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Frugal Kids Birthday Party Ideas

June 9, 2010

Frugal Kid's Birthday PartyOnce 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. My Frugal LifeEven 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?"

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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!"

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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

Do you have a frugal story to share with the ThriftyFun community? Submit your essay here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_myfrugallife.ldml

 
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March 28, 2006

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.



So any ideas were I could make something that you would normally have on hand or that might cost less than $20-$50 for the whole party would be greatly appreciated. I'm leaning more towards the $20! Times are pretty rough, but I don't want her to miss out on this with her friends. We live in the country and no neighbors have young children, so I'm trying to meet some of the parents and children.
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Any frugal fun 6th girl Birthday Party ideas would be much appreciated. I also live in a small farm house without much room. I was thinking just about cake and ice cream, but is that too cheap?

Dustmopkoski from MI

Answers

By sueey (Guest Post)
March 28, 20060 found this helpful

My mother always gave us great birthdays with lots of friends and we were incredibly poor! She made homemade cakes and we always gave away packages of bubbles as party favors. Sometimes we did a craft or played a party game. You can make a cake from the box if you can't from scratch -- two boxes can be less than $2. Make icing from confectioner's sugar, butter, a little milk and vanilla. Another $2 tops. Buy bubbles at the dollar store and figure out some little game to play. Or have the kids do a craft and let that be part of their favor. You don't need to spend very much money to have a sweet party!

 
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October 24, 2011

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.

 
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June 19, 2001

Does anyone have any frugal ideas for kids birthday parties?

By Mary Frances

Answers


Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks
June 27, 20010 found this helpful

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!

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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

 

Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks
June 28, 20010 found this helpful

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.

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for example streamers are usually $1.49 at the party stores but only a buck at the dollar stores. Hope it helps. - Jackie

 

Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks
June 29, 20010 found this helpful

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)

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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

 

Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks
July 1, 20010 found this helpful

Here are some ideas:
Make the cake yourself and then go to the toy store. For a few dollars you can pick up a little figure and or playset of whatever character your child is fond of. Wash these and then arrange them on the cake. Using a toothpick trace out the words you want on the cake before using the icing. Mistakes are much easier to fix this way. One year I got a complete plastic Winnie the Pooh party set and put it all on the cake. My little boy loved it and he got to keep the toys after the party.

Make a Happy Birthday Banner yourself. Find a simple shape about the size of your hand that is in the theme of your party. We used rubber ducks for my daughter's first birthday (put a rubber duck on her cake too!). Trace and cut out many of these. You can trace on the top and then cut through a stack of construction paper with a good pair of scissors. You then hole-punch twice and thread on curling ribbon (you could staple too). Before you do using glitter glue (or glitter and glue) you write out HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Child's name) one letter on each shape.

Helium balloons are a must but don't go to the Party store unless they are having a sale. Call your local rental center. Many of these rent out helium tanks for parties and often will let you come in and fill your balloons there for very little. I bought good balloons at the dollar store and filled them for $.23 a piece. Also get your party favors at the dollar store. We found a amazing set of hair accessories in one pack for $1. This was a big hit at my daughter's party.

Think about having the party at a local park that has a good play ground. This took care of the entertainment for us for the most part. We still played some games but the kids enjoyed the "big Toy" the most. This time of year having the party at the local wading pool for the younger kids would be thrilling for all concerned.
Some might disagree but I think children younger than 6 should not open presents at the party. They tend to be just a bit too honest about presents they do not like. If the guests are also under 6, they don't quite understand the concept of giving away that marvelous toy that mom wrapped. You'll find fewer tears if you tuck the presents away until after the party.

One more thing, I'm a Brownie leader and I've gotten into the habit of having parents sign out their kids with me. At my daughter's party in May, I printed up a quick permission sheet and had the parents sign it before I would let them leave. It gave me an emergency number and permission to seek treatment in the rare case of an accident. Nothing happened but it made me feel more comfortable. The other parents thought I was brilliant, but it was really just common sense. I did not know all of the children present very well and certainly would have had no idea on how to reach anyone if I needed to.

Hope this helps. - Christine from Spokane, WA

 
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April 22, 2017

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.


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July 27, 2011

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.

Birthday Camping Trip

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Kelly Ann Butterbaugh
August 27, 2008

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.

Pink Dog Piñata

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November 3, 2008

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 ...

 
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August 13, 2008

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!

Use Stickers To Decorate Party Plates

 
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Silver Post Medal for All Time! 433 Posts
April 16, 2013

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. After singing Happy Birthday, each child got a cupcake, a juice box and a goody bag with bubbles, candy and balloons. All the kids had a great time for only 15 dollars. All this from a backpack; simple,fun,and frugal.

 

October 16, 2004

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.

 
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