Have you ever organized a birthday party that you knew would be too expensive? And now are you afraid of the very idea of venturing back into the territory of children's parties? Fear not - you can throw an amazing party and wow your child even on a tight budget. It's all about keeping the party small, picking a fun theme, and providing snacks, cake, and tons of games!
Steps
Step 1. Keep the party contained
Generally between 5 and 10 children is fine. There are also those who follow the rule: as many guests as the birthday of the birthday is.
Step 2. Choose a theme
Having a theme to focus on helps plan the party. While it's not strictly necessary, it's still fun and will point you to specific decorations, games, and creative foods. Here are some ideas for you.
- Pink Party: recommended for girls. All decorations, food, drinks and so on are pink in color. Guests are also welcome to dress in pink.
- Pizza-Party: the fundamental point is to make your own pizza. Turn your home into a pizzeria and play some good Italian music!
- Pool Party: great for very active children and always very popular. Each of the guests could receive a beach ball as a gift.
- Wellness Day at the SPA: ideal for slightly older girls, adolescents or pre-adolescents. Guests are asked to bring their own bathrobes. Soft music is put on, scrubs and face masks are done, pedicures and manicures are put on each other's nail polish. Light food is the most suitable: for example fruit, salads and sushi. You can use Asian-inspired decorations such as bamboo.
- Foreign Lands. Inspiration comes from exotic places: Texas, Japan, Paris, Ancient Egypt, Hawaii, India, Hollywood… it all leads back to specific menus, themed activities and games.
Step 3. Choose a business location
You will save a lot if you find a low-cost place to have your party. A few examples:
- Your home, or possibly that of a friend or relative.
- The library (many have free or low cost common rooms).
- Places of worship. Many churches, temples and the like have large gathering spaces that would be ideal for a party.
- The parks. In some cases there is an entrance fee or a fee to use a room, a gazebo, a picnic area or a portion of the beach. However, it often proves to be a less expensive choice than many others and moreover it can offer additional services such as tennis, swimming, recreational fields, natural areas and more. But make sure you book in advance!
Step 4. Don't underestimate the food issue
The biggest expense for having a party tends to be for food and drink. It is often an underestimated expense, because there are many other things to take into account, for example if you need other napkins, glasses and plastic cutlery, etc. Some options to consider:
- Dessert Party: Narrow it down to cake or sweets, milk, juice or fizzy drinks. At a birthday party, however, the children focus on the cake.
- Party with Everyone's Contribution: each guest brings their favorite dish from home. This significantly reduces costs and can sidestep any diet problems as well.
- Frugal meal party: some foods such as spaghetti are inexpensive yet always popular. Sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and stews are also affordable, especially if they are homemade.
- Party based on homemade dishes (or almost). Buying pizza is fine, but you can save a lot of money by making it yourself, if you're good in the kitchen.
Step 5. Prepare the cake (or decorate one you have already bought)
If your child is fond of a cartoon or TV character, pop into the one-dollar store or bargain markets and look for a small toy to top the cake. Alternatively, be creative and personalize your cake with a freehand design. You can use food coloring to color the icing. Some examples of cakes:
- Off-road cake. Color the icing green and use bits of crumbled chocolate chip cookies to make a car track on the surface of the cake. Buy a small pack of cheap cars and then crush them with a hammer, then place them on the cake and put a nice off-road vehicle on it to make it look like it has crushed the cars.
- Princess Cake: Cover the cake with pink icing and decorate it with roses and princess figurines.
- Rainbow Cake: Make a colorful layer cake, cover it with white icing and sprinkle it with multicolored sprinkles.
Step 6. Do it yourself
Instead of buying all the decorations for the party, try making a couple of them. If you have children, then chances are you have some craft supplies as well.
- Sheets of crepe paper or foam rubber are inexpensive and can be used to make paper swags, posters, and various shapes of your favorite colors. What's more, your child can help you prepare these decorations and indulge themselves however they like.
- Fold some newspaper sheets like hats and let the children decorate them as they like at the party.
- With a large sheet of paper, make a poster where the children can draw with tempera colors. You can use it as a guest book for guests to sign when they arrive. Or you can use a simple sheet of paper and write with markers. In any case, everyone at the party will be able to decorate it as they like and make drawings for it, and then your child can hang it in the bedroom!
- Autograph a pillowcase. Put a card inside the pillowcase and have it signed by guests with special colors for fabrics or permanent markers.
Step 7. Balloons are cheap and fun
You can find them for a few pennies in "all for one euro" shops and they are always terrific as easy and colorful decorations.
- Fill the balloons with confetti for a special touch.
- Hang a balloon filled with candy from the ceiling and draw a draw to give it as a prize at the end of the party. Or each guest could receive surprise gifts.
- You can take permanent markers and write messages on the balloons to give the decorations a personal touch.
- The balloons are also perfect for playing relay, volleyball (they are good for small children) and, if you fill them with water, for making water balloon battles!
Step 8. Make surprise gifts
Make your purchases in "all for one euro" shops or in bargain markets. Choose party packs and mixed toy packs where you get more than one item together. Search for stickers, cars, candy, etc.
Step 9
.. Or not. Too often, these surprise gifts end up being just another stash of cheap plastic toys and candy. Even in "all for one euro" shops these elements accumulate rapidly. Instead, use a little creativity! Maybe the guests could go home with a cowgirl party bandana. Or a garden party could end up with guests picking flowers to take home.
Step 10. Organize the games
If necessary, even invent them! Some good ideas for playing are: poison ball, chair game, cordless phone, handkerchief game, treasure hunt, mimes, drawing your own silhouettes on paper, etc. Pop into the library to check out some party books to take inspiration from.
Advice
- Search "all for one euro" shops or bargain markets to find low-cost items.
- Search the Internet for ideas and cakes that you can make yourself.
- Establish your budget and don't go overboard.
- Shop at thrift stores to find things that can be reused.
- If you know someone who makes cakes or offers entertainment services for the little ones, see if there is anything you can barter. For example, if the So-and-so shop down the street is famous for its amazing cakes, see if you can get one in exchange for some service you could do. You can't know until you ask. And who knows, who doesn't even make you new friends!
- Ask friends and family if they can lend you some birthday party items left over from previous parties, or if they have any extra treats that might suit you for the occasion.
Warnings
- Some themes are more difficult than others, so try to broaden your reach: instead of a party focused specifically on Buzz Lightyear, for example, try opting instead for a party dedicated to space heroes in general.
- Sometimes throwing a themed party can be a real chore. You need to know when to economize and when to spend on your purchases. Looking for two thrift shops and three "all for one euro" shops to buy simple silver balloons doesn't make any sense, if you know you can buy them at the local shop! Even if you save a few cents, it's not worth it compared to the time and gas you spend.
- It can happen, at times, not to find what you were looking for. Don't be discouraged!
