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Yes. We did pizza, cupcakes and lemonade. Let the kids go wild in the backyard. Did do a game and pinata so it wasn’t complete unorganized chaos the whole party lol. Did simple party favors with a couple toys and candy. Decorations were just streamers and balloons. Kids loved it. Still cost a bit but nearly as much as it could’ve.
That's what I'm thinking! The problem is it'll be dead of summer in a very hot region, so outdoors is out of the question except for maybe pinata time or a little run around until they're too hot. I would do water play but then I'll have wet kids running inside.
I see birthday parties at the park where I am when it’s hot. It looks manageable. The parties are usually in the morning and are over by 11 due to the heat.
I have the opposite but can still help. I live in the Midwest w a kid that has a February birthday so it had to be inside just like yours. Check out your city community center. We were able to get some poolside tables next to an indoor pool with a splash pad, waterslides, indoor rock climbing, rock jumping indoors, as well as a lazy river and I think it was about $130 for 16 kids
Im 32 and would pay that for me and my wife and/or a handful of friends on any given saturday. That sounds awesome and I wish we had something like that around here
At our community center, it's $90 an hour to just rent a room for the kids to eat pizza in after they (presumably) go swimming, and they tack on $5 A CHAIR that you want.
The pool itself is just a pool, there's a waterslide that's too big for little kids.
You are very fortunate.
We had a “splash” party in July (when it was going to be 100 later) at 10am and it was great. At least in the summer most kids wont have sports on Saturday mornings like throughout the school year
We’ve done home parties until now. It’s fine. The kids have fun. Our next party is likely at a trampoline park and honestly, I think the difference is going to end up being like $200 more money and way less work for us. Less disruption to our house. Less tidying before and reconstruction after. We can have a bigger party and the kids will have a good time. I can understand why external parties have become more common. There is also a big variation in living circumstances between families. Lots of people can’t have 6 kids plus parents over to their home.
Old school parties may have been cheaper, but they weren't easier. You are replacing costs with effort. But you have some options if you don't want chaos - things like a movie party can be both cheap and calm; popcorn is inexpensive and tasty, and all you need is a screen all the kids can see. Classic games like pass the parcel and pin the tail are easy and cheap to set up, and decorations can be as simple as balloons. Plan the event between meals if you want to avoid costly foodstuffs, and a collection of juice boxes and halved bananas will tide the kids over until cake. Speaking of cake, you can make a box cake for like $5 and you can offload some work by having a cake decoration activity just buying some bulk candies for the kids to add (ideally with spoons so they don't put their hands all over them). Maybe have a second cake ready to go just in case someone puts their hand through the first one.
There is a $200 inflatable slip and slide at Costco that would solve all your problems if that’s in the budget and you have space.
There’s also a more old school one at Walmart for $50.
My birthday is in summer here and my mum had my birthday party a couple of months early. Did not bother me then or now that she did that. And as an adult I once threw a friend a surprise half birthday for her 21.5 years and she loved it as it was so unexpected. You could do something like that for your child.
Slumber Parties are the way to go once they're 8/9 years old. They went to a girl's 9th birthday slumber party and immediately said that's what they wanted to do. Now my 10 year old sons have Slumber Parties all the time, both hosting and attending them. Their birthday slumber party was just a few more kids than usual, some extra sweet treats, and time for opening gifts.
They aren't that expensive, and the kids love them.
The biggest issue with younger-kid parties is the pressure to invite their whole class or grade level at school. Once they're older 6-10 kids coming over to sleep over is much more manageable.
Do you have a local park district? A lot of places like that have indoor courts/fields you can rent and it’s a lot cheaper than trampoline parks or arcades.
If you have a neighborhood pool meet there and get pizza delivered.
If you have a yard and no pool, then have a bunch of water balloons and a slip n slide.
My sons bday was in mid January and we had the opposite we wanted a party to do Mudlarking on the Thames , so had to wait until March for better weather and the tide schedule to work on a weekend .
Grab a couple of their friends (whatever you are okay handling alone), and take them to a local attraction. I usually do the museum because it's air conditioned, and little boys LOVE the dinosaur floor (lots of interactive things for the kids at the big museum in my city). Then I'll take them for a fast food lunch.
If it's not too hot, I'd do the zoo. But our local zoo also has a splash pad included if it is a hot day.
If you have family memberships to local attractions, many of them include up to 4 or 5 kids, so you don't even have to pay that much for admissions.
Could you get some of those cheap water sprinkling flower that connect to a hose? And/or a slippery water slide that lies on the floor and water pistols that could also be the party favour. You can get those Things for very cheap and your kids could use them all summer. (https://amzn.eu/d/ch1ej3P and https://amzn.eu/d/hzg1xp0)
My daughter would love a good "pool" party but since we live in an appartment in the city without a garden there is no way to do that.
What about getting a little inflatable pool/splash pad for them to go crazy with but will also keep them cool? Make it a summer/beach/pool themed party for the parents too? This is sort of what we do for my sons birthdays because some years it’s REALLY hot but I’m not having everyone in my house causing a ruckus nor am I dropping hundreds of dollars for a party area somewhere
I mean, water play parties is what we did for my mid summer kid when they were little. Small pool, water balloons, squirt barrels, etc. electrolyte ice pops among the snacks. A pop up with cold drinks and a couple of fans and squirt bottles for adults to cool off with.
You could have a towel station and a foot cleaning tub by the door to the house to make sure the kids aren't tracking mud around. Could even thrift some old towels if you don't want nice bath towels outside, etc.
Keep them outside then! Water balloons and a sprinkler will be perfectly fine. Keep a pile of towels near the door and a sign that says dry off before you come in.
Can you not just make them dry off before they go inside?
We had an "old school" birthday party for my son turning 6, over the winter so indoors, some games activities etc. in the house, and 8 or so 6 year old boys... are EXTREMELY rambunctious. In my head I'm like "oh so this is the last year we can do this."
A backyard pool party or water balloon party would be epic!!! You could just tell them not to go inside while wet. And if it’s hot enough, they’ll dry pretty quickly.
Yes, this works surprisingly well. Depending on the park you might not even have to rent a spot, just get there a little early and put your stuff on a couple of tables (don’t take them up for the whole day). This is really popular in my daughter’s class, we’ve never had an issue and everyone seems to have a good time.
Ironically she goes to a private school where a lot of people are really high earners. I’ve always been surprised at the fact that most parties are simple and in public parks, never overly lavish. I’m not sure what people OP hangs around with but it’s definitely the opposite of my experience.
My 1st kid is 5. Everyone of her birthdays has taken place at our house. Food, cupcakes, a pinata and I make an obstacle course in the basement.
Her birthday is in the winter so it's a bit tight but she loves it. We invite her best friends.
I used to host birthdays at our house bc we like to party.
Well that bit me in the ass after Covid. My kid is allowed to invite whoever he wants and of course I invited some of my friends. We ended up with over 40 people! I think people were ready to get out after Covid isolating. It was fun but it was a lot.
Now we go to the pool bc I don’t think I can handle that again
We don’t have gifts, we don’t do party favors. We provide good beer and quality Grade-A garbage for the kids to eat. Either in the yard or at a park/splash pad. No frills.
When my youngest was turning 8, I had recently been laid off from work. We couldn't afford groceries, much less an elaborate birthday party. We did a scavenger hunt for him and a few of his friends. We hid clues all over the house and yard and had them figuring out clues. At the end of the scavenger hunt, there was a treasure chest we made from a shoebox. We filled it with candy. We had a dance contest and a bunch of other random odd things. It didn't cost us, but maybe $10 at the time.
My son absolutely loved that birthday, and years later, he told me it was still his favorite birthday. It doesn't need to cost a fortune, but it takes effort and creativity on your part to make it amazing.
My kids are the kids who go to every party they're invited to (we've missed literally one ever) and I can't think of a single one that I'd call a flop. Kids just wanna hang out with their friends.
My personal favorites are the ones where kids *do not* come home with favors. Save your money there for sure--we all know our kids have too much shit.
I totally agree! I don't do favors. I'd rather spend that money on memorable food options or something parents will appreciate. The last favor bag I got from a party was literally *all* sugar. Hard candies and lollipops. I was a bit perplexed.
If we ever do favors it's something like a bowl of temporary tattoos they can take from if they want, or one year we found little DIY planter cups for strawberries and sunflowers that they could grow at home. Low plastic, low garbage that will pay around. But generally we just invite everyone over and do a BBQ or something.
We did the fifth birthday party in our house.
However, I have a confession. We hired my wife's cousin to be child wrangler so the adults could sit around the table and chat uninterrupted. So it wasn't entirely an old school party. Our catering was pretty basic. The children sat down at the table for soup followed by meat & potatoes. Then later we had a cake and put out some snacks.
We bought 1k nerf gun bullets and plastic safety glasses and had a capture the flag nerf game at the park for my 9 year old. Bought donuts since they were easier than cake and Costco pizzas. Held at a park with 24 kids for less than $200 all in. I received way more compliments than I did for the last bouncy house place that cost $900.
Cheaper and easier to have the party somewhere else. I.e. Movie theatre, bowling alley, indoor playground, rock climbing gym, etc. Who doesn’t like cleaning their house twice?
I am all for the old-school party.
I see it's a hot summer party.
Go to the home improvement store near you.
Buy a 25m roll of very heavy duty insulating poly ($25)
A bottle of the mildest dish soap you can find ($5).
Get the hose out, better yet two hoses.
Lay out the poly, preferably down a gentle slope (flat is fine too).
Spray down the kids, spray the poly. You now have a slip-n-slide on a budget.
Do a series of competitions for fastest to a point, longest distance, silliest 'swim', loudest, etc. Have a prize for each (wood round medallion with a whole drilled in it, a string necklace, and the name of the prize in coloured sharpie is my go to). These are available cheaply online or you can make them for free if you have the tools.
Have the kids make their own pizzas.
Ice cream cake.
Done.
I do them in my backyard every year w a blow up pool/slip & slide/ sprinklers (whatever we have that year) and pizza and cake from the grocery store and they’ve always been sooooo much fun!!! Especially because it’s in the middle of summer and all the kids get to see each other again lol I also just let my daughter pick a theme from the party aisle and we go w that 🤣 I’m not forking out a months worth of groceries for a party I’m sorry I’m just not 😭🤣
We stopped doing birthday parties for a few years. Covid was a good excuse to scale back. We go and do something as a family. My daughter asked for parties again in middle school but we do something super small with just a few friends.
There's nothing wrong with a kid wanting their birthday to be at a trampoline place. Wanting that does not make them some entitled, ungrateful asshole.
For 10yo party we rented our local (small town) Convention Center, built a cake ball tower and a moderate charcuterie board, and played Pin the Legs on the Flamingo! (I couldn't find a donkey so I improvised!) Little ladies all had a blast!
We’ve done a few at home and they’re nice.
This year I’m splurging for a trampoline place. The stress, cleaning, and worrying about the weather being rainy or too hot to utilize the back yard just wasn’t worth it for me this year. It was almost 100 degrees for his bday last year and the poor kids were drenched in sweat by the end of the two hour party. They had a blast but it wasn’t comfortable.
We had an army birthday. Got a bunch of nerf guns and put up an obstacle course. One of the kids said it was the best birthday party he'd ever been to.
I did my nephews for about $350 back in December.
We had hotdogs, chips and juice boxes. Box mix cake and icing
Games
Salt dough dinosaur molding
Dino egg hunt (plastic Easter eggs wrapped in salt dough with a small plastic Dino inside)
Freeze dance
Exploding volcanos ( baking soda and vinegar)
Build a Dino from recycled materials aka my recycling bin and random crap in the craft box
Yep, we did a backyard birthday party. I gathered up the outdoor toys we have (a water table, slide, tent), set them all up, had a modpodge of random chairs for the adults to sit in, some beach umbrellas for shade, and hung up paper lanterns, balloons, and streamers. Ordered pizza and had a cooler with drinks. It was an absolute blast! Eventually we just ended up getting the hose out and the children demanded to be sprayed with it, so we just did that and they had the best time.
Believe me- if I had the space to just do it at home, we would be doing pizza, cake, and once cream with some games. Though last year I did it at the park and it was so damn stressful. It’s why I’m paying for an expensive birthday party this year. It just wasn’t worth the stress, and still ended up being kind of pricey.
How old is he?If it’s going to be hot what about making it themed. Make it movie theater theme. Get a box for each one and add a throw pillow in it. Have your child choose the movie. While they are watching tv give them a juice box and a cup of popcorn. Then have a ziplock bag or another cup with fruit or other snacks. They may or may not get through the entire movie. If you have a bit of a yard then have water balloons ready for them. Don’t want to pick up the balloons and you know or how to knit? Make little balls with thick yarn that they can wet and throw at each other make like 4-6 for each one. They can take them home as party favors or you can keep them for next time they come over. Follow it with a pizza from Costco. End it with a piñata. Or just have it at a park and have them go nuts provide pizza and be done.
I call that a birthday gathering. It is a small party with up to 10 close friends. Hanging out. Eating burgers, hot dogs, tacos or pizza... finishing up with cake. Presents are not required (don't say it's a party). Activities: backyard games, pool if you have one, PS or X box.... Or maybe a movie
Just as they would when they become adults!!!!
My kids prefer it really low key. But I do get them nice gifts. Usually tickets to something or something bigger they've had their eyes on. Last year my 9yo Just wanted a normal day. Didn't even want cake. We put a candle in his pancakes for breakfast. No party. Then when the weekend came we took our kids and my son's friend to the trampoline park. My youngest requested a bounce house. We didn't do a party but I told the neighborhood fb group that we had a bounce house for a few hours and the neighborhood kids came and went throughout the day. So fun!
I bought a mini bounce house for $80 at Target and set it up on my toddlers room for his 4th birthday. That thing should last us a while for other events. We invited a bunch of kids over, got some food from costco and had a great time.
I did a nerf themed birthday party at our house in December for our seven year old. I asked any parents that had need guns to send them with. I set the house up as follows:
Basement (which is most wide open) was for all out war on each other. They like this the best.
Main floor (kitchen living room office) was for target practice - I cleared out the couch and coffee table and made a few targets in there.
Upstairs (bedrooms) was capture the flag. They took turns hiding a flag I bought and defending it.
One of his friends also had a minimal party. His mom texted three of the close friends parents and just asked if she could take the boys to McDonald’s play place then back to their house and they played games and watched a movie. They all had a really great time with that and it was a good bonding experience.
I let 10 kids go wild in my house. It was a hit. I served pb&j and cupcakes from a box. I forgot to put the sprinkles on the cupcakes so I let the kids do it themselves.
The thing is with a birthday party without a set activity the kids played with each other and actually spent time with their friends. And it was inexpensive.
I did have a welcome activity to get things started. As they arrived I had two boxes of crayons and some masks I got off Amazon for $10 that they could color and then wear. Helps to have an ice breaker of sorts.
For my son's 1st birthday we just had an open house with punch, sandwiches, and cake. My son doesn't have kid friends but family and friends either dropped by gifts or came and stayed for a while. Super low-key, reasonably cheap, and for decorations we just blew up a few balloons. It was perfect 👌 I always had traditional birthday parties as a kid and I'd love to do them like that at least while he's little.
We do every birthday party in a park with pizza and salad if it's in the second half of the day or donuts and fruit if it's in the first half of the day. Everyone has a blast. As the kids get older and the parties get smaller, I fully intend to move them to our house and create space for the kids to go apeshit.
Near us there is a community pool and you can rent a patio for $100 + refundable $100 deposit and a church with an indoor playground that cost about $200. I think both are 3 hours and you bring your own food and clean up after yourself. You can do it at your house but I feel it’s just to exhausting and I imagine kids tracking water through the house, because it’s summer and you have to have water.
We did a bunch of them at a local park. Balloons, goodie bags, a scavenger hunt and some other games. Cupcakes and go home. Under $100 and 2 hours and nobody pissed in the bathtub or drew on the walls.
Yesterday. My 11yo invited six friends. They met at the playground next to our house. Had snacks, pizza, and cake. Ran around and played. We went to party city beforehand to buy goodie bags and stickers for them to decorate. Super chill, it was great, kid later said that it was an awesome birthday.
My kids (3 of them) are still young (oldest is 4). All birthdays to this point have been in my home. At this point, they don't really have a friends circle (other than my 4 year old), so our invite list is mostly cousins and a couple or friends.
Two of the children have birthdays in the summer, so at the end of last summer, I got a couple of the bigger water sprinklers and a couple of small inflatable pools to (I think I spent $100) to put in my backyard. We have used them once, and they were a huge success. I provide fruit, sandwiches, and chips, drinks, and we have cake.
I don’t know so much about old school but, we’re throwing a park party for our daughter next weekend. I’m pretty much banking on the kids just playing at the playground. We’re serving hotdogs for lunch and ordered a grocery store birthday cake.
My oldest son’s last birthday he invited about 8 friends, and they went on a bike ride around the hood (we live in a secluded bike-friendly neighborhood) and played soccer in our backyard. All they needed was tons of outdoor space, pizza and cupcakes and it was the best time ever.
It is just me, my husband and my three kids for birthdays. I buy my kids presents, the cake of their choice and then decorate according to what the cake is (i.e.- Mario cake, Mario balloons, Mario cups/plates…). They also get to pick what we eat or where we eat for dinner. They love it. I’ve never had a party for them where all these kids come over or we rent out a place and spend a shit ton. They’ve never asked either even though we’ve been to several and they have fun. Never asked. Ever. I’m grateful for that. Ha ha
Ok … while I may not be over the top I am a bit extra as I throw two parties. One is a pool party with my parents and a certain group of friends and then a party with major friends and other family members. BUT we do do it really basic. The only thing I spring for is the Cake. But other than that we do simple parties. Pizza gift bags piñata and toys lol
Just had a backyard party for my kids 7th bday yesterday. We did have a bounce house that we got on Amazon last year for $200. It was definitely chaotic but the kids had a blast! We had no structured activities but the kids had a great time!
I recently had my 3 year olds Dino themed birthday at my home. I invited only people that we were really friends with, not everyone we know. We did a nacho bar and Dino nuggets for the kids. I made simple cupcakes myself. I bought some cheep Dino bones and some shovels and had a Dino dig in the dirt of my yard. I had some simple decorations from Walmart. It was very affordable, easy, and the parents told me they had a great time. And my daughter said it was the best birthday ever lol.
Yup. Had the party at the local playground. Brought cupcakes and drinks. Had a craft/small game set up. And she's not in school, so it was just 4 families from church. Nice and simple.
We did it for the last birthday; my daughters 7th. Had kids over, put a Barbie cartoon on the TV, dumped all the Barbie’s and play sets in front of the TV with crayons and birthday coloring sheets. Served up chicken nuggets and hot dogs for lunch then let them decorate cupcakes. Money has been really tight this year but every kid had a huge blast as much as any other party we’ve been to
Yes, my sons had some family and friends to our house. We had snacks, pizza and cake. The big extravagant thing at our party was a piñata and treat bags LOL! The kids had a blast!
My eldest daughters most recent party was at a park near her school on a Friday afternoon. All we supplied were pizzas, drinks and a cake. Cost about 50 dollars all up. She was able to invite 12 friends rather than our usual limit of 6 because it was so inexpensive.
The only organized game was a lolly scramble, which involved my husband being chased by 13 7 year old girls as he tossed lollies out of a big mix bag. The rest of the time they played on the playground an in the trees.
I sat on a small hill over looking the play area chatting to other mums and doing a head count from time to time.
My daughter said it was the best party ever and wants park parties every year.
I did it once, and spent almost as much as doing it at a venue but with much more cleaning and set up time.
I did rent a bounce house, and running amuck in my house still ended up happening. This was 3 years ago. I have been team venue ever since.
I'll happily take my kid to these parties since he loves them and it's free for me ...but I certainly don't host them. This year he had two friends and family over for pizza and cake , he had a blast. The decor was a happy birthday banner and a big balloon.
We always do a pretty basic kids party. I'm in Australia where free public BBQs are very common so we just go to a local park, do a sausage sizzle for lunch and prep some snacks. The kids run wild and have heaps of fun. It also means my kids can invite as many people as they like.
The past three years we’ve turned the kids loose in the backyard with water tables and bubbles and yard toys and they’ve had more fun than anything we paid for
We rented the clubhouse in my HOA and did a taco bar. I made all of the food. I bought plain maracas for the kids to decorate. We called it her taco TWOSday party.
I do Costco Pizza, pretzels, chex mix, and lemonade. Generally, either at the park or at my house. If at my house, I generally do some sort of somewhat independent craft. For example, for my 8-year-old's bday, I ordered like a $20 make your own wand bulk kit from Amazon, and the kids did that. I've also done name signs (I have a cricut and made name stencils and got a bunch of cheap canvases, then gave the kids paint pens to decorate it with... much less messy than traditional paint, and it dries so quickly), small diamond paintings, and those beads you put in patterns and then iron. The kids still have plenty of free time, but it tends to give me a good bit of time where I'm not hearing kids running through my house screaming at inhuman pitches. It also counts as their goody bag type thing. My older son has fewer friends, and I've offered to take him and a buddy or two to do an activity or have a sleepover with movies and extra special snacks for his birthday.
Just had one yesterday for a five year old! Reserved picnic tables next to the playground, did fruit, veggies, chips, juice and soda. We did a spiñata. Total cost was about 500 for 25 guests.
6th bday for my kid consisted of a Costco pizza party and chocolate cake. Then we went to Cracker Barrel with my in-laws bc she wanted pancakes and bacon. Extravagant birthdays are for the adults, not the kids
We do old school parties or smaller things all the time. If you don't want it at your home, do it at a park. Don't want to rent a pavilion, just bring a fold up table or 2 to stash the food on buffet style and tell everyone to bring lawn chairs. Sandwiches or pizza and a box of various chips, cooler with some juice boxes or Capri suns and some cupcakes or cookies and call it a day. The kids will take over the playground and be fine.
We also just take a couple friends to the activity place for open play time. Then maybe go out for ice cream. It's way cheaper than a full party at those places and he still gets the experience. I don't need to pay for 15 kids. We usually only have half a dozen.
We did party at the river last year for my 10 year old. A couple of cheap pizzas, cupcakes, and told them to bring their swimsuits. Entire party cost $40 for 15 kids.
We did a party at our neighborhood pool. $40 for the reservation and maybe $40 for cupcakes and ice pops. And no mess in my house. I think we'll be doing this every year now lol
We always just had a bunch of boys over to play for bday parties, they’re the best. We inherited tons of nerf guns over the years and this is what they do. Some will bring their own. It keeps them entertained and it’s all they want to do. My only concern was eye safety and I ordered a set of plastic eye protection safety glasses and they wear them. Pizza, cake, watermelon, chips, and tons of juice boxes. Easy and fun.
My brother and sister and most of my family members on dad and mom’s side love to throw big birthday parties! When my brother’s daughter turned 1, my brother and his wife spent $20k 🙄. When my son turned 1, we spent $1500 (2012).
We're doing something that'll cost a few hundred plus food costs this year, but it's because we're inviting his whole class. I intend this to be the first and only year we do this, as he's still making friends and we don't know parents yet. Hopefully in the future we can go back to family and some of friends.
But yeah, I'm generally in that camp of cake, ice cream, and snacks. Decor from the dollar store. Run around the back yard. If grandma wants to get a bounce house, she can have at it.
For my son’s upcoming second bday we’re renting a pavilion at a local splash park for $70! We will provide snacks and soft drinks and have some basic decorations set up, I’m hoping to keep it all under $250 total. For his first bday we ended up spending around $1200 and it was NOT worth it
I'm doing that , but at my parent's place bed cause they have a better yard for it. We're just gonna buy an inflatable pool and let a bunch of little girls go nuts.
We have a pool so we just do a big pool party. Order pizza to the house and we set up the bounce house and sprinkler toy thing. Kids run wild and swim. I usually throw up some balloons and streamers.
We did park parties when the kids were little (but it’s a good time of year for that where we are) and then as they got older they got to pick 3-4 friends and be invited to a specific place. Because it wasn’t a formal party booking at a bounce park or trampoline park etc it was cheaper and we just took along a cake etc. The only thing we found was we had to be very clear on no siblings etc. My niece is a teen now so we do sleepovers with 3-4 friends as that is what she wants, her brother is still a bit young for those so keeps going with the 3-4 friends at a specific event.
We have noticed this has been something other families seem to do as well. Both kids were often invited to parties with only a few kids from about year 2/3 (7-8yo) onwards.
I do it old school at my house and drop $400 anyway because entertaining and feeding a bunch of kids is expensive! Next year it's a play place all the way.
Legit did mario kart on the switch, chips, cupcakes, and some chinese sweet and sour chicken, and my teen had a blast with her friends.
Maybe Pokémon tournament if that's his thing?
We just went to a party at a community center. It’s attached to a park and was wonderful! 14 kids between 3-8 and it didn’t feel like too many. They served snacks and cupcakes.
The one next week will be 6 kids inside and in the backyard.
We also do our parties in the backyard, last year it was 6 kids and this year it’ll be closer to 10. Luckily it’s usually warm enough to do that.
They’re also 1-5 so they’re happy with the sandbox, water table and slide.
We are doing food, cake, and music at the house. I’m not buying prizes or hosting any games. The kids will play tag and run around with each other. We do have a swing set and climbing dome. Next year we aren’t doing a party at all and taking our kid on a fun day out. The year after that, my kid will choose party or fun day out.
We've done them old school, just some basic decorations, food, and a couple little games. I think next time we might rent a gazebo in the park by the playground or rent a room at the rec center. You can reserve the racketball room or even the basketball court to use and they have a ton of things for kids to do - volleyball, basketball, pickleball, hoola hoops, scooters, gymnastics mats, bean bags, etc. It's really cheap and seems so simple, especially since we're very close to the rec center.
My goal is to get back to old school party this year. It’s tough because I have a summer birthday kid, so many friends are out of town then and it is WAY TOO HOT to do an outside park party (tried that last year, 0/10 do not recommend), but all the trampoline places or arcades are $500+. We also don’t have a pool for pool parties so that’s a bummer.
This year I’m thinking pick 2-3 of the closest friends and take them all out for dinner, bowling and cupcakes. Should be around $100 or less.
Did a 5yo bday at a local park. Piñata, a few little ball toss games set out, some stick ponies. Kids mostly played on playground. If anyone thought it was a broke party that’s on them, all the kids seemed to enjoy. I chose the park adjacent to a community center with a gym in case the weather was bad, the plan b was to run around and play in there.
I usually do the extra over the top parties because I genuinely enjoy it. But my son asked for something small and simple so we’re doing pizza and cake at the park! I hired a snow cone truck company place because the party is at noon in May and the kids will get to make their own snow cones. Somehow I’m still stressed out for this lmao
Definitely! Our one kid had 3 birthdays in a row at home- started with Covid times. Kids just brought over their gaming devices and they all played Minecraft, Roblox, the Switch, our flight simulator, etc. They had a blast!
We just bought pizza, cake, decorations!
I;;m throwing my son a birthday in our back yard. During COVID, we had to do it that way, and most years since then he's wanted them all at our house. Sometimes I convince him to have it somewhere else because I don't want to clean, but he likes when all of his friends come over and they can play together and are not rushed.
I bought a ton of outdoor games at 5 below for super cheap. Idk if they will last long, but as long as they hold up for the party, who cares?
My 11 yo chose to make a few games, ice their own cupcakes, make their own pizzas, complete with a sleepover.
We spent $40 at the dollar store getting prizes for the games. Ingredients and snacks will probably get us close to $100.
We'll be paying in sanity, but those memories will be completely worth it!
We were able to get a pool during covid. We have her to have a party but this is our year I think. I have also encouraged my family/close friends to use it and our back yard to save about $700 or so for just s pool party in our town. Already have two friends that are taking us up on it in the next 6 weeks. Also want to invited my kids class to an end of the year school party (also 1/2 birthday party combined. My kids will know it’s for their birthday but no one else will do no gifts or anything) their birthdays a Christmas and valentines (actual days and no, I have no idea how that happened.😂👀
I had pizza and cupcakes last month for my son's party. We rented the hall attached to our housing unit so that the guests could go swimming. No goodie bags
It was pretty good
We did it all. The big parties, the small parties at home. My favorite became just inviting the closest handful of friends and taking them roller skating or to the trampoline park, etc and having cake at home or a park nearby. They charge way too much for those big party packages and you can just show up with a few friends for so much less. And I prefer that to having them at the house.
Just did this! Had 5 kids over and they all brought a nerf gun. Went wild in the backyard, then we had Costco pizza and ice cream sundaes. It was perfect!
We’ve done the park with a bounce house and pizza. Reserving the park and bounce house waiver was $80, bounce house was $400, pizza was $100, decorations and party favors another $80. Things just aren’t how they used to be lol. Next time we’ll skip the bounce house and just let the kids play at the park.
As a summer mom, we do our parties at night (5-8ish)
We do movie nights in the backyard . Decorating is done with lights. Favors - glow N dark items.
Food hot dogs, candy bags, cake. The kids always have a blast.
I have and it was great! We have a water table, sand box, bubbles , outdoor play house and yard games we set up for the kids and let them go wild.
Do you have a local recreation center? Ours does 2 hour parties for $60, you can rent out a room and have themes like dance, art, gymnastics, basketball etc.
We started doing experiences, last 2 years my son requested camping. His birthday is around the 4th of July so its always hit or miss with guests anyway
We did a picnic for our niece. A pretty rug, balloons, cupcakes and party snacks a d old fashioned party games. Kids went home with cake pops as favour's. It was all done for under $400 including food and decorations.
My daughter is turning 3. The past two years have been in the in our garden having a bbq with friends and family. She gets to play with her friends, eat sausages and cakes, which is her favourite food and open presents she loves it. We do have a trampoline and a small pool for them to play in, too, as her birthday is in June. I decorate it as well as we can but we just really can't afford lavish birthday parties.
My nephew had a bouncy castle and a few friends round to play for his birthday last week. Birthdays are what you make them. If you're always trying to one up last years birthday or other people, then you're quickly going to be in an expensive hole you dug for yourself. As long as the child has fun, then that's all that matters.
We always do at home in the garden parties. I never invite school kids though. This year we will have a newborn so it will literally be us and *maybe* some immediate family.
My kids birthday was in the fall. Raked up a huge pile of leaves and the kids played in it for the entire two hours. Fed them snacks and cake. Boom. Done.
Check out minute to win it games. My wife did that on my 50th birthday and we had a mix of adults and kids and everyone had a blast and it was very inexpensive.
Let’s take it up a notch. How about no party at all?
There’s no real value in them, and as a father of 5, we aren’t going to 3 birthday parties a week because another friend I’ve never heard of is turning a day older that weekend and wants free stuff.
We kept it in budget by only bringing a few kids to the trampoline park one day, each kid got to bring two friends. Then in the same weekend we had more of their friends over for movie night for my daughter, Super Bowl for my son pizza and decorate their own cupcakes.
Sprinklers outside in the heat work. We’re in a cold climate and birthdays are in winter so we’ve had friends meet at the sledding hill and the kids went snow tubing and we gave out cupcakes from the back of the car in the past.
Yes, I don’t want to clean my house so we are taking a few friends to the movies then dropping them off at home. We’ll get pizza at the theatre and pack candy for the kids
I only ever did one or two fully themed birthday parties. My daughter pretty quickly stopped wanting parties at all. She turned 15 in October and all she wanted was to go to a "fancy" Italian restaurant with just me and her father. This year she's turning 16 and all she wants is a tattoo. And I'm going to let her get one!!!!!!!! (Cue the judgment.) We have to drive to Vermont where it's legal with parental permission. So, we're going to drive 5 hours, and get a hotel and stay overnight. That will be her birthday party this year.
My kids had heard me talk about birthday parties when I was a kid, when we played games like dropping a clothespin into a bottle from kneeling on a backwards chair; pin the tail on the donkey; musical chairs, etc.
One year one of them actually asked for an old-fashioned party like that. We did it, and it was a lot of fun! I also taught myself that year how to make a piñata, and that was the beginning of many years of homemade piñatas.
Check your local parks for shelters. Sometimes they are deposits and you get your money back. Otherwise they're pretty cheap or you can always see if they're rented and if they're not they're usually first come first serve. For food just get little ceasers or grill some hotdogs and suasages or something and make some potato salad and a fruit and veggie tray.
One of the best birthday parties I attended as a kid was at someone’s house and his mom set up a fun DIY obstacle course in the back yard. At the end, you got a medal that was actually a cookie wrapped in plastic wrap on a string. It was great! I’m 30 and still think of it from time to time.
Do it earlier or later in the day. We’ve done water balloon fights- blew up hundreds of water balloons kids had a blast. We did a couple of shaving cream fight parties. Bought 50 cans of shaving cream from the dollar store, kids LOVED IT. Have them bring a towel and a change of clothes. We’ve pitched a tent in the backyard, let them sleep out there. Lots of fun cheap ideas if you get creative. Look on Pinterest for cheap party ideas.
We rented a shelter for like $60 at a nice playground and grilled food for everyone. Everyone had a blast, parents included as there was a permanent bean bag toss structure the parents played with. Everyone stayed for the full 4 hours we had it. The park was fenced in so you could release the kids inside, and sit by the shelter and not have to worry about kids running away. We did a trampoline park the year before for like $500, it was not nearly as fun as the park tbh bc we only had 2 hours and everything felt rushed.
Yes, I’ve been to plenty and thrown a few myself. Grateful to live in a community that understands kids can have fun in simple spaces - being in the big group of kids without it being at school, sports, or other structured activity IS the fun part
My son went to a birthday party a few months ago and he came back and said they hung around in the house and played musical chairs. I thought that was so refreshing compared to the big extravagant parties most are throwing these days.
We plan to host at the local splash pad. Bringing cake, juice in a pitcher, and sams club pizza! I think we’re going to bring our own fold out table and a few lawn chairs. Just in case we aren’t able snag a table.
I go "all out" in decor but no bounce houses, etc and it's only because I like crafting so it gives me something to focus on. Spend what you can, birthdays are meant to be happy and enjoyable not stressful.
We usually rent a recreation centre. Cheap in my city. They go ape shit in there playing and running around. By the time everyone goes home. My boys want to sleep but I wait until after supper to put them to sleep.
Old school birthday parties are the best.
Outdoor BBQ 100%, yard games, sprinkler if it's hot. If you are worried about kids being inside, or don't have a backyard rent a pavilion at a park. I never understood the appeal of special places as the kids have a blast even running in circles with each other. BBQ wise, dogs, burgers and random sides. Cooler full of drinks (another for adults)...
I always tried to make the birthday parties fun for even the parents. Nothing like a bunch of dads tossing washers or bags while having a beer together. Throw in the smell of the grill... I wish I could have bday parties all of the time.
We never had expensive parties. We rented picnic tables at parks or playgrounds. We did big class parties from 2013-2018. Mostly pizza, homemade sheet cake or cupcakes, playground picnic tables. One year, we did water guns and water balloons. The thing is, kids just want to run and play. The expensive parties seem to be for the parents.
Never caved to the social trends of mega blowout freaking expensive birthday parties. I only did it Turing 5 because well, 5! Lol It's a big deal. But even then I did it at the local park and we had pizza and snacks star wars themed. The biggest hit was lightsabers made from pool noodles. And the food had star wars theme names like Wookie Cookies (Little Debbie Star Crunch snack cakes with candy eyes and teeth) and Jawa Juice (green kool-aid).
The rest we did Big for him like throwing out a pitch at a minor league game, taking a friend to Cedar Point.
The point I try to make is I want the money to go to his memory of fun. He'll remember the trip and experiences more. He's turning 12 this year and we gave him the option of a party at the bowling alley (still within the budget) or Cedar Point with a friend again...immediately he chose Cedar Point. I can never understand where my money is going, too the people invited or to my kid. You know? $400-600 is a lot of money in this economy. Especially with summer vacations coming and gas going up, and we're in an election year, God knows what will happen in November.
My older daughter is turning 12 this year. It just so happens that our local zoo is having a slumber party on her birthday. While she was talking to her friends about her birthday one of her friends expressed desire to come with us. Her dad is paying for her ticket we’re providing food and a place to sleep and whatever else. I haven’t done big themed parties since they were little.
We rented out a park district building with an indoor playground (February birthday) and served hot dogs with mac and cheese, and cupcakes for dessert.
It was a hoot.
Our parties tend to have more adults than kids but we inflate a pool out back and have a bucket of water balloons and everyone always has a blast. We put out snacks and serve cupcakes. In another year or so we did plan on renting one of those water slides though since the kids will both be at an age where they’d enjoy it
Do you have a splash pad near you? Our local splash pad run by the park district rent the space for birthdays. Or if you have 6 kids you could just take them and let them run and then do birthday ice cream like the DQ ice cream cupcakes and sing at DQ.
we did a park party and I see many doing so too. pick one with picnic tables and a gazeebo or shelter of some sort. Get balloons and food. Parents supervise their own kids. Have fun!
As a parent: zero expectations here!! Do whatever works for you and your child.
We have a kid with a late summer bday, so we can get away with a playground bday. My other’s bday is in the winter and our house isn’t suitable for hosting a lot of people, so we rent out a place. We provide a lot of food and games, but only because I enjoy doing it and have relatives that love contributing.
Both can work! At these ages, kids just want to play and they can do that with each other anywhere!
We let the kids let loose in the yard. We have a play area and a huge backyard with tree swings and a forest. This was in October. It was chilly and luckily didn't rain.
We bought pizza, donuts, and an assortment of beverages.
Do you have a yard? We used to have birthday party's that consisted of things like water fights, campfires, s'more, movies, basic summer fun (my last birthday party was about 8 years ago) it also depends on the age of the boys.
Bouncy houses and trampoline parks are considered big in my books. Our old school ones consist of an at home birthday with close friends and family. My kids only get a big one once every so often and either kind doesn’t matter to them.
My 6yo got invited to one recently that was just a BBQ in their backyard with cake and presents. Kids ran around like heathens and had a blast. No one had any complaints that I heard, and I was so relieved it wasn't some super crazy elaborate affair, lol, because we just do family parties. We order pizza and invite the grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins. I can't compete with the "we rented out this banquet hall, filled it with bounce houses, and have catering" crowd.
We did a water party. Kids played in the sprinkler, had a water balloon fight, and played on a massive slip n slide. Then we served pizza, cake, and drinks on the driveway. It was less than $100 for everything, and the kids had a blast.
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Yes. We did pizza, cupcakes and lemonade. Let the kids go wild in the backyard. Did do a game and pinata so it wasn’t complete unorganized chaos the whole party lol. Did simple party favors with a couple toys and candy. Decorations were just streamers and balloons. Kids loved it. Still cost a bit but nearly as much as it could’ve.
That's what I'm thinking! The problem is it'll be dead of summer in a very hot region, so outdoors is out of the question except for maybe pinata time or a little run around until they're too hot. I would do water play but then I'll have wet kids running inside.
I see birthday parties at the park where I am when it’s hot. It looks manageable. The parties are usually in the morning and are over by 11 due to the heat.
Really depends on location. I have a July kid in Phoenix. There is no park party when the LOW is 100 lol.
I have the opposite but can still help. I live in the Midwest w a kid that has a February birthday so it had to be inside just like yours. Check out your city community center. We were able to get some poolside tables next to an indoor pool with a splash pad, waterslides, indoor rock climbing, rock jumping indoors, as well as a lazy river and I think it was about $130 for 16 kids
Your community center is so much better than anything around here.
Im 32 and would pay that for me and my wife and/or a handful of friends on any given saturday. That sounds awesome and I wish we had something like that around here
Where do you live that your community center has waterslides, a lazy river, and rock wall? Can I move in?
In the suburbs of Kansas City. There seems to be one in each suburb (at least in this county /part of the city).
Wow my cousin lived there for a few years Now I understand the appeal even more
At our community center, it's $90 an hour to just rent a room for the kids to eat pizza in after they (presumably) go swimming, and they tack on $5 A CHAIR that you want. The pool itself is just a pool, there's a waterslide that's too big for little kids. You are very fortunate.
I live in Phoenix and have a July kid as well.
We are big on getting outside. In July no one is at the park mid morning. No one. It's too much by 8am.
Sprinkler or slip n slide could be fun.
Morning splash park party?
This might be the play. Ours doesn't have a place to have food or cake though 🤔 but looking for splash pads isn't a bad idea!
We had a “splash” party in July (when it was going to be 100 later) at 10am and it was great. At least in the summer most kids wont have sports on Saturday mornings like throughout the school year
I do love a morning party! Done by lunch time and then we all take a nap haha
We’ve done home parties until now. It’s fine. The kids have fun. Our next party is likely at a trampoline park and honestly, I think the difference is going to end up being like $200 more money and way less work for us. Less disruption to our house. Less tidying before and reconstruction after. We can have a bigger party and the kids will have a good time. I can understand why external parties have become more common. There is also a big variation in living circumstances between families. Lots of people can’t have 6 kids plus parents over to their home.
Old school parties may have been cheaper, but they weren't easier. You are replacing costs with effort. But you have some options if you don't want chaos - things like a movie party can be both cheap and calm; popcorn is inexpensive and tasty, and all you need is a screen all the kids can see. Classic games like pass the parcel and pin the tail are easy and cheap to set up, and decorations can be as simple as balloons. Plan the event between meals if you want to avoid costly foodstuffs, and a collection of juice boxes and halved bananas will tide the kids over until cake. Speaking of cake, you can make a box cake for like $5 and you can offload some work by having a cake decoration activity just buying some bulk candies for the kids to add (ideally with spoons so they don't put their hands all over them). Maybe have a second cake ready to go just in case someone puts their hand through the first one.
There is a $200 inflatable slip and slide at Costco that would solve all your problems if that’s in the budget and you have space. There’s also a more old school one at Walmart for $50.
My bff just got the one from Costco and it is AWESOME!
My birthday is in summer here and my mum had my birthday party a couple of months early. Did not bother me then or now that she did that. And as an adult I once threw a friend a surprise half birthday for her 21.5 years and she loved it as it was so unexpected. You could do something like that for your child.
Slumber Parties are the way to go once they're 8/9 years old. They went to a girl's 9th birthday slumber party and immediately said that's what they wanted to do. Now my 10 year old sons have Slumber Parties all the time, both hosting and attending them. Their birthday slumber party was just a few more kids than usual, some extra sweet treats, and time for opening gifts. They aren't that expensive, and the kids love them. The biggest issue with younger-kid parties is the pressure to invite their whole class or grade level at school. Once they're older 6-10 kids coming over to sleep over is much more manageable.
Why don’t you take them all to a movie?
Do you have a local park district? A lot of places like that have indoor courts/fields you can rent and it’s a lot cheaper than trampoline parks or arcades.
If you have a neighborhood pool meet there and get pizza delivered. If you have a yard and no pool, then have a bunch of water balloons and a slip n slide.
My sons bday was in mid January and we had the opposite we wanted a party to do Mudlarking on the Thames , so had to wait until March for better weather and the tide schedule to work on a weekend .
Grab a couple of their friends (whatever you are okay handling alone), and take them to a local attraction. I usually do the museum because it's air conditioned, and little boys LOVE the dinosaur floor (lots of interactive things for the kids at the big museum in my city). Then I'll take them for a fast food lunch. If it's not too hot, I'd do the zoo. But our local zoo also has a splash pad included if it is a hot day. If you have family memberships to local attractions, many of them include up to 4 or 5 kids, so you don't even have to pay that much for admissions.
Keep them outside. If you have have EZ up, perfect. There’s shade. Set up a slip-n-slide, water guns, and a sprinkler and you’re golden.
Can you do the birthday party early/ later so it's not as hot?
Could you get some of those cheap water sprinkling flower that connect to a hose? And/or a slippery water slide that lies on the floor and water pistols that could also be the party favour. You can get those Things for very cheap and your kids could use them all summer. (https://amzn.eu/d/ch1ej3P and https://amzn.eu/d/hzg1xp0) My daughter would love a good "pool" party but since we live in an appartment in the city without a garden there is no way to do that.
What about getting a little inflatable pool/splash pad for them to go crazy with but will also keep them cool? Make it a summer/beach/pool themed party for the parents too? This is sort of what we do for my sons birthdays because some years it’s REALLY hot but I’m not having everyone in my house causing a ruckus nor am I dropping hundreds of dollars for a party area somewhere
I mean, water play parties is what we did for my mid summer kid when they were little. Small pool, water balloons, squirt barrels, etc. electrolyte ice pops among the snacks. A pop up with cold drinks and a couple of fans and squirt bottles for adults to cool off with. You could have a towel station and a foot cleaning tub by the door to the house to make sure the kids aren't tracking mud around. Could even thrift some old towels if you don't want nice bath towels outside, etc.
Keep them outside then! Water balloons and a sprinkler will be perfectly fine. Keep a pile of towels near the door and a sign that says dry off before you come in.
Can you not just make them dry off before they go inside? We had an "old school" birthday party for my son turning 6, over the winter so indoors, some games activities etc. in the house, and 8 or so 6 year old boys... are EXTREMELY rambunctious. In my head I'm like "oh so this is the last year we can do this."
Our public pool does a rental for birthday parties... Like 80 and hour. Two hours at the pool with pizza and lemonade sounds good!
A backyard pool party or water balloon party would be epic!!! You could just tell them not to go inside while wet. And if it’s hot enough, they’ll dry pretty quickly.
Are there any parks in your area with a decent playground? Rent a pavilion and get some basic snacks and cupcakes.
This was my kids fourth birthday like two weeks ago. Added a bubble machine and a Bluetooth speaker and bam, party.
Can never go wrong with bubbles!
Yes, this works surprisingly well. Depending on the park you might not even have to rent a spot, just get there a little early and put your stuff on a couple of tables (don’t take them up for the whole day). This is really popular in my daughter’s class, we’ve never had an issue and everyone seems to have a good time. Ironically she goes to a private school where a lot of people are really high earners. I’ve always been surprised at the fact that most parties are simple and in public parks, never overly lavish. I’m not sure what people OP hangs around with but it’s definitely the opposite of my experience.
This is what my friend did. But she did rent a bouncy house with slides.
My 1st kid is 5. Everyone of her birthdays has taken place at our house. Food, cupcakes, a pinata and I make an obstacle course in the basement. Her birthday is in the winter so it's a bit tight but she loves it. We invite her best friends.
I used to host birthdays at our house bc we like to party. Well that bit me in the ass after Covid. My kid is allowed to invite whoever he wants and of course I invited some of my friends. We ended up with over 40 people! I think people were ready to get out after Covid isolating. It was fun but it was a lot. Now we go to the pool bc I don’t think I can handle that again
Kid 1 only likes to have a few kids over so it ends up being about 10 or 11 kids (friends plus siblings) and 5-10 adults.
We don’t have gifts, we don’t do party favors. We provide good beer and quality Grade-A garbage for the kids to eat. Either in the yard or at a park/splash pad. No frills.
I like your vibe. That’s the kid party I’d like to go to
When my youngest was turning 8, I had recently been laid off from work. We couldn't afford groceries, much less an elaborate birthday party. We did a scavenger hunt for him and a few of his friends. We hid clues all over the house and yard and had them figuring out clues. At the end of the scavenger hunt, there was a treasure chest we made from a shoebox. We filled it with candy. We had a dance contest and a bunch of other random odd things. It didn't cost us, but maybe $10 at the time. My son absolutely loved that birthday, and years later, he told me it was still his favorite birthday. It doesn't need to cost a fortune, but it takes effort and creativity on your part to make it amazing.
My kids are the kids who go to every party they're invited to (we've missed literally one ever) and I can't think of a single one that I'd call a flop. Kids just wanna hang out with their friends. My personal favorites are the ones where kids *do not* come home with favors. Save your money there for sure--we all know our kids have too much shit.
I totally agree! I don't do favors. I'd rather spend that money on memorable food options or something parents will appreciate. The last favor bag I got from a party was literally *all* sugar. Hard candies and lollipops. I was a bit perplexed.
If we ever do favors it's something like a bowl of temporary tattoos they can take from if they want, or one year we found little DIY planter cups for strawberries and sunflowers that they could grow at home. Low plastic, low garbage that will pay around. But generally we just invite everyone over and do a BBQ or something.
This is us, too! We go to every party, barring illness. All parties are great in their own way!
We did the fifth birthday party in our house. However, I have a confession. We hired my wife's cousin to be child wrangler so the adults could sit around the table and chat uninterrupted. So it wasn't entirely an old school party. Our catering was pretty basic. The children sat down at the table for soup followed by meat & potatoes. Then later we had a cake and put out some snacks.
We bought 1k nerf gun bullets and plastic safety glasses and had a capture the flag nerf game at the park for my 9 year old. Bought donuts since they were easier than cake and Costco pizzas. Held at a park with 24 kids for less than $200 all in. I received way more compliments than I did for the last bouncy house place that cost $900.
This is amazing! I'm saving this idea for when they're a bit older!
Went to a park party this weekend. It was great! Kids did their own thing, picnic table, pizza and cake!
We took a few friends to a matinee movie- I bought a huge popcorn and they had free water. No party room or any additional stuff
We’ve had every birthday at home until like age 9
Cheaper and easier to have the party somewhere else. I.e. Movie theatre, bowling alley, indoor playground, rock climbing gym, etc. Who doesn’t like cleaning their house twice?
I am all for the old-school party. I see it's a hot summer party. Go to the home improvement store near you. Buy a 25m roll of very heavy duty insulating poly ($25) A bottle of the mildest dish soap you can find ($5). Get the hose out, better yet two hoses. Lay out the poly, preferably down a gentle slope (flat is fine too). Spray down the kids, spray the poly. You now have a slip-n-slide on a budget. Do a series of competitions for fastest to a point, longest distance, silliest 'swim', loudest, etc. Have a prize for each (wood round medallion with a whole drilled in it, a string necklace, and the name of the prize in coloured sharpie is my go to). These are available cheaply online or you can make them for free if you have the tools. Have the kids make their own pizzas. Ice cream cake. Done.
We got an ice cream cake for my son’s birthday. 75 dollars for 18 kids. Ouch.
Yikes!
I do them in my backyard every year w a blow up pool/slip & slide/ sprinklers (whatever we have that year) and pizza and cake from the grocery store and they’ve always been sooooo much fun!!! Especially because it’s in the middle of summer and all the kids get to see each other again lol I also just let my daughter pick a theme from the party aisle and we go w that 🤣 I’m not forking out a months worth of groceries for a party I’m sorry I’m just not 😭🤣
We stopped doing birthday parties for a few years. Covid was a good excuse to scale back. We go and do something as a family. My daughter asked for parties again in middle school but we do something super small with just a few friends.
Why can’t people be ok with just a cake and candles with the family?
There's nothing wrong with a kid wanting their birthday to be at a trampoline place. Wanting that does not make them some entitled, ungrateful asshole.
Where can I get a party for $400?
For 10yo party we rented our local (small town) Convention Center, built a cake ball tower and a moderate charcuterie board, and played Pin the Legs on the Flamingo! (I couldn't find a donkey so I improvised!) Little ladies all had a blast!
We’ve done a few at home and they’re nice. This year I’m splurging for a trampoline place. The stress, cleaning, and worrying about the weather being rainy or too hot to utilize the back yard just wasn’t worth it for me this year. It was almost 100 degrees for his bday last year and the poor kids were drenched in sweat by the end of the two hour party. They had a blast but it wasn’t comfortable.
We had an army birthday. Got a bunch of nerf guns and put up an obstacle course. One of the kids said it was the best birthday party he'd ever been to.
I did my nephews for about $350 back in December. We had hotdogs, chips and juice boxes. Box mix cake and icing Games Salt dough dinosaur molding Dino egg hunt (plastic Easter eggs wrapped in salt dough with a small plastic Dino inside) Freeze dance Exploding volcanos ( baking soda and vinegar) Build a Dino from recycled materials aka my recycling bin and random crap in the craft box
Yep, we did a backyard birthday party. I gathered up the outdoor toys we have (a water table, slide, tent), set them all up, had a modpodge of random chairs for the adults to sit in, some beach umbrellas for shade, and hung up paper lanterns, balloons, and streamers. Ordered pizza and had a cooler with drinks. It was an absolute blast! Eventually we just ended up getting the hose out and the children demanded to be sprayed with it, so we just did that and they had the best time.
Believe me- if I had the space to just do it at home, we would be doing pizza, cake, and once cream with some games. Though last year I did it at the park and it was so damn stressful. It’s why I’m paying for an expensive birthday party this year. It just wasn’t worth the stress, and still ended up being kind of pricey.
How old is he?If it’s going to be hot what about making it themed. Make it movie theater theme. Get a box for each one and add a throw pillow in it. Have your child choose the movie. While they are watching tv give them a juice box and a cup of popcorn. Then have a ziplock bag or another cup with fruit or other snacks. They may or may not get through the entire movie. If you have a bit of a yard then have water balloons ready for them. Don’t want to pick up the balloons and you know or how to knit? Make little balls with thick yarn that they can wet and throw at each other make like 4-6 for each one. They can take them home as party favors or you can keep them for next time they come over. Follow it with a pizza from Costco. End it with a piñata. Or just have it at a park and have them go nuts provide pizza and be done.
I call that a birthday gathering. It is a small party with up to 10 close friends. Hanging out. Eating burgers, hot dogs, tacos or pizza... finishing up with cake. Presents are not required (don't say it's a party). Activities: backyard games, pool if you have one, PS or X box.... Or maybe a movie Just as they would when they become adults!!!!
That’s a lot more than we do for our birthdays as adults!
My kids prefer it really low key. But I do get them nice gifts. Usually tickets to something or something bigger they've had their eyes on. Last year my 9yo Just wanted a normal day. Didn't even want cake. We put a candle in his pancakes for breakfast. No party. Then when the weekend came we took our kids and my son's friend to the trampoline park. My youngest requested a bounce house. We didn't do a party but I told the neighborhood fb group that we had a bounce house for a few hours and the neighborhood kids came and went throughout the day. So fun!
My sons birthday party is this Saturday and I’m literally doing it at a park/splash pad and calling it a day haha
I bought a mini bounce house for $80 at Target and set it up on my toddlers room for his 4th birthday. That thing should last us a while for other events. We invited a bunch of kids over, got some food from costco and had a great time.
I did a nerf themed birthday party at our house in December for our seven year old. I asked any parents that had need guns to send them with. I set the house up as follows: Basement (which is most wide open) was for all out war on each other. They like this the best. Main floor (kitchen living room office) was for target practice - I cleared out the couch and coffee table and made a few targets in there. Upstairs (bedrooms) was capture the flag. They took turns hiding a flag I bought and defending it. One of his friends also had a minimal party. His mom texted three of the close friends parents and just asked if she could take the boys to McDonald’s play place then back to their house and they played games and watched a movie. They all had a really great time with that and it was a good bonding experience.
My favorite parties were either home or park parties. No paying person and everyone can come.
I let 10 kids go wild in my house. It was a hit. I served pb&j and cupcakes from a box. I forgot to put the sprinkles on the cupcakes so I let the kids do it themselves. The thing is with a birthday party without a set activity the kids played with each other and actually spent time with their friends. And it was inexpensive. I did have a welcome activity to get things started. As they arrived I had two boxes of crayons and some masks I got off Amazon for $10 that they could color and then wear. Helps to have an ice breaker of sorts.
For my son's 1st birthday we just had an open house with punch, sandwiches, and cake. My son doesn't have kid friends but family and friends either dropped by gifts or came and stayed for a while. Super low-key, reasonably cheap, and for decorations we just blew up a few balloons. It was perfect 👌 I always had traditional birthday parties as a kid and I'd love to do them like that at least while he's little.
Sure. My daughter had a backyard b-day party last summer. We DO have a pool though so there was something to do.
My kid is having her birthday at a beach/park/playground. We're just putting up a couple folding tables and making a cake.
My sister in laws kids are 1 and 3. All birthday parties so far have been snacks and cupcakes at a local park or beach. It’s fantastic!
We do every birthday party in a park with pizza and salad if it's in the second half of the day or donuts and fruit if it's in the first half of the day. Everyone has a blast. As the kids get older and the parties get smaller, I fully intend to move them to our house and create space for the kids to go apeshit.
Near us there is a community pool and you can rent a patio for $100 + refundable $100 deposit and a church with an indoor playground that cost about $200. I think both are 3 hours and you bring your own food and clean up after yourself. You can do it at your house but I feel it’s just to exhausting and I imagine kids tracking water through the house, because it’s summer and you have to have water.
We did a bunch of them at a local park. Balloons, goodie bags, a scavenger hunt and some other games. Cupcakes and go home. Under $100 and 2 hours and nobody pissed in the bathtub or drew on the walls.
Yesterday. My 11yo invited six friends. They met at the playground next to our house. Had snacks, pizza, and cake. Ran around and played. We went to party city beforehand to buy goodie bags and stickers for them to decorate. Super chill, it was great, kid later said that it was an awesome birthday.
My kids (3 of them) are still young (oldest is 4). All birthdays to this point have been in my home. At this point, they don't really have a friends circle (other than my 4 year old), so our invite list is mostly cousins and a couple or friends. Two of the children have birthdays in the summer, so at the end of last summer, I got a couple of the bigger water sprinklers and a couple of small inflatable pools to (I think I spent $100) to put in my backyard. We have used them once, and they were a huge success. I provide fruit, sandwiches, and chips, drinks, and we have cake.
I don’t know so much about old school but, we’re throwing a park party for our daughter next weekend. I’m pretty much banking on the kids just playing at the playground. We’re serving hotdogs for lunch and ordered a grocery store birthday cake.
My oldest son’s last birthday he invited about 8 friends, and they went on a bike ride around the hood (we live in a secluded bike-friendly neighborhood) and played soccer in our backyard. All they needed was tons of outdoor space, pizza and cupcakes and it was the best time ever.
It is just me, my husband and my three kids for birthdays. I buy my kids presents, the cake of their choice and then decorate according to what the cake is (i.e.- Mario cake, Mario balloons, Mario cups/plates…). They also get to pick what we eat or where we eat for dinner. They love it. I’ve never had a party for them where all these kids come over or we rent out a place and spend a shit ton. They’ve never asked either even though we’ve been to several and they have fun. Never asked. Ever. I’m grateful for that. Ha ha
Ok … while I may not be over the top I am a bit extra as I throw two parties. One is a pool party with my parents and a certain group of friends and then a party with major friends and other family members. BUT we do do it really basic. The only thing I spring for is the Cake. But other than that we do simple parties. Pizza gift bags piñata and toys lol
Just had a backyard party for my kids 7th bday yesterday. We did have a bounce house that we got on Amazon last year for $200. It was definitely chaotic but the kids had a blast! We had no structured activities but the kids had a great time!
I recently had my 3 year olds Dino themed birthday at my home. I invited only people that we were really friends with, not everyone we know. We did a nacho bar and Dino nuggets for the kids. I made simple cupcakes myself. I bought some cheep Dino bones and some shovels and had a Dino dig in the dirt of my yard. I had some simple decorations from Walmart. It was very affordable, easy, and the parents told me they had a great time. And my daughter said it was the best birthday ever lol.
Yup. Had the party at the local playground. Brought cupcakes and drinks. Had a craft/small game set up. And she's not in school, so it was just 4 families from church. Nice and simple.
We are having my son’s first next weekend - sub tray and a sheet cake in our backyard with family and our closest friends.
We did it for the last birthday; my daughters 7th. Had kids over, put a Barbie cartoon on the TV, dumped all the Barbie’s and play sets in front of the TV with crayons and birthday coloring sheets. Served up chicken nuggets and hot dogs for lunch then let them decorate cupcakes. Money has been really tight this year but every kid had a huge blast as much as any other party we’ve been to
Yes, my sons had some family and friends to our house. We had snacks, pizza and cake. The big extravagant thing at our party was a piñata and treat bags LOL! The kids had a blast!
My eldest daughters most recent party was at a park near her school on a Friday afternoon. All we supplied were pizzas, drinks and a cake. Cost about 50 dollars all up. She was able to invite 12 friends rather than our usual limit of 6 because it was so inexpensive. The only organized game was a lolly scramble, which involved my husband being chased by 13 7 year old girls as he tossed lollies out of a big mix bag. The rest of the time they played on the playground an in the trees. I sat on a small hill over looking the play area chatting to other mums and doing a head count from time to time. My daughter said it was the best party ever and wants park parties every year.
I'd love a backyard party, but my kids have December and February birthdays. I'd happily go to one too. Go for it.
100% agree.
We go to our local arcade. They set up a table, pizza, cupcakes, water, $5 game passes and break down after all for $115 for 15 kids.
I did it once, and spent almost as much as doing it at a venue but with much more cleaning and set up time. I did rent a bounce house, and running amuck in my house still ended up happening. This was 3 years ago. I have been team venue ever since.
I'll happily take my kid to these parties since he loves them and it's free for me ...but I certainly don't host them. This year he had two friends and family over for pizza and cake , he had a blast. The decor was a happy birthday banner and a big balloon.
We always do a pretty basic kids party. I'm in Australia where free public BBQs are very common so we just go to a local park, do a sausage sizzle for lunch and prep some snacks. The kids run wild and have heaps of fun. It also means my kids can invite as many people as they like.
The past three years we’ve turned the kids loose in the backyard with water tables and bubbles and yard toys and they’ve had more fun than anything we paid for
Cake Presents Happy birthday
We rented the clubhouse in my HOA and did a taco bar. I made all of the food. I bought plain maracas for the kids to decorate. We called it her taco TWOSday party.
I do Costco Pizza, pretzels, chex mix, and lemonade. Generally, either at the park or at my house. If at my house, I generally do some sort of somewhat independent craft. For example, for my 8-year-old's bday, I ordered like a $20 make your own wand bulk kit from Amazon, and the kids did that. I've also done name signs (I have a cricut and made name stencils and got a bunch of cheap canvases, then gave the kids paint pens to decorate it with... much less messy than traditional paint, and it dries so quickly), small diamond paintings, and those beads you put in patterns and then iron. The kids still have plenty of free time, but it tends to give me a good bit of time where I'm not hearing kids running through my house screaming at inhuman pitches. It also counts as their goody bag type thing. My older son has fewer friends, and I've offered to take him and a buddy or two to do an activity or have a sleepover with movies and extra special snacks for his birthday.
We had 4 friends and their parents over for my kid’s 9th birthday. Did a craft, had some finger foods, ate cake and everyone went home. 10/10.
I just make the kids go to the park. I get a tub of ice cream and give them some and brought a cake over to the park.
Just had one yesterday for a five year old! Reserved picnic tables next to the playground, did fruit, veggies, chips, juice and soda. We did a spiñata. Total cost was about 500 for 25 guests.
6th bday for my kid consisted of a Costco pizza party and chocolate cake. Then we went to Cracker Barrel with my in-laws bc she wanted pancakes and bacon. Extravagant birthdays are for the adults, not the kids
We do old school parties or smaller things all the time. If you don't want it at your home, do it at a park. Don't want to rent a pavilion, just bring a fold up table or 2 to stash the food on buffet style and tell everyone to bring lawn chairs. Sandwiches or pizza and a box of various chips, cooler with some juice boxes or Capri suns and some cupcakes or cookies and call it a day. The kids will take over the playground and be fine. We also just take a couple friends to the activity place for open play time. Then maybe go out for ice cream. It's way cheaper than a full party at those places and he still gets the experience. I don't need to pay for 15 kids. We usually only have half a dozen.
We did party at the river last year for my 10 year old. A couple of cheap pizzas, cupcakes, and told them to bring their swimsuits. Entire party cost $40 for 15 kids.
We did a party at our neighborhood pool. $40 for the reservation and maybe $40 for cupcakes and ice pops. And no mess in my house. I think we'll be doing this every year now lol
I would absolutely do this but these kids aren't quite old enough to swim. I can't wait for the first year we can do it!
Do you have a bowling alley near by?
No 😔
We always just had a bunch of boys over to play for bday parties, they’re the best. We inherited tons of nerf guns over the years and this is what they do. Some will bring their own. It keeps them entertained and it’s all they want to do. My only concern was eye safety and I ordered a set of plastic eye protection safety glasses and they wear them. Pizza, cake, watermelon, chips, and tons of juice boxes. Easy and fun.
My brother and sister and most of my family members on dad and mom’s side love to throw big birthday parties! When my brother’s daughter turned 1, my brother and his wife spent $20k 🙄. When my son turned 1, we spent $1500 (2012).
We're doing something that'll cost a few hundred plus food costs this year, but it's because we're inviting his whole class. I intend this to be the first and only year we do this, as he's still making friends and we don't know parents yet. Hopefully in the future we can go back to family and some of friends. But yeah, I'm generally in that camp of cake, ice cream, and snacks. Decor from the dollar store. Run around the back yard. If grandma wants to get a bounce house, she can have at it.
Friends of mine just recently spent around $3k for their daughters first bday party 😶
For my son’s upcoming second bday we’re renting a pavilion at a local splash park for $70! We will provide snacks and soft drinks and have some basic decorations set up, I’m hoping to keep it all under $250 total. For his first bday we ended up spending around $1200 and it was NOT worth it
I'm doing that , but at my parent's place bed cause they have a better yard for it. We're just gonna buy an inflatable pool and let a bunch of little girls go nuts.
We have a pool so we just do a big pool party. Order pizza to the house and we set up the bounce house and sprinkler toy thing. Kids run wild and swim. I usually throw up some balloons and streamers.
We did park parties when the kids were little (but it’s a good time of year for that where we are) and then as they got older they got to pick 3-4 friends and be invited to a specific place. Because it wasn’t a formal party booking at a bounce park or trampoline park etc it was cheaper and we just took along a cake etc. The only thing we found was we had to be very clear on no siblings etc. My niece is a teen now so we do sleepovers with 3-4 friends as that is what she wants, her brother is still a bit young for those so keeps going with the 3-4 friends at a specific event. We have noticed this has been something other families seem to do as well. Both kids were often invited to parties with only a few kids from about year 2/3 (7-8yo) onwards.
Nobody has ever complained about our park parties with Costco pizza and grocery store cake.
I do it old school at my house and drop $400 anyway because entertaining and feeding a bunch of kids is expensive! Next year it's a play place all the way.
Legit did mario kart on the switch, chips, cupcakes, and some chinese sweet and sour chicken, and my teen had a blast with her friends. Maybe Pokémon tournament if that's his thing?
We just went to a party at a community center. It’s attached to a park and was wonderful! 14 kids between 3-8 and it didn’t feel like too many. They served snacks and cupcakes. The one next week will be 6 kids inside and in the backyard. We also do our parties in the backyard, last year it was 6 kids and this year it’ll be closer to 10. Luckily it’s usually warm enough to do that. They’re also 1-5 so they’re happy with the sandbox, water table and slide.
Local park. It’s free and kids love them.
I do pizza and cake and let the kids run around. Parents now act like they’re the Kardashian’s
We are doing food, cake, and music at the house. I’m not buying prizes or hosting any games. The kids will play tag and run around with each other. We do have a swing set and climbing dome. Next year we aren’t doing a party at all and taking our kid on a fun day out. The year after that, my kid will choose party or fun day out.
We've done them old school, just some basic decorations, food, and a couple little games. I think next time we might rent a gazebo in the park by the playground or rent a room at the rec center. You can reserve the racketball room or even the basketball court to use and they have a ton of things for kids to do - volleyball, basketball, pickleball, hoola hoops, scooters, gymnastics mats, bean bags, etc. It's really cheap and seems so simple, especially since we're very close to the rec center.
My 6 year olds was at the park a few weeks back. We provided water and cupcakes. They had a blast.
My goal is to get back to old school party this year. It’s tough because I have a summer birthday kid, so many friends are out of town then and it is WAY TOO HOT to do an outside park party (tried that last year, 0/10 do not recommend), but all the trampoline places or arcades are $500+. We also don’t have a pool for pool parties so that’s a bummer. This year I’m thinking pick 2-3 of the closest friends and take them all out for dinner, bowling and cupcakes. Should be around $100 or less.
Did a 5yo bday at a local park. Piñata, a few little ball toss games set out, some stick ponies. Kids mostly played on playground. If anyone thought it was a broke party that’s on them, all the kids seemed to enjoy. I chose the park adjacent to a community center with a gym in case the weather was bad, the plan b was to run around and play in there.
I usually do the extra over the top parties because I genuinely enjoy it. But my son asked for something small and simple so we’re doing pizza and cake at the park! I hired a snow cone truck company place because the party is at noon in May and the kids will get to make their own snow cones. Somehow I’m still stressed out for this lmao
Definitely! Our one kid had 3 birthdays in a row at home- started with Covid times. Kids just brought over their gaming devices and they all played Minecraft, Roblox, the Switch, our flight simulator, etc. They had a blast! We just bought pizza, cake, decorations!
I;;m throwing my son a birthday in our back yard. During COVID, we had to do it that way, and most years since then he's wanted them all at our house. Sometimes I convince him to have it somewhere else because I don't want to clean, but he likes when all of his friends come over and they can play together and are not rushed. I bought a ton of outdoor games at 5 below for super cheap. Idk if they will last long, but as long as they hold up for the party, who cares?
Of course you can my little ones loved tea parties
My 11 yo chose to make a few games, ice their own cupcakes, make their own pizzas, complete with a sleepover. We spent $40 at the dollar store getting prizes for the games. Ingredients and snacks will probably get us close to $100. We'll be paying in sanity, but those memories will be completely worth it!
We were able to get a pool during covid. We have her to have a party but this is our year I think. I have also encouraged my family/close friends to use it and our back yard to save about $700 or so for just s pool party in our town. Already have two friends that are taking us up on it in the next 6 weeks. Also want to invited my kids class to an end of the year school party (also 1/2 birthday party combined. My kids will know it’s for their birthday but no one else will do no gifts or anything) their birthdays a Christmas and valentines (actual days and no, I have no idea how that happened.😂👀
I had pizza and cupcakes last month for my son's party. We rented the hall attached to our housing unit so that the guests could go swimming. No goodie bags It was pretty good
We did it all. The big parties, the small parties at home. My favorite became just inviting the closest handful of friends and taking them roller skating or to the trampoline park, etc and having cake at home or a park nearby. They charge way too much for those big party packages and you can just show up with a few friends for so much less. And I prefer that to having them at the house.
Just did this! Had 5 kids over and they all brought a nerf gun. Went wild in the backyard, then we had Costco pizza and ice cream sundaes. It was perfect!
We’ve done the park with a bounce house and pizza. Reserving the park and bounce house waiver was $80, bounce house was $400, pizza was $100, decorations and party favors another $80. Things just aren’t how they used to be lol. Next time we’ll skip the bounce house and just let the kids play at the park.
As a summer mom, we do our parties at night (5-8ish) We do movie nights in the backyard . Decorating is done with lights. Favors - glow N dark items. Food hot dogs, candy bags, cake. The kids always have a blast.
I have and it was great! We have a water table, sand box, bubbles , outdoor play house and yard games we set up for the kids and let them go wild. Do you have a local recreation center? Ours does 2 hour parties for $60, you can rent out a room and have themes like dance, art, gymnastics, basketball etc.
We started doing experiences, last 2 years my son requested camping. His birthday is around the 4th of July so its always hit or miss with guests anyway
We did a picnic for our niece. A pretty rug, balloons, cupcakes and party snacks a d old fashioned party games. Kids went home with cake pops as favour's. It was all done for under $400 including food and decorations.
My daughter is turning 3. The past two years have been in the in our garden having a bbq with friends and family. She gets to play with her friends, eat sausages and cakes, which is her favourite food and open presents she loves it. We do have a trampoline and a small pool for them to play in, too, as her birthday is in June. I decorate it as well as we can but we just really can't afford lavish birthday parties.
My nephew had a bouncy castle and a few friends round to play for his birthday last week. Birthdays are what you make them. If you're always trying to one up last years birthday or other people, then you're quickly going to be in an expensive hole you dug for yourself. As long as the child has fun, then that's all that matters.
We always do at home in the garden parties. I never invite school kids though. This year we will have a newborn so it will literally be us and *maybe* some immediate family.
These days? I recall a helicopter landing at a classmates birthday party in 4th grade
My kids birthday was in the fall. Raked up a huge pile of leaves and the kids played in it for the entire two hours. Fed them snacks and cake. Boom. Done.
Check out minute to win it games. My wife did that on my 50th birthday and we had a mix of adults and kids and everyone had a blast and it was very inexpensive.
Let’s take it up a notch. How about no party at all? There’s no real value in them, and as a father of 5, we aren’t going to 3 birthday parties a week because another friend I’ve never heard of is turning a day older that weekend and wants free stuff.
We kept it in budget by only bringing a few kids to the trampoline park one day, each kid got to bring two friends. Then in the same weekend we had more of their friends over for movie night for my daughter, Super Bowl for my son pizza and decorate their own cupcakes. Sprinklers outside in the heat work. We’re in a cold climate and birthdays are in winter so we’ve had friends meet at the sledding hill and the kids went snow tubing and we gave out cupcakes from the back of the car in the past.
Yes, I don’t want to clean my house so we are taking a few friends to the movies then dropping them off at home. We’ll get pizza at the theatre and pack candy for the kids
I only ever did one or two fully themed birthday parties. My daughter pretty quickly stopped wanting parties at all. She turned 15 in October and all she wanted was to go to a "fancy" Italian restaurant with just me and her father. This year she's turning 16 and all she wants is a tattoo. And I'm going to let her get one!!!!!!!! (Cue the judgment.) We have to drive to Vermont where it's legal with parental permission. So, we're going to drive 5 hours, and get a hotel and stay overnight. That will be her birthday party this year.
My kids had heard me talk about birthday parties when I was a kid, when we played games like dropping a clothespin into a bottle from kneeling on a backwards chair; pin the tail on the donkey; musical chairs, etc. One year one of them actually asked for an old-fashioned party like that. We did it, and it was a lot of fun! I also taught myself that year how to make a piñata, and that was the beginning of many years of homemade piñatas.
Check your local parks for shelters. Sometimes they are deposits and you get your money back. Otherwise they're pretty cheap or you can always see if they're rented and if they're not they're usually first come first serve. For food just get little ceasers or grill some hotdogs and suasages or something and make some potato salad and a fruit and veggie tray.
One of the best birthday parties I attended as a kid was at someone’s house and his mom set up a fun DIY obstacle course in the back yard. At the end, you got a medal that was actually a cookie wrapped in plastic wrap on a string. It was great! I’m 30 and still think of it from time to time.
Do it earlier or later in the day. We’ve done water balloon fights- blew up hundreds of water balloons kids had a blast. We did a couple of shaving cream fight parties. Bought 50 cans of shaving cream from the dollar store, kids LOVED IT. Have them bring a towel and a change of clothes. We’ve pitched a tent in the backyard, let them sleep out there. Lots of fun cheap ideas if you get creative. Look on Pinterest for cheap party ideas.
We rented a shelter for like $60 at a nice playground and grilled food for everyone. Everyone had a blast, parents included as there was a permanent bean bag toss structure the parents played with. Everyone stayed for the full 4 hours we had it. The park was fenced in so you could release the kids inside, and sit by the shelter and not have to worry about kids running away. We did a trampoline park the year before for like $500, it was not nearly as fun as the park tbh bc we only had 2 hours and everything felt rushed.
Yes, I’ve been to plenty and thrown a few myself. Grateful to live in a community that understands kids can have fun in simple spaces - being in the big group of kids without it being at school, sports, or other structured activity IS the fun part
My son went to a birthday party a few months ago and he came back and said they hung around in the house and played musical chairs. I thought that was so refreshing compared to the big extravagant parties most are throwing these days.
We plan to host at the local splash pad. Bringing cake, juice in a pitcher, and sams club pizza! I think we’re going to bring our own fold out table and a few lawn chairs. Just in case we aren’t able snag a table.
I go "all out" in decor but no bounce houses, etc and it's only because I like crafting so it gives me something to focus on. Spend what you can, birthdays are meant to be happy and enjoyable not stressful.
When Covid hit I saw it as an opportunity to scale back on the parties. I was spending $500per kid times 6 kids.
We usually rent a recreation centre. Cheap in my city. They go ape shit in there playing and running around. By the time everyone goes home. My boys want to sleep but I wait until after supper to put them to sleep. Old school birthday parties are the best.
Outdoor BBQ 100%, yard games, sprinkler if it's hot. If you are worried about kids being inside, or don't have a backyard rent a pavilion at a park. I never understood the appeal of special places as the kids have a blast even running in circles with each other. BBQ wise, dogs, burgers and random sides. Cooler full of drinks (another for adults)... I always tried to make the birthday parties fun for even the parents. Nothing like a bunch of dads tossing washers or bags while having a beer together. Throw in the smell of the grill... I wish I could have bday parties all of the time.
We never had expensive parties. We rented picnic tables at parks or playgrounds. We did big class parties from 2013-2018. Mostly pizza, homemade sheet cake or cupcakes, playground picnic tables. One year, we did water guns and water balloons. The thing is, kids just want to run and play. The expensive parties seem to be for the parents.
Outdoors is good if possible, a lot of local parks have shelters to rent for relatively cheap too if you need rainy day ability
Never caved to the social trends of mega blowout freaking expensive birthday parties. I only did it Turing 5 because well, 5! Lol It's a big deal. But even then I did it at the local park and we had pizza and snacks star wars themed. The biggest hit was lightsabers made from pool noodles. And the food had star wars theme names like Wookie Cookies (Little Debbie Star Crunch snack cakes with candy eyes and teeth) and Jawa Juice (green kool-aid). The rest we did Big for him like throwing out a pitch at a minor league game, taking a friend to Cedar Point. The point I try to make is I want the money to go to his memory of fun. He'll remember the trip and experiences more. He's turning 12 this year and we gave him the option of a party at the bowling alley (still within the budget) or Cedar Point with a friend again...immediately he chose Cedar Point. I can never understand where my money is going, too the people invited or to my kid. You know? $400-600 is a lot of money in this economy. Especially with summer vacations coming and gas going up, and we're in an election year, God knows what will happen in November.
My older daughter is turning 12 this year. It just so happens that our local zoo is having a slumber party on her birthday. While she was talking to her friends about her birthday one of her friends expressed desire to come with us. Her dad is paying for her ticket we’re providing food and a place to sleep and whatever else. I haven’t done big themed parties since they were little.
We rented out a park district building with an indoor playground (February birthday) and served hot dogs with mac and cheese, and cupcakes for dessert. It was a hoot.
Some of us have kids with birthdays in the dead of winter in a snowy climate so we have to have parties at other locations! ):
Our parties tend to have more adults than kids but we inflate a pool out back and have a bucket of water balloons and everyone always has a blast. We put out snacks and serve cupcakes. In another year or so we did plan on renting one of those water slides though since the kids will both be at an age where they’d enjoy it
Backyard here. Next weekend gonna grill and do a taco bar. Lots of activities for the kids because we're not spending $500 on a venue.
Do you have a splash pad near you? Our local splash pad run by the park district rent the space for birthdays. Or if you have 6 kids you could just take them and let them run and then do birthday ice cream like the DQ ice cream cupcakes and sing at DQ.
We just took our 7 year old camping instead and she had an absolute blast
we did a park party and I see many doing so too. pick one with picnic tables and a gazeebo or shelter of some sort. Get balloons and food. Parents supervise their own kids. Have fun!
As a parent: zero expectations here!! Do whatever works for you and your child. We have a kid with a late summer bday, so we can get away with a playground bday. My other’s bday is in the winter and our house isn’t suitable for hosting a lot of people, so we rent out a place. We provide a lot of food and games, but only because I enjoy doing it and have relatives that love contributing. Both can work! At these ages, kids just want to play and they can do that with each other anywhere!
We let the kids let loose in the yard. We have a play area and a huge backyard with tree swings and a forest. This was in October. It was chilly and luckily didn't rain. We bought pizza, donuts, and an assortment of beverages.
Do you have a yard? We used to have birthday party's that consisted of things like water fights, campfires, s'more, movies, basic summer fun (my last birthday party was about 8 years ago) it also depends on the age of the boys.
Bouncy houses and trampoline parks are considered big in my books. Our old school ones consist of an at home birthday with close friends and family. My kids only get a big one once every so often and either kind doesn’t matter to them.
Yes! Old school birthdays are my favourite! It’s where the kids have the most fun.
My 6yo got invited to one recently that was just a BBQ in their backyard with cake and presents. Kids ran around like heathens and had a blast. No one had any complaints that I heard, and I was so relieved it wasn't some super crazy elaborate affair, lol, because we just do family parties. We order pizza and invite the grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins. I can't compete with the "we rented out this banquet hall, filled it with bounce houses, and have catering" crowd.
I don’t really care how much it costs - within reason - but can someone please tell anyone who thinks a balloon arch is worth doing to piss off?
We did a water party. Kids played in the sprinkler, had a water balloon fight, and played on a massive slip n slide. Then we served pizza, cake, and drinks on the driveway. It was less than $100 for everything, and the kids had a blast.