How To Throw A Kid Birthday Bash On A Budget

We all have those times when we want to have a party for a holiday or a birthday, but our money really needs to stretch. So, we abandon the idea. There are simple strategies to use, however, that will make it even easier to host an elegant party for family and friends. The following ideas have all come in handy for me and I hope they help you, as well.

  The Planning

1. Figure out your date. Keep in mind that there may be other events going on, like a holiday, the Super Bowl, or campouts. If you feel out your potential guests before you set a date, that may decrease the amount of people who can’t make it.
2. Figure out your theme. You know, you don’t have to have a really commercial theme, like Dora or Spiderman. Think of one for which you can find things around the house to use—things like a winter princess party for girls, a pirate birthday for boys, or monsters for either! Don’t think that will work? Believe me, I will show you.
3. Send out as many invitations as you can via Facebook. I know, I know, but it is free. It might feel a tad impersonal, but it saves you cash. If you aren’t a fan of Facebook or don’t have that many people that you connect with on a personal level on there, use something like an electronic invite. Be sure to specify whether or not your guests should dress up—kids love to dress up on days other than just Halloween.
4. Take a peek online for inspiration from other parties with the same theme, or sometimes different themes will lend ideas to use on your own. Consider creating a Pinterest board where you can keep track of these ideas.

  The Party

1. For the sake of this article, I will be talking about planning a pirate party. With my theme in place, I start to plan the cake, decorations, and games with goody bags.
2. I know that I have a red tablecloth—it is fabric, so it is also better for the environment, instead of throwing away all the plastic sheeting that is often used. This will save me several dollars. Knowing what I am covering my table with will influence my other décor choices.
3. On my table I will need plates, utensils, cups, cake, snacks, and possibly favours. I would use my plain white salad plates that are just the right size for little hands. The dollar store is great for party supplies, so if I felt the kids were too little to not break my plates, I would go buy a package or two of white or black paper plates. We love to camp, so I know I have some plastic forks and spoons handy—I would use them for the kids and use my regular forks for the adults, if I ran out. This is not as environmentally friendly, but I don’t have enough forks to go around at a party. Using your plastic cups from your cupboard, for punch, milk, or water, works just fine and they won’t get broken if dropped. Really, kids don’t care what they drink out of.
4. To encourage play, I would make eye patches using construction paper and elastic. If I was running out of time (as I often do), a run to the party supply store’s bulk favour section will yield plastic eye patches for about thirty-three cents each. Not bad! I would have those out on the table for everyone to have. Plain red party blowouts are fun, and so are inexpensive plastic swords.
5. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great snacks and are healthy for little bodies. Think of foods that are easy for kids to swipe as they play, like carrot sticks, apples, bananas, or baggies of trail mix. Making your own trail mix is not that hard, although buying the ingredients can be a little spendy. Oreos are not healthy, but they are black and white and easy to eat.
6. The cake would be made from one box of chocolate cake mix, a container of chocolate frosting, and those gold foil covered coins that have chocolate inside. Make it in a bread loaf pan (if you don’t have one, you can buy a tin foil pan at almost any store), and be sure to grease it well, because you want to turn it out when it is done and allow it to cool completely. Cover a plate with foil and place the cake on it. Cut off the top 1/4th or 1/3rd—you are making a treasure chest cake, so the cut you make should look like the lid. Now frost it inside the cut and out. Then slip the chocolate coins in the flap—enough that they prop it up a little and stick out, so it is easy to tell that it is a treasure chest.
7. You now have your table done and the cake done, so it is time to address games. Let children role play a while and you can hobnob with the parents or get ready for something like a treasure hunt—this will take some preparation on your part, but is great fun for kids. I’d place something, like a full piñata, in a big box and hide it. Then kids find clues along the way to help them find the box. So, they would start with a clue that you hand them that says, “As a team ye must work together to find yer treasure. Look right to yer left, you see that faucet?” and they would run to the hose hookup to search for their next clue. The younger the children, the fewer clues they can handle without getting frustrated, so be careful there.
8. Once they find the treasure box, the kids will bring it back with huge smiles and a lot of, “We found it!” so look surprised. When they open it, they will find the piñata, maybe in the shape of a boat. When you hang it up, you blindfold them one at a time and hand them a bat, telling them it is their sword to loot the ship. Here is the thing—you have stuffed the piñata with snacks or candy, but divided it into a baggie for each child! So, when they devastate that ship, the goodies fall to the ground in their bags and each child gets one.
9. Pinatas are expensive, that is true. It would be my one splurge; however, you can make your own with old newspapers and a glue/water mixture over a mould, like a balloon. Once it is all dry, decorate it with tissue paper however you want. To make it fluffy, cut small squares of tissue paper, place a pencil eraser in the center, wrap the paper around the pencil, dip it in glue and stick to your bald creation. There are many ways to decorate one. When it is dry, cut a hole in the top and stuff your candy baggies inside. Replace the cut-out piece and glue, if you so desire. Don’t cut a hole in the bottom or the piece will fall out with the first good whack. You may lose your bags prematurely! Haha!

It really is possible to have a birthday party on a budget, and it will generate memories that your kids will keep with them for a very long time. It may take up a little more of your time, but in the end, it is well worth it!