Unless you’re a professional party planner, you probably face the prospect of organizing your kids' birthday parties with a groan and a sigh. Where will the party take place? How many children should you invite? What will be the entertainment? And most of all, how much will it cost?
Fact is, many great kids' birthday parties don’t require a lot of fanfare or expense. Some of the best kids' birthday parties my son and I have attended were simple, DIY celebrations. The trick is to think about the activities your child likes to do and then try to come up with birthday party ideas that can incorporate his interest. Some suggestions for planning great birthday parties on a budget:
Kids Birthday Party Money Saving Tip: Have a separate celebration at school.
Ask your child’s teacher if you can bake some cupcakes and bring them to school. That way, you can avoid having to host a large, expensive party.
Kids Birthday Party Money Saving Tip: Invite a few friends.
If your child wants to have a few close pals over for some celebrating, arrange a playdate/mini-party. Ask him to limit the number of kids to a small group -- say 4 or 5 -- and take them out to a movie or for pizza.
Kids Birthday Party Money Saving Tip: Make your own decorations.
There’s nothing as wonderful as kids’ art to use as decoration at birthday parties. Help your child cut some construction paper into interesting shapes. Get some glitter and glue and make drawings to post around to accent crepe paper and balloons. Make
origami cranes and flowers out of colorful paper (it’s not as hard as it looks!).
Kids Birthday Party Money Saving Tip: Make your own fun at birthday parites.
Put on some music and have a freeze-dance or limbo contest in the living room. If the weather’s nice, set up badminton net in the back yard or have an
obstacle-course party. One mom and dad I know organized a museum scavenger hunt for their 7-year-old and his friends. Another couple hosted a cardboard-house building contest in their back yard.
Kids Birthday Party Money Saving Tip: Get creative with food.
Sure, there’s the old birthday parties stand-by -- pizza. But if you wanna offer some other choices without spending a lot, consider cutting turkey and cheese sandwiches into fun shapes with cookie cutters. You can also set up a
cookie-decorating station.
Kids Birthday Party Money Saving Tip: Have a backup plan at birthday parties.
If you’re planning a celebration around an activity in your house, such as a treasure hunt or movie, be sure to have something else ready to go. Grade-schoolers’ attention spans usually won’t last through a 90-minute movie. If they finish an activity or get bored, you will definitely want to have another activity ready or you’ll run the risk of having kids run amok through your house, chasing each other.
