Hosting a kid’s birthday party ideas on a budget!
With the new school year comes another round of birthdays and birthday parties. Before you cringe and run and hide under your sheets… let’s turn it around.
I love it when my son gets to attend a fancy or lavish birthday party. They have a lot of fun and likely a new experience, we take a present and he gets to eat their food. But, when it’s our turn, I tend to go for a more traditional birthday party experience; cake, plenty of food and a big area to play. It’s also my opportunity as his mother to create any birthday food or party traditions to make it a little extra special.
Here is my main go-to list of what I need to do to create those happy birthday memories:
- Budget – because we all have bills to pay. I look at what I have and what I can afford to spend, always making sure there is a buffer.
- Birthday present – this is at the top of the budget list not because it’s extravagant, but because I want to make sure he gets his main present.
- List what I have versus what I need, because kids don’t care about matching cups (IMO they seem to prefer mis-matching) and I’d prefer to re-allocate (or save) those funds!
- Determine how many guests I can afford – is it a full class, just the family (minimum 11 adults and 6 kids in our area alone) or our family and ~5 or ~10 friends kind of year?
- Venue – has to be free or cheap. For this reason it is usually:
- a local park – so it’s easy to find and (hopefully) accessible,
- has water play for the warmer months,
- has a BBQ if needed,
- ideally gated for the younger runaways.
- Cake – let’s be honest – in our minds, this is the piece de resistance! I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that everyone will only remember the most fabulous cake that is set alight and ends up with candle wax all over it. So – should it be homemade or bought? In my experience, it doesn’t seem to matter if the Spiderman face does end up looking a little wonky. But, if time is a concern, the local supermarkets do ah-mazing cakes which save time and money. And the plain cakes can always just be decorated at home or have decorations stuck on. We are currently enjoying $32 smash cakes, because (hold onto your hats and petticoats) kids love smashing cakes and the joy on their faces (and shock on the guests faces) is priceless.
- Party food – homemade or bought? It depends whether you want to have a BBQ (where you may need someone to do the cooking and someone to watch your children. My go-to list of favourite party foods are:
- Fruit platter (this is nearly always the first to go),
- Snowballs,
- Curried eggs,
- Party pies and sausage rolls (these can be pre-heated and kept in an insulated bag or heated on a BBQ),
- Sausages (if I’m doing a BBQ),
- Chicken drumettes or “lovely legs” (if I’m doing a BBQ),
- Fast food delivered – yes, they can find you in the park, or you can make it easier and meet them at the gate. It doesn’t seem to be as popular, which is not what I would expect, but sometimes we just do the best with what we have!
- Charcuterie board for the adults (be warned the kids will try…)
- A lot of these items can be bought ahead of time and frozen, so if you plan early, you might snag a few items on sale.
- Party favour bags – I often have leftovers, but as I have 3 boys, surely there will be another Spiderman birthday party this year!
- These can be put together super cheap. Once I figured out the number of children attending (including siblings), I bought enough packs in their favourite character (you guessed it – Spiderman!) and hid them until 2 nights before the party. After they were asleep, I laid out each pile and started filling bags! Took me anywhere between 5 – 15 mins. Once filled, they’re put into a box or bag all ready to go!
- Balloons – What is a party without balloons??? It signals to the parents where the party is, it provides endless amount of joy to children and it is probably the cheapest party decoration known to mankind. If you’re feeling a little fancy, you could always pick up streamers or foil banners!
- Cutlery – knife to cut the cake, napkins, plates and bowls. They’re easily sourced online or in-stores, if they’re not already in your drawers or cupboards!
Make sure you rope in a friend to help prep and set up and also someone to take lots of pictures, including the birthday child blowing out his candles!
Let me know if this helps or if you think I’ve missed something.
Also…
Happy birthday! I hope they have a great day.
Jo Jo xx