HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
The typical kid's birthday party costs between $300 and $500. While many love the ease of pre-packaged parties, they can come with a hefty price tag.
Don't stress--it is possible to come up with a more creative and budget-friendly bash.
These imaginative party themes for your child's birthday party can be achieved for under $50 with a guest count of 8 people or less and promise to be a lot of fun!
- Keep the guest list to a minimum. Most party supply items, such as plates and napkins, are packaged based on an 8-count or for 8 guests.
- Bake the cake or cupcakes yourself to save cash. Plus with cupcakes, you don't need plates or forks -- only paper baking cups and napkins, which is the "greener" way to go!
- Host the party at your home.
- Choose a party time-frame where a main meal isn't expected, such as mid-morning or afternoon, and serve snacks that don't require plates.
- Ask an artistic friend or a fun relative to help with activities like face painting or a game of Simon Says.
- Host the party outside and let nature serve as your décor. Plus, this party is messy, so it's best to have it outdoors!
- Kick off the party with a nature hunt where the kids collect leaves, small rocks, and grass to decorate their volcanoes.
- For the main activity of this party, the kids will build their own volcanoes using a plastic water bottle, mud, and more as outlined in the instructions below.
- The big finale is when the volcanoes erupt with a simple mixture of household items. (Use the money you saved on décor to purchase them.)
- For an explosive birthday cake, pile frosted cupcakes--without the paper baking cups--into a volcano shape and put a candle in the top. Use red decorator's icing, if it fits your budget, to pipe lava coming down the sides.
- See the $50 Budget Kid's Birthday Party - Cost Breakdown to round out the items for this party.
How To Make an Erupting Mud Volcano
Gather enough free supplies for each kid to make a volcano and purchase a few items to make it erupt.
Materials for Each Volcano:
- Scrap piece of cardboard as a volcano base
- 8 oz. or individual-size plastic water bottle with the tops cut off
- Lots of stiff mud (not runny), leaves, grass, small rocks.
Eruption Mixture for Each Volcano:
- Warm water
- 3 tablespoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon dish washing liquid
- 1/2 cup white vinegar (buy at least 32 fl. oz. of vinegar)
Steps
1. Instruct the kids to pack mud, leaves and other natural materials into a volcano shape around the water bottle.
2. Fill each bottle inside the finished volcanoes almost to the top with warm water. Add about 1 teaspoon of dish washing liquid and 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Use a funnel to make the pouring easier or a piece of paper rolled into a cone shape.
3. When all of the kids have the basic mixture in their bottles, pour 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar into each bottle and watch as the bubbles spew down the sides!
Note: Do not cover or put a lid on the bottles (with the Eruption Mixture inside them) at any time.
- Ask the kids to come dressed in their pajamas.
- Set up the living room or backyard with mattresses, pillows, sheets and blankies!
- Read bedtime stories and take plenty of photos.
- Serve popcorn and watch movies just like the big kids do.
- Eat birthday cake in bed and go home after 2 hours!
- See the $50 Budget Kid's Birthday Party - Cost Breakdown to round out the items for this party.
- Let kids in on the theme and suggest that they wear clothes inside out, upside down, or whatever their imagination tells them to do!
- Turn chairs, tables, and other items around the yard or in the house upside down.
- Put balloons on the floor and hang fun things safely from the ceiling.
- Keep the birthday cake "as is" and don't mess with the classic presentation.
- See the $50 Budget Kid's Birthday Party - Cost Breakdown to round out the items for this party.
- Host an "I Spy" party by placing odds and ends around your house in unique ways. Put a sponge in the corner, a teddy bear on a chair, or a rubber ducky in the tub.
- Call out "I Spy" clues throughout the party and play different rounds with a variety of categories. Start with "I Spy Colors." For example, the leader would say, "I spy with my little eye something that is red and means love," and the kids will shout out, "heart pillow" when they see the pillow on the couch.
- Other categories can include: "I Spy Letters," where the leader would say, "I spy with my little eye something that begins with 'B' that a monkey eats," meaning a banana. Mix it up with "I Spy Animals" and "I Spy Mommies." Then take it outside for a round of "I Spy Nature."
- The party will feel like an ongoing treasure hunt packed with fun from the moment guests arrive to the time that they leave.
- See the $50 Budget Kid's Birthday Party - Cost Breakdown to round out the items for this party.
Use Celebrations.com online invitations.
2. Decorations: $5
Most of the themes in our $50 Budget Kids' Birthday Parties make creative use of items around the house or yard, which are free!
- However, balloons really make a kid's day and are worth the cost. Pick up a pack of latex balloons, blow them up instead of filling them with helium, and tape them around the party to perk up the space.
- Create a homemade birthday banner by taping together paper that you have on hand. Decorate it with crayons, markers, glitter and whatever else your child has in their box of arts and crafts. You can also cut out letters that spell "Happy Birthday" and glue them on the banner or hang them individually as a sign.
3. Party Supplies: $10
Go for the fun cake plates at your child's birthday party. You could shop the 99-cent store and really save on party supply costs.
- Buy a set of themed plates, such as a licensed Disney character or a famous super hero, which should cost around $4. Then round out the supplies with a set of generic "Happy Birthday" plates, napkins, and cups from the 99-Cent Store.
- Make a stack of alternating premium and generic plates and use them for cake (go with finger food snacks). Kids may beg for the piece of cake with the sugar flower on it, but will rarely request a specific plate.
- Save money (and the environment!) by using your own forks or utensils instead of buying plastic.
4. Games and Activities: $0
These party themes were designed with no-cost activities or budget buys as in the Make Your Own Volcano Party.
Along with the activities suggested for each theme, play classic birthday party games like Musical Chairs or Simon Says--they're free and fun for kids.
5. Favors: $ 10
My favorite place to shop for party favors is the 99-cent store. Sometimes you can find 4-packs of Play Dough, a set of princess crowns, or a pack of toys each for 99 cents, which is a total score!
- A value pack of assorted wrapped candy or a bag of Pinata fillers are also ideal for budget party favors.
- An 8-count pack of loot bags from the 99-cent store will hold an assortment of candy or small toys and for larger items--like a princess crown or plastic airplane--simply wrap them with gift paper or tie curling ribbon on them.
6. Homemade Birthday Cake and Candles: $ 15
The birthday cake is the highlight for most kids at the party and certainly the guest of honor. Therefore, here's where you need to spend a little money on unless a relative or friend gives your child the cake as a gift.
The estimated cost breakdown for a cake that is homemade with a mix is:
- $2 - cake mix
- $2 - 1 dozen large eggs
- $3 - bottle vegetable oil
- $4 - 2 cans of frosting
- $4 - candles and décor
I've also seen nice, affordable prepared cakes in freezers near the bakery of the grocery store and you're sure to find plenty of options at club stores as well.
7. Snacks and Drinks: $10
Most kids eat chips, pretzels, and Goldfish as a snack, depending on their age.
- Choose a couple of age-appropriate "finger food" snacks, fill in with a value bag of candy, and you're good to go.
- Instead of expensive individual packs of juice, buy a couple of envelopes of Kool-Aid and mix it all up in a pitcher for guests to drink, along with a pitcher of water.
8. Estimated Total Cost: $50
Party: Planning 101
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