by Hope
My younger two share a birthday party every year, and that time is coming up in just a couple of months. We’ve had combinations of paid party locations: Chuck E Cheese, local inflatables, Paint on Pottery, etc. as well as at home in the back yard type parties over the years. I am definitely guilty of going overboard, but I have always rationalized and said that since it’s for two kids, it’s okay to spend a little more.
This year, that is NOT happening. Both kids have been told we are cutting back and I’ve asked them to start thinking of ideas for their party this year. Here are the possibilities I’ve come up with:
- Homemade pinata – paper mache project we could do as school project for pretty much nothing so the only cost would be to fill it with goodies.
- Homemade water slide – big tarp laid down in our slightly sloping front yard with an adult spraying a water hose.
- Homemade cup cakes which everyone gets to decorate themselves – saves the cost of a “professional” cake/cupcake, but would require several frosting and some sprinkles
- Meet at the local park, invite the friends and just have a big playdate
- Invite one friend each to go to Rebounderz or Bounce House or a movie
- Buy a small canvas for each friend and having a painting party in the back yard with snacks (kids weren’t keen on this one at all)
I guess the birthday party is the one part of their lives I have not let go of the “magical” childhood thing and it’s cost me plenty over the years. I am determined to no only be frugal this time around but even CHEAP! I have made it clear to both of them that I want to hear their input and desires, but I have to balance that with a very tight budget. So I’m here asking for your help….
What frugal, yet magical ideas do you have for a child’s birthday party? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
pizza party.
Buy generic pizza crust, or english muffins, or flour tortilla, or make the crust yourself. Let the kids top their pizza crust with whatever kind of spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, crushed tomato, pizza sauce, and place toppings on a bowl and let them choose. They can have cheese, pepperoni, and various kinds of veggies, and any lurking meat (ham, pork, sausage) out that needs to be eaten. Bake them in the oven and serve. My kids love making their own pizzas, and they have adult appetites, so I have to make sure I have enough for the three of them. It’s still cheaper than a pizza party at a restaurant, or take out.
At home face painting for the younger children. There’s all kinds of stuff at the local Dollar Tree that can be used for face painting. Kids usually love this stuff, and the other kids may want to do the painting.
If you wanted, you could do the pizza party, make the cute pinata and fill it with dollar store trinkets (tootsie rolls, hard candy, bubble gum), and take it outside for the kids to make a game out of who can break the pinata and get the prizes.
The kids can go to the park afterward to run around and use up all their excitement. Just bring some water bottles for drinks, and any left over pizza that may be near.
Just a thought.
Best birthday parties we gave for the son with a spring birthday were always picnics at a park with lots of running around and games followed by homemade cake. Good for you for getting creative with this as it is about celebrating being alive and friendship not spending money! By the way, have you checked The Tightwad Gazette out of the library? She found lots of free/inexpensive solutions for celebrating birthdays and holidays to make being frugal fun not about deprivation.
I was going to suggest the Tightwad Gazette too but Juhli beat me to it:) There was a cool pirate themed party idea that did not require much money spent. You could design a “bounty hunt” and end with a pizza party. There can be still lots of fun without paying a fistful of money.
Best and cheapest parties we ever had: make a movie! Kids brought their costumes, I wrote a very free form script and did a lot of editing, special effects, etc. The kids got copies of the DVD a few days later. For my daughter (age 7) it was a rescue of the forest fairy by the brave girls. For my son (age 12) it was a cross between Nerf guns, a Lord of The RIngs quest, and Monty Python. We ordered pizzas and let them watch the raw footage at the end of the parties. It was a huge hit both time and cost less than $50.
My kids are now 29 and 25 but I could see that being a hit with them now!
That is the most brilliant idea I’ve read recently for a birthday party (in my day we didn’t have the technology and I haven’t updated my thinking.)
We did backyard parties (or in the house since we are northern and my daughter’s birthday is in March so it could be great weather or awful – I could never count on it.) Pinata (in the garage to reduce the mess and increase the safety margin), scavenger hunt (for natural items like pine cones, oak leaf, etc. so they didn’t have to disturb the neighbours although this is a child friendly neighbourhood) and lots of short activities to keep things moving so if a child is bored of an activity they don’t have time to get disruptive before moving on to the next thing (you can tell I’m ADD and have an ADD child!)
The key is get the kids involved with the planning. Remember, their imaginations are more free-flowing than ours, which have been stifled by reality. Let them brain storm until you come up with a great set of activities that fit their personalities and your budget.
All of the previous ideas sound good to me. Another one that my kids really enjoyed when they were little was a faux sleepover. Kids come over for dinner in PJs with sleeping bags, blankets, stuffed animals. Eat dinner (pizza – home made or cheap) and cake (always home made). Set up a big cozy space, snuggle in for a movie or two (Library, RedBox, etc.) with popcorn – and then they get picked up “late” (meaning 9 pm or so). So easy and SO cheap. All the fun of a sleepover without the work and the drama!
An added plus is that you are essentially providing a date night for the parents of all the children you invited. You will be very popular!
I liked the cupcake decorating idea, and wanted to remind you that you do not need to purchase different frostings. Make a huge batch of simple white buttercream and use various dyes to color it. Much tastier and no gross chemicals (except maybe the dyes).
I have a few thoughts. First, what is your budget for the party? I’d start with that and work from there. I second the pizza party….you could purchase small pizza crusts and then let them top their own and bake. My breadmaker has a pizza dough maker so the most frugal way would be to make up the dough, separate it and then let the kids make their own pizza crust. I also second making your own cupcakes and making your own buttercream frosting…it’s actually very easy to do. You could also bake the cake yourself and then have ice cream sundaes where they could add the toppings: fruit, nuts, etc. I lean towards that because those toppings are a little healthier than all of those sprinkles and dyes-lots of chemicals in both of those.
Dollar Stores and Walmart have inexpensive party supplies. There is a blog called, “Delightful Order (she has 4 boys and a 5th on the way) and she has lots of party ideas…she does most of them at home although she does sell “printables” which may not be frugal but maybe you could make your own. You have to check it out…her’s are so good and look like fun!
Also, what about a “birthday box”? I worked for a company many years ago and they had a birthday box. It was filled with all kinds of birthday decorating supplies….birthday banner, birthday hat (not kidding), etc. Anyway, on your birthday, they decorated your desk, gave you a group card, etc. I was mortified the first time it happened since I couldn’t believe they did this in a corporate environment but this was 30 years ago. (My last company, my coworkers just took me out for my birthday, lol.) The take away is the birthday box-I keep a birthday banner, extra candles, etc. in a plastic bin for birthdays then when my son has a birthday, I use that instead of buying new every year. I see they have birthday plates now and all kinds of things. That might be an idea. Also, have you googled, “frugal birthday party ideas”. I am sure there might be some.
And finally, when we were growing up, we only had a birthday party with our “friends” every few years or so, the rest were with the family. It seems like it’s so expensive to throw these huge parties every year and I am not sure that is the expectation that I’d want my kids to have. Birthdays should be special but birthdays shouldn’t have to put us in debt. You can have good experiences in life without breaking the bank. Also, why not open the conversation up to maybe taking the kids somewhere special with just the family as opposed to all of the friends since there is a lot of cost involved. Maybe you could brainstorm and figure out a way to do the “friends” party…maybe on even numbered years? Or maybe you could even give them options for their birthday? For example, birthday options might include: 1) cash to do whatever they want 2) birthday lunch with Mom only at a special place 3) family event at a place of their choice 4) special gift they’ve wanted 5) birthday party. You can still do a family birthday cake for all of them.
Peruse “The Prudent Homemaker” for birthday ideas. She even has a post about “What Your Child Really Wants for His/Her Birthday” or something like that. I had to agree with a lot she said. Her birthday child gets to pick all the meals for the day. There are simple gifts and cake with family. But what the child likes the best is that they get to stay up later with Mom and Dad and play games–just the birthday kid. There might be “coupons” for later special dates with mom or dad like learning to cook and bake. We just give our kids too much stuff today! It’s really better to emphasize meaningful experiences that don’t cost an arm and a leg.
We always do morning breakfast parties. Pancakes, oatmeal in the crockpot, sausages, fruit salad… Everyone likes breakfast foods, and if you do it right, it can be really inexpensive. The other nice thing is, it gets the party out of the way so your family and guests alike can still enjoy the rest of their day (vs. having a big chunk taken out in the middle of the day to put on/attend the party).
Last yr we did an ice cream themed party for my son who doesn’t like cake. We were on a really tight budgetand have huge ffamilies on both sides who would have hurt feelings if they all weren’t invited. So we asked everyone to please bring their favorite ice cream topping to share…we provided the ice cream. Then kids just played and i didn’t have any structured activities. I did make my own birthday banner out of scrapbook paper and some little decorations. We used reusable bowls and spoons. No paper goods bit napkins. Party was at 2 so people knew there wouldn’t be a meal served.
Growing up, my parents my would take me and a friend or two out to dinner and have a sleepover. Always felt it was my “special day” and it was enough (grew up in the 70’s-80’s). We did the same thing with my son (90’s child) and thankfully, it was still enough.
I truly don’t understand all the lavish parties and expense involved in today’s birthday parties for kids. You set the precedent this young, you will pay the price for years later. I feel sorry for today’s parents of young children. We certainly had our struggles at the verge of the technological surge, but you all have a whole a different situation.
My best suggestion is to strive to break the whole expectation of a HUGE b-day bash and get back down to the basics of yesterday with a few good friends enjoying a fun time together, whatever form (or cost) that might entail.
I definitly think your kids should celebrate with their friends! That’s what birthdays are about! I don’t think the party needs to be expensive for them to have fun! there are plenty of possibilities to keep it frugal. I really liked the suggestions that have come up by Hope and the reades like pinata, treasure hunt, faux-sleepover homemade pizza or cupcakes etc.
Since you’re involving the kids even in the grocery budget, I definitly think they should get a say about the party as well…
One of the best birthdays i ever was at as a kid was a treasure hunt prepared by the step mum of the twins who’s birthday it was… we had to solve all kind of riddles / puzzles etc. and it was great fun.
T-shirt or tote bag decorating is fun and frugal, especially if you use a coupon for the puffy paint. Joann’s and Michael’s usually always have good coupons.
do a pizza party (with homemade “personalized” pizzas) it will take up time for them to make the pizzas, providing entertainment and supper. I use the refridgerated biscuit dough for my pizza crusts. You can find the recipe by googling. It’s super easy and i always wait until the biscuits are on sale. Then let the kids stay the night in sleeping bags in the living room with a movie or game. (Twister was a fave for these kinds of things when I was a kid.) Send them home the next morning.
Ok, sorry I didn’t get a chance to respond to each of these ideas, but they are all GREAT! I think the ice cream party may be the one we use. It’s not something we’ve ever done and if I combine it with the homemade slip and slide, everything will stay out side…get sticky with ice cream and go clean off in the water…I will definitely post an update on what is decided and what the final cost is in the next couple of months when it happens.
Thank you for all your GREAT suggestions!