Guest author Jenna has some great tips for planning your child’s next birthday party. Not only are these tips creative and fun, but they’re cheap too!
We’ve talked about how to plan a party on a small budget without losing the charm. But how can we make a party more personal for our children?
While planning for my child’s birthday recently I thought it would be fun to make this birthday a little more personal than previous parties. So what did I do?
Decorations
Don’t just go to the store to buy decorations for the party; get your child involved in buying decorations. It brings excitement to their lives and makes them feel like part of the process. Here’s a list of items usually found around the house that can be used to create unique decorations:
- Construction paper
- Cardboard boxes
- Paper bags
- Stickers
- Empty jelly or pasta jars
- Streamers
- Crayons, colored pencils, markers, paint
Letting your child get creative with these items to make decorations is a great way to add a personal touch to the party. Kids love it too because they get to create things with their own hands!
Food
There is nothing in the birthday party rules that states you have to provide a full meal to guests. In fact, the time of day you plan the party determines the assumptions made by the guests on whether to eat or not. A note on invitations tells them what to expect and it doesn’t take a lot of wording: cake and ice cream, snacks, hot dogs. Say whatever you will serve briefly to let them know what to expect.
If you do decide to provide snacks or a meal, consult the birthday boy or girl about what they want. Let them get involved helping you make it. If the kid wants Mac’n Cheese get some cupcake paper or foil and bake it in individual servings. Let the kid help make the cake (or decorate it!).
Invitations
Don’t just go to the store and buy fill-in-the-blank party invitations! Let the birthday kid create them on the computer and print them out. If you have stamp sets or do a lot of card crafting make an afternoon of just creating personalized invitations. They don’t all have to be the same. If you don’t have time to make them yourself or print something from your computer, look online. There are a number of great party invites
that you can personalize with text, pictures, and more.
Party Games and Activities
Younger kids are easy to please. Pretty much from age 8 and under you can come up with unique games on the fly and they will enjoy themselves as long as there is some reward for winning. I went to one party where the kids had to guess how many cotton balls were in a jar. Both items for the game were already in the house. The kids loved it.
If you have a fun backyard and the weather is nice enough just let the kids run around and play outside. Children love fun in the sun and they can use stuff you already have to play with.
There is no reason your child’s birthday party can’t be personal and exciting at the same time. It just takes a little creativity and participation from your child in planning!
Thanks Jenna! Little Guy’s birthday is coming up and we haven’t thought about his party yet, so your tips are perfectly timed for us!
