Neighborhood-Kids All Local. All for Kids. All the Time.

Frugal Fun for Birthday Parties at Home

by Theresa Carpine1/29/2010 11:14:09 AM

The focus on frugality is popular these days. But just because your family is on a budget, that doesn't mean you want to skimp on birthday celebrations for your kids. Here are some ideas for fun birthday party activities that won't break the family bank.

What's a frugal but fun party activity for kids?

Decorate Your Own Cupcake

Cupcakes are a great alterative to a traditional birthday cake because everyone's portion is the same and you don’t have to deal with the clean-up of plates and forks. They also provide a built-in activity for your child's birthday celebration. Give everyone an undecorated cupcake and provide the decorating materials. Make a batch of white frosting and then distribute a 3 oz. Dixie cup with frosting to each child. Let the kids pick a color and have a grown-up add the food color. Once the cupcakes are frosted, let kids decorate with sprinkles, chocolate chips, coconut flakes, and other toppings. Make sure to take a photo of everyone with their creation before the cupcake eating begins!

"Drive In" Movie

If you have access to a projector (we all know someone that we could ask to borrow their company or classroom’s projector for an afternoon), set up your living room, garage, or backyard (weather permitting) for a big screen viewing of your child's favorite movie. Use a white wall or hang a white sheet as a screen, and hook-up the projector to your DVD player. Set up the whole affair with a concession stand where kids can each choose one beverage, one sweet snack, and a bowl of popcorn to enjoy during the movie; instead of providing soda and candy, juice boxes or water bottles and dried fruit are a nice alternative. Let kids spread out on pillows and blanket on the floor, or set up folding lawn chairs outside or in the garage. Compared to a trip to the local multiplex, it’s a pretty inexpensive way to entertain a crowd a kids for the evening.

Downtown Scavenger Hunt

So, this activity doesn't technically take place "at home," but you don't need to pay a party rental fee at any of the places you visit. A scavenger hunt gets everyone moving for some exercise, and kids can practice puzzle-solving, map reading, and navigation skills. They'll also get familiar with the local businesses in your community. To start out, give everyone in a party a map of the streets in the downtown area of your town (in Bellingham, you can get print off a "Terrain" view of just street names and no business names at Google Maps). Write out clues that will direct them to some memorable places in the area, like banks, museums, eateries, and parks. One example might be something like, "This is my favorite place to go in Bellingham for a cold, sweet treat. Its mascot is a duck and its name starts with M." It won’t take long for kids to figure out that you’re talking about Mallard Ice Cream. Maybe that should be the last stop on the trip, as it's not very kind to take anyone to Mallard (let alone a group of excited children), and deny them a cone of delicious ice cream.

What are some ways that your family has saved money and still had a great birthday celebration? Leave a comment below!

A Note About the Author: Theresa Carpine

Theresa Carpine graduated from WWU in 2006 with a BA in English Literature. She enjoys yoga, listening to music, riding her bike in downtown Bellingham, and babysitting really cute kids.