Don’t you know? He is the most famous skateboarder ever! Our 7 year old Alfie is already a budding extreme sportsman and so the usual football or bowling parties don't satisfy his need for adrenalin-inducing danger. He is mad about skateboarding so it was with great joy that we hit upon the idea of a skateboard party for his 7th birthday.

The BaySixty6 Skatepark under the M40 put me in touch with the very cool Gary, who teaches there and we arrived one Saturday afternoon with 8 boys aged 3–11. As our boys gawped in amazement, Gary explained what the expert skaters were up to and even commandeered some of them to perform stunts for us. "Awesome" was definitely the word of the moment. Between 4–5pm the skatepark is closed and all other skaters left, which meant our beginners could get started without fear of being involved in a highspeed collision. Gary taught them basic balance skills and then the beginnings of some more advanced techniques. He held on to them whilst going through these new moves which allowed the boys to get the feeling of proper skateboarding whilst remaining upright (most of the time).

After two hours all the boys had much better  balance on the board but certainly weren't ready for the big ramps despite talking the talk. Finally Gary gave each child a "bullet trip", which involved him taking a boy on his own skateboard at high speed around the park. They all loved it. It was also pretty safe, but don't let Alfie know that. Parties weekends only Sat or Sun 4–6pm; £300 including all equipment and instructor for the 2 hours plus use of the games room. Up to 15 kids.

Bay 66, 10 Acklam Road, W10 5QZ 8960 6713

baysixty6.com