Once upon a time there was a little girl with eyes the color of the sky and hair the color of gold. She was a friendly child with many, many friends and she often asked her mommy for lots of sleepovers and tea parties. 
Even though her mommy had very little money, sleepovers were easy and tea and cinnamon toast were cheap, so the mommy always said "yes".
One day, when the little girl's birthday was drawing near, her mommy began to worry how she would be able to have a party large enough to invite all the little girl's many, many friends. "Oh dear" she thought, " How can I afford to entertain so many children?"
Then she had an idea. "I will have a scrap craft party!" And that is exactly what she did. She gathered together all kinds of pencils, papers, crayons, old magazines and colorful junk mail. She rummaged through drawers and boxes for bits of ribbons, laces, and buttons. She got out the scraps of old holiday wrapping paper and tags and bows. She put glue and scissors and rulers in a couple of shoe boxes.
She bought a little glitter, a few sequins and manila folders , which were perfect blank "canvases", at the dollar store, along with a box of plain note cards. Then she sent out the invitations. "Come to the Craft Fair" it read, along with the time and place. "Bring your ideas, your dreams and a large brown paper bag".
Well the children were intrigued and excited by the mysterious invitation and everyone of them RSVP'd with joy!
The day of the party, each child was greeted at the door by the mommy and the little girl and handed a sheet of instructions and ideas for items they might make. "These are just suggestions" it read."You are encouraged to create!"
Then the mommy covered the kitchen table with layers and layers of newspaper, laid down over a big black garbage bag, so the table wouldn't be harmed even if someone spilled the glue!
The children had a wonderful afternoon, creating and comparing one another's art-work. There was no need for party favors, because each child had made their own! The food was simple, cupcakes, lemonade ( the fizzy kind, made with seltzer) and cream cheese and jelly sandwiches cut into triangles. Everyone said it was THE BEST PARTY ever! And it only cost me, (yup, you guessed, I am the "mommy") $20.00 for 15 children, including the postage for the invitations!
Oh yes, the brown paper bag? That was to carry home the treasures they had made. :)
By Laura from NJ at the beach
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We went to a friend's birthday party which we did at the fair for free. We got to see all the animals and exhibits. We then found a picnic table and the mom had packed 16 cupcakes in a plastic shoe box. She then stacked in a tier on a plate and topped with candles.
Get together a couple of gallons of ice cream, some toppings and bananas for banana splits. Have Dad or a male friend dressed up like the Gay 1890s, handlebar mustache, straw hat, vest and white shirt, white pants to make the ice cream for the kids.
There are great ways to save on children's parties and still make the kids smile. Whether it's a birthday party or a themed slumber party, save money and gain smiles.
I had a very frugal carnival party for a 6 year old. All the games were made from items we had on hand. Prizes came from Freecycle but you could do the same for a very little more expense ...
Rather than buying expensive themed party supplies, decorate plain or colored plates and cups with stickers that follow the party's theme. We used metallic star stickers for our fairy and wizard themed birthday party and we found them at the dollar store in packs of 500!
We are campers. Years ago, our youngest daughter asked if she could take a group of friends from school and we agreed. She wanted to both boys and girls. At first we were hesitant, but we laid down a few guidelines.
Where is a really really fun place for a 6 year old girl can have a blast without spending so much money. I want her ro remember her birthday and how much fun she had.
The important thing would be to know what sorts of things she likes. Is she more of a Princess type, or a more outdoors/sporty type?
obviously if the weather's good, the outdoors is the best kind of party because it would require almost no cost.
But even if she's more of a 'princess' type, you can find ways to decorate on the cheap from Dollar store findings.
The final step would be to plan events, such as
- games
- movies
- crafts sessions or cooking/baking sessions
The zoo is usually cost effective and soooo memorable!
Our local firehouse will allow you to use their public utility room free, if not already reserved. They will even allow the children to tour the firehouse, talk to them about fire safety and if available, play in the model house used to teach about fire safety.
Does anyone have any frugal ideas for kids birthday parties?
By Mary Frances
I just had a party for my 11 year old. Instead of water balloons, I bought 4 long car washing sponges at the dollar store, cut them in half, filled up a couple pots of water, left the sprinkler running and they had so much fun!
Another is a scavenger hunt, either door to door or at the park.
The dollar store is a great resource for crafty ideas, goodie bags and games.
We also baked cupcakes the night before, and let the girls decorate them with homemade icing, candies, etc. - Jackie
I love dollar stores because you can pick up party
favors as well as accessories for a dollar. They often have any color you may want. also they sometimes carry Barney or Batman stuff. If not you can always dress up the party with streamers and balloons, cups, plates, tablecloth, etc from the dollar store in your child's theme colors and then spend the money for big ticket items like pinatas or certain decorations with your child's theme at the party stores you frequent.
Depending on the age group-
Let them make place mats out of paper sacks and crayons
Let them frost and decorate their own cupcake or cookie (sprinkles of assorted kinds, etc.)
Let them shave a balloon with an old bladeless razor
Play pin the nose on the clown (draw a clown face on a piece of posterboard/oaktag and cut our red circles for noses- put the child's name on the back of the nose so you can tell who came the closest)
The library has a ton of "cheap party" books that you can tailor to your age group and you can get the ideas without even leaving the library
Try old fashioned games that the kids have never heard of - mother may I - pom pom pull away - blinds man bluff
Get some face paint at the store and paint a butterfly etc. on their faces - let the bigger kids take over this job - they love it
Get several shapes of macaroni and let the kids glue them on to shapes that you have cut out of poster board/oaktag - such as a chicken, flower, boat
This should give you a start. Most of all have FUN giving this party. - Judy
I'm trying to plan something for my daughter who will be 6 on April 9th. She is in Kindergarten and I would like to invite some kids from her school to do something on a shoe string. Everything that could go wrong has in my family the last few years and time have gotten even tougher to the point of poverty. I'm trying to spend less than nothing.
