Planning your child’s birthday party can be an expensive proposition. Today’s kids are accustomed to flashier parties than previous generations, when a cake with candles and a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey was sufficient. With a little creativity, parents can create a fun event without having to break the bank.
Have a House Party
It is so tempting to have a birthday party at a location other than one’s house, but often it comes at a hefty price. Many locations can charge $200 and up for a child’s birthday party. You can also create the same style of party at home: Instead of girl’s party at a spa, have a spa party at home. Instead of a soccer party at an indoor arena, set up a soccer field in your yard with cones and a net and create athletic challenges.
Over the years, I have hosted birthday parties at various venues, including at home. While it was nice to have parties – and the accompanying mess – outside of my house, at-home parties were definitely friendlier to the wallet and pleased children just as much. Frankly, the kids also seem to enjoy house parties too; they just really want to play unstructured sometimes. For many, a house party has also become a novelty; they are so accustomed to going to a venue that having a party at home is a somewhat exotic experience.
A good rule of thumb is to plan a trio of games or crafts, and leave the rest of the time for old-fashioned play. Getting the birthday child involved in the brainstorming is helpful in choosing activities which will please all guests.
Don’t Serve a Meal
When choosing a time frame for your shindig, avoid the meal hours. Ordering pizza, or buying hot dogs, hamburgers and all the necessary accompaniments can run up the party bill. Instead, focus on fun snacks and, of course, cake.
When planning my oldest daughter’s recent party, we chose a Saturday afternoon after lunch. The kids still feasted on a great deal of food, but it was all affordable treats. We served simple party snacks: potato chips, tortilla chips with salsa, homemade popcorn, candy, and make-your-own sundaes, with all ingredients bought at a discount grocery store. We also served pink lemonade made from a powdered mix, and soda was also available for the girls. The total food bill was around $30.
Once your menu is planned, shop early for food on sale, and use your coupons. Items like soda, chips and candy will not spoil if they are left unopened in a safe place.
Decorating on a Budget
Once a theme is chosen, pick things you already have to decorate. If it’s a particular character, pick out toys that can decorate the food table. Go online and print pictures of the character to put in picture frames – just put them on top of existing photos and remove them after the party. Miniature plastic figures can serve as cake toppers, whether they are character figurines, plastic dinosaurs, or even a LEGO minifigure.
Pull decorative items from your home décor to fit the color scheme. My daughter’s recent birthday party was a pool party with a mythology theme, and everything we used to decorate was blue. I picked blue and white flowers from our gardens, set out a plant urn, and used blue marbles from her marble collection in a glass. We pulled out blue tablecloths from the closet for the tables and I used baskets to hold items for activities.
It’s so tempting to purchase the paper goods with a cartoon character on them, but they can add to the party budget. Avoid purchasing character-themed plates, napkins, tablecloths and cups, or just buy one thing, such as character napkins with plain plates, or character plates with plain napkins.
Consider creating a color scheme that goes with the character, and head to a dollar store or discount department store like Walmart to pick up plain colored plates, napkins and cups.
A store-bought cake can be convenient, but also can consume a large part of the budget. A homemade cake doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy. Make a simple cake and put small figures on top of it, or just make cupcakes and add frosting and colored sprinkles. Easy-to-create decorating ideas for birthday cakes and cupcakes can be found all over the internet, especially on sites like Pinterest.
For my daughter’s recent birthday party, I made a batch of cupcakes. The cake mix and a can of frosting cost $3, and the time involved in making and decorating the cupcakes was minimal. We had simple blue and white frosting on each one, and a LEGO figure was on the birthday girl’s cupcake, along with blue candles.
Using a little creativity makes a birthday party not only frugal, but unique for your child. But planning ahead, and sticking to a simple budget, a party can please all guests as well as the birthday child.
