Planning a birthday party for your child can be quite a process. There are so many birthday party ideas for kids to choose from and tons of work to do to pull it all together.
From choosing a location and theme to organizing the activities, sending out invitations, praying people show up and trying to make sure your child has an amazing time. Most parents find themselves exhausted after the 2 to 4-hour ordeal has ended.
Nowadays, birthday parties can cost hundreds of dollars so if you have more than one child, this could seriously take a negative toll on your finances. I’m personally over party packages at expensive family entertainment centers. While the events are fun, I can take my son to outings on my own when it’s not his birthday to avoid those ridiculous rates.
While there are plenty of free ways to celebrate your child’s birthday, most kids will want or expect a party for a few years and let’s face it, parties are a fun way of celebrating a birthday (as long as you’re not throwing it).
I’ve thrown some type of party for my son for the past five years. This year, we kept it low key and just had a celebration with family at our home. If you have a budget for your child’s next birthday party, here are a few frugal birthday party ideas for kids.
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Host At Your House
To keep kids entertained, you can come up with a theme that represents your child. Choose their favorite activity or character at the time and play games based on that theme.
Go To The Local Park
If your child’s birthday is in the summer, you are quite lucky since you can host it outside. You may need to pay a small fee to reserve an outdoor area for a few hours, but you won’t have to spend much on entertainment.
You can organize the party like a field day and have the kids play sports like soccer, basketball, and dodgeball for prizes. For food and entertainment, you can grill out and rent a bounce hours or pick up a piñata for everyone to take a stab at.
Go Bowling
For six kids to bowl unlimited games for two hours, it was $60 which included pizza, and all the paperware. All we had to do was bring cake and relax for a change then go home to a clean house.
To save money on a bowling party, try to avoid well-known and busy places like Brunswick Zone that have an arcade on the side along with many other expensive rides, etc. because it will cost you more instead of just focusing on the bowling at a smaller location.
Check Out Free or Discounted Areas
Does your area have any free zoos? I know Chicago does and even my hometown has a free petting zoo. While the zoo may actually host parties there and charge a fee, nothing stops you from exploring the zoo with a few of your child’s friends, bringing a cake, and purchasing ice cream on-site.
Another great option would be your local community center, where kids would be able to swim or play around. While some community centers charge for a room, if you’re only going for the pool or to the basketball court, you will most likely only pay for the visit passes. Bring some snacks and call it a success!
One of my favorite ideas is going to a shopping center with a fun interactive place for the kids to go and play. Most of them are free or inexpensive, and with a food court nearby, the kids won’t go hungry. You could also have a cake or cookie for the birthday child purchased right on the spot, so you don’t have to worry about decorations, the cake and candles, or anything else. The kids will have fun, you won’t be stressed out, and the savings can be significant.
Choose A More Affordable Theme
Some parties get expensive because of the theme. Throwing a spa party is most likely going to cost you more than throwing a fun luau type party in your backyard. Here are some of my favorite theme ideas!
Pirates
Pirates were the theme for my son’s 6th birthday. He loves the television show Jake and the Neverland Pirates so I picked up a delicious cake for $20 and organized a treasure hunt for him and my brother to embark on throughout our house.
I found examples for clues on a website and it was super fun watching them go after each clue.
We drank Pirates Punch (which was Kool-Aid, sherbet, and lemon-lime soda), ate pizza, and had a great time.
Minions
Minions are soooo cute! Who doesn’t love them? I recently went to a minion-themed birthday party and I loved the setup. My friend who hosted the party rented a community room at her apartment complex for free. This is another great option if you are looking for a cheap place to host a birthday party! She played the movie Despicable Me for kids while they got to assemble and decorate a minion goodie bag.
Arts and Crafts
If the kids are older, consider hosting a craft party where they can make something to take home. Stores like Painted Penguin and Build-A-Bear Workshop make a killing hosting hands-on parties for kids. You can do the same thing at your home for much cheaper.
Scour the clearance section at Michael’s Craft Store to pick up paints or materials to make bags, pottery, picture frames, etc. Turn on a movie, pop some popcorn or bake some sweets, and let the fun begin.
Moana/Beach-Themed
Moana is a Disney movie that was released in 2016, but it’s still so popular. I’ve seen some awesome Moana-themed birthday parties that included water activities, island decorations, and more.
During the summer, parties that include water activities are always fun. You can pick up a wading pool, turn the sprinkler on, inflate a slip n slide, or just fill up water balloons.
Don’t Follow Traditions
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to give out favors for your child’s birthday party. While they are nice to give and receive, they aren’t mandatory. This is true especially if your child’s party has a ton of guests. Even at just $5 a favor, that can easily turn into $100 for just 20 guests! Talk about expensive.
You also don’t need a giant cake, a ton of activities to keep the kids occupied, or a buffet of food choices. Most of that food will most likely go to waste. Kids have bigger imaginations than we think. Some kids don’t even like cake! When you’re trying to think of frugal birthday party ideas for kids, don’t forget that you don’t have to follow the traditional birthday rules.
Extra Tips For Your Frugal Birthday Party Ideas For Kids
Even with choosing an inexpensive place to throw a party, having a more affordable theme, and cutting out expensive traditions, there are still many other ways to cut costs. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Stock up on decorations at the dollar store. We reuse a few decorations each year. But for the most part, we toss them out so you shouldn’t spend too much money on decorating.
- Borrow instead of rent. Sometimes you may luck out and find a friend who has some cool equipment or items you can borrow for your party. All you need to do is ask.
- Send digital invitations. You can save money on invites by sending them over the computer either as an e-vite or a Facebook private event.
- Keep the menu simple. Food is another costly area of birthday parties. To keep food costs low, you can either have a party in between lunch and dinner to cut costs. Or, you can prepare a lot of the food yourself. Most places that forbid you from bringing food in for birthday parties will at least let you bring the cake or dessert on your own. If this is the case, make sure the venue is including food for the children in the price of the party package.
- Employ your family. Can someone play DJ? Do you really need to hire a clown? By employing your family for the day of festivities, you can cut out a lot of costs that you would otherwise pay professionals for.
- Use you have around the house. You’d be surprised at the games kids can come up with when they have certain toys and resources. Simply putting some tape on your floors can turn them into an obstacle course. A balloon can be turned into a ball for a fun take on volleyball (especially because it can’t hurt anyone if it hits them). A trampoline has plenty of uses for different games. By using what you have around the house, and creating activities around those items, you can save yourself some money, and your child can still have fun!
Do you have any other frugal birthday party ideas for kids? Have you thrown any frugal birthday parties before? What helped you save money on the celebration?
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Jason Butler says
I don’t have any kids, but these are some great ideas. I need to share this with a few of my co-workers who do.
Choncé says
Yes, store these in your back pocket for when the time is right 🙂
Kara says
We just threw my son’s 5th Birthday party at our house (his choice) which kept it pretty frugal. He really wanted a pinata this year. We had fun w/ that!
Choncé says
Sounds like a fun time!
Latoya says
I love throwing kids birthday parties. One way we keep down on the cost is to have a theme for the food. One year we served cheap Little Ceasars $5 pizzas and had a salad bar. The following year we had a mini-burger bar. If we’re not doing that it’s just small kid sized snacks that are adult friendly. After age 5, I don’t do kids birthday parties unless it’s a milestone age, so we will do something fun or go out for dinner at a kids fave restaurant. Since my daughter turned 6, it’s her brother’s turn and fortunately he was born during the summer, so he is going to have an outdoor picnic party in the backyard. I hope the weather cooperates.
Choncé says
A picnic sounds fun. I’ve had to really get creative these past few years since I usually do birthday parties for my son and he was born in the winter.
DC @ Young Adult Money says
Great tips! I don’t have kids, so I haven’t had to fund a kid’s birthday yet, but it seems like there is so much pressure on these parties nowadays. There also seems to be a never-ending number of service businesses targeting kid’s birthdays. I think you need to go into the party planning with a frugal/save money/creative mindset if you want to avoid getting caught up in spending more and more money on the party.
Choncé says
It’s very easy to get carried away with children’s parties especially due to some of these businesses marketing a ‘bigger and better’ mindset like you said. As a parent, it’s important to maintain control and set expectations so everyone is happy and less money is spent.
Fehmeen says
I’ve never been to a birthday party in a park but I absolutely love the idea. i saw some photos online once and I realized it’s actually way better than having it in the house. Kids can run around and have fun in big open green spaces, you need to worry about your house getting all messy, you don’t have to be totally extravagant because it’s more of a picnic than a party.
Choncé says
My son was born during the winter so it’s not an option for us. But if I have a child with a birthday during a warmer month, we will definitely try it out. People grill out at parks all the time during the summer. Why not through a birthday party there? 🙂
Frugal Millennial says
I had no idea that kid birthday parties are so expensive! These sounds like great ideas for cutting costs.
Choncé says
They can be crazy. One of the parents at my son’s school told me he spent around $500 for his daughter’s birthday party I’m like wahhhh?!??
Anthony Goff says
We’re about to have a birthday party for my daughter who’s turning 6 on Monday! Not doing anything overly extravagant or anything like that though.
My one tip on this topic would be – make your own cake. For some reason people get all caught up in getting one of those cartoon-themed ones from the bakery that cost $20-$30. For one thing, they don’t even taste very good, especially when they’re covered in fondant. But even if they did, is it really worth spending so much for like, 2 seconds of “wow factor” and being able to post pictures of it on Facebook? Your kid is honestly not going to care at all if you paid $30 extra so he has a cake with Mickey Mouse on it.
A box of cake mix and frosting is like $3 total, and tastes way better than those bakery cakes. Just saying.
Choncé says
Exactly! Luckily, I like to bake and made about 25 cupcakes the other day for an event and didn’t spend more than $5. When you buy cakes, cookies, etc. from a bakery or store, you’ll spend so much more than that.