to offer.
My family recently celebrated my youngest son’s fifth birthday at SeaQuest. We invited neighborhood children, cousins, and Grandma. Because the children are still quite young, we invited a kid plus parent, which ended up being a smart move. We didn’t have to transport anyone, and being in a totally new environment, handling creepy-crawlies wasn’t too scary with a parent tagging along.
We arrived 15 minutes early for a quick set-up. There was a party before us and a slight delay before we could be accommodated. But SeaQuest staff members were on it! Bring on the snake . . . Yes, that got our attention! Surprisingly, my son agreed to hold this mammoth slitherer. It was a great diversion to the fact that we weren’t yet in the party room.
Birthday parties at SeaQuest are held in a special party room, right by a big pirate aquarium, so guests can visit those fish while waiting for everything to start. Our party guests came hungry, so we fed everyone pizza and soda right away. (SeaQuest allows you to bring in outside food for parties.) Once the meal was over, the kids were eager to start our critter visits. First on the agenda, a tarantula, which turned out to be kind of cute, in a creepy sort of way. She was fuzzy and soft. Most of the kids wanted to hold her. Some just wanted to look. Either way, it was fun.
Then this cute macaw paid us a visit. She talks and is kind of sassy, having her own opinion about what she wants to do. She kept flying from person to person, which seemed to be fine with everyone she landed on. In the end, she danced for us while we clapped a simple rhythm for her to follow. Super cute!
No matter how adorable the critters, though, the birthday boy always wants to open presents. So we did that next, while enjoying cake and ice cream. We oohed and aahed, and then it was time to explore the aquarium.
The neat thing about being the last party of the evening is that we had the aquarium to ourselves. We explored all the tanks and exhibits. My kids had been several times to SeaQuest and so had some of our guests. But some guests were less familiar with the aquarium, so we recommended two of our favorite activities: feeding the parakeets and stingrays.
To feed animals at the aquarium, you purchase tokens (about $2.50 each, but the price goes if you buy more), then exchange those tokens for little cups of food.
We fed shrimp to the stingrays. They always gobble up the pieces fast, making this a short encounter. But if you stick around the tank and act like you’re going to feed them more, they might come to the surface and let you pet them.
Then we fed birdseed to the parakeets. There are probably 100 birds in an aviary the size of a small room. We entered with our group and had such a fun time! Some of our kiddos were pretty nervous about this activity, but we soon heard lots of giggles and saw lots of smiles. Sometimes birds tickle a little when they land on your hands, arms, legs, or even head.
Patrick was our SeaQuest party host. He did such a great job checking in with us regularly to make sure we had everything needed. We were the last party for the evening, so he spent a little extra time with us and brought in a few extra animals. He didn’t realize until after the party, as I was filling out a questionnaire, that I was with KidsOutAndAbout. His customer service was genuine, and he really helped us to have a fun experience.
Overall, this SeaQuest interactive birthday party experience was fabulous! If you’re looking to splurge for a kid’s party, this is the place to do it. Everything is educational, and it’s such a great way for the kids to bond with activities they don’t get to do every day.
Visit SeaQuestAquariums.com to book your party today!
Kerry Smith, is a former editor and writer for the Ensign magazine. She enjoys getting “out and about” with her family. You can read more about how she helps others at mrsladywordsmith.com.