Active Kidz Long Island — Jericho
200 Robbins Lane
Are you looking for the ultimate challenge? The ninja warrior course packed with obstacles that will test party-goers' balance, coordination, strength and agility. Traditional floor-based sports won't cut it here. Try Aeroball, basketball mixed with volleyball—on a trampoline! The four-story adventure maze is one of the largest on Long Island. The virtual game galaxy transforms the floor into an interactive play space. In addition, you can also add Lazer Frenzy. A 20-foot rock climbing wall is ripe for scaling (tethered to an automatic belay system of course!) Picture your child Mission Impossible style, trying to navigate his/her way through a maze of laser beams. The goal of this game is to try and get over to the other side of the room as fast as you can without touching any beams. Are you up for the challenge?

The Adventure Park at Long Island — Wheatley Heights
75 Colonial Springs Road
Soar through the trees at this seasonal outdoor park. You'll find 10 trails of climbing and zip lining, and bridges that create dozens of challenges. Parties here include an option for two or three-hour climbing parties. Kids ages 7 and up are allowed to climb here. Food is not included. Note: There is an additional 30-minute orientation/safety briefing.

Head to The Gravity Vault for a climbing party that's sure to wear them out. Photo by the author.

The Gravity Vault — Melville
40 Melville Park Road
Host a birthday party with The Gravity Vault where children ages 5 and up can climb to new heights. Scale hundreds of courses while using the tethered belay system for safety. Be on the lookout for unusual climbing units on the walls, such as sports or animals. The rock climbing birthday party lasts for two hours, which includes 90 minutes of climbing and a half hour to celebrate in their party room. 

Karts Indoor Raceway — Ronkonkoma
701 Union Turnpike
This 27,000-square-foot facility with a track that has been designed by racing professionals makes this party pick perfect for your Mario Andretti! Indoor raceway electric karts have four different speeds to ensure the novice as well as the pro kart driver have fun, and they include four-point safety belts. Various packages include races but also laser tag and some food. They also offer a few package upgrades with black light Rollerball, which is mini bowling.

Laser Bounce — Levittown
2710 Hempstead Turnpike
Bouncers, bowling, laser tag and more can be found at this bounce house. Choose from a variety of combinations or focus on one. The party starts with 30 minutes of bouncing and many exciting inflatables where kids can hide, climb, slide and explore. This area is ideal for kids kids 2 to 12 years old. Ballocity is a multi-level climbing structure with foam launchers, slides and more. It's a soft area that is good for ages 2-12 as well. Laser tag offers targets, strobes, special-effect lighting and glow-in-the dark and black-light obstacles, making it best for the tween and teen crowd. Add-on mini bowling or hit the arcade for video games, basketball, skee ball, and carnival style games. All parties include tokens, two hours of fun, pizza, soda and juice, paper goods, set up and clean up, a host or hostess for the party, invites and a special surprise for the birthday child.   

Lazer Land of Long Island — Commack
54A Vanderbilt Motor Parkway
This 5,500-square-foot multilevel arena offers parties for children ages 6 and up, and it is action-packed! There's a sports stadium where dodge ball, soccer, t-ball, kickball, and Nerf hockey can be played, and if that isn’t enough to keep you entertained, there's an arcade, too. Consider the Mission to Mars party package with two 20 minute sessions of laser tag, an arcade card per guest, a free T-shirt for the birthday child, six parents play for free, a party host, a laser tag referee, pizza, unlimited soda and juice, paper goods, set-up and clean-up, and invites. There are many extras to choose from, including Lazer Frenzy, a balloon entertainer, glow package and party favors.   

Oil City Skate Park — Oceanside
3565 Maple Court
This indoor skate park—Long Island's only one—features a 12-foot vertical ramp, a six-foot and a half-pipe and indoor street course. Skateboarding is not the only sport featured at Oil City; rollerblading and BMX Biking are available, too. All parties include customized invitations, pizza, beverages and two hours in the skate park. Recommended for ages 5+.

Pole Position Raceway — Farmingdale
40 Daniel Street
This indoor go-kart racing park lets up to 10 children and adult drivers at a time compete in side-by-side racing on two separate, quarter-mile tracks. Kids must be at least 48 inches tall to race. The Rookie Package includes a standard race, pizza, soda, invitations, arcade card, private party room use and a free swag for the birthday honoree. Upgrades for more race time are available. They have four different party rooms that offer between 600 and 5,000 square feet of entertainment space. 

Slots-A-Lot — Franklin Square
1100 Hempstead Turnpike
Children 4 years and up can experience the thrill of racing without any of the risks involved. At Slots-A-Lot raceway, kids race remote-controlled cars and exclusive use of selected track. Birthday packages include an hour of racing and entertainment, a race director to teach the children how to drive the cars, pizza, soda and party supplies. Upgrades are available. Bonus: All guests will receive 20 free minutes of track time plus car and controller rental for a future visit. 

Q-ZAR — Carle Place
151 Voice Road
No party list would be complete without mentioning Q-ZAR, with its full laser tag arena. Promising to deliver a great party within a reasonable budget, Q-ZAR has several party packages from which to choose. All packages include a personal attendant, exclusive use of arena for your games, futuristic virtual reality briefing and six parents get to play for free. The optional food package plan includes pizza, unlimited beverages, vanilla/chocolate ice cream cake, private party room, paper goods, and printed invites and thank you notes. Bonus: they offer kosher parties as well. 

Top photo of the Adventure Park on Long Island by Anthony Wellman/courtesy the park.

A version of this article was first published in 2013. It has since been updated.