Parties at Home: More Fun, Less Money
Posted by Gail | Filed under Money & Family, Smart Shopper
Malcolm is turning 13 shortly, and we’re having a little th’ang for him at home. Just a few boys and a couple of pizzas. Once kids get to a certain age they pretty well take over the planning and all you’ve got to do is pay! Ha! But when my kids were young, man did I have fun with their birthday parties.
I can’t believe the number of people I’ve met who sweat bullets when it comes time to throw their kids a birthday party. Who should they invite? How much food should they make? How will they keep the kids from climbing the walls? And the money parents are willing to shell out to prove to the neighbourhood that they’re great parents boggles my mind. And as the party-mania ratchets up, so do the kids’ expectations about what a birthday party should look like. I’ve attended more than a few parties where the parents a bundle for a day that ended with someone bawling their eyes out.
I had the best birthday parties when I was a kid. Back then we didn’t have Boodle Bags, and no one was in a competition to throw the most lavish party going. It was about having a ton of fun, and my mom made sure I did. So I incorporated my experiences as a child with the latest in having fun, and made my kids’ parties events to remember. And I didn’t bust the bank doing it. The party wasn’t about outshining the last GREAT PARTY we’d attended. It was about parents and children truly enjoying themselves.
First off, we held the party in our house or backyard. Yah, there was a lot of cleaning up after, but that’s what happens when you have 20 kids over to play. While it’s a lot more work, more kids also means more fun. That can make an out-of-home party very expensive.
Lots of other parents took kids bowling (which was heaps of fun), to indoor playgrounds, or to lavish party-focused locations. Pick up a parenting magazine and look that the ads from party purveys offering everything from magicians to complete packages at an art studio or party palace. Not for us. And certainly not with a guest list of 20, which was the typical birthday party size up until Alex turned 10. We didn’t start doing the movie-thang until the guest list had been chopped to five.
‘Course, not everyone has the space (or the time) to do an at home party. If you’re going off site, here are a few questions you’ll want to ask before you plunk your money down:
- What is the price and time limit for the room or facility rental?
- Is there a minimum number of guests that I have to pay for? A maximum number of guests that can attend?
- Will I have to share the space? With whom?
- Is food included? Plates, cups, decorations? A cake?
We didn’t do the Boodle Bag thing either. Since I didn’t grow up with it, I couldn’t get my head around it. And when I saw the crap my kids brought home in the Boodle Bags they got, I thought, “What’s the point?” Instead, we played games at the party and every child won a prize. The after-Christmas sales were a great time to stock up on things like jigsaw puzzles and other fun items for not much more than a buck or two.
Each year the kids and I would have a great time planning which games we would play. We played musical spots, great for burning off energy. Pass the parcel was always a winner and brought the chaos down a little because everyone had to sit to play. Because our group was so big, we’d pass two at the same time in opposite directions to keep everyone’s eyes on the prize. Worked like a dream. We played pin the tail on… anything we felt like that year. We played mummy wrap, statues, Simon Says, redlight…greenlight. Any game where I was IT and the kids could whack me, tag me, or make me do something disgusting was a winner. It gave them power once a year over an adult and they loved to wield that power. (Can you tell I was having fun too?)
Then there was the food. Easy. Kids love pizza. Kids love ice cream. Kids love cake. Dips and veggies are great too. Make your pizza at home (even from frozen) and you save a ton over ordering it from the local joint. Make your cake at home and you can have two for the price of a store-bought. I used to do whatever flavour cake the kids wanted – usually chocolate — and then the opposite in cupcakes for the children who hated chocolate. And how long does it take to cut up some cheese and throw some grapes in a bowl?
We never overdid the food because after a couple of parties it became apparent that kids who would normally eat a horse, won’t each very much at a party. That made the at-home party plan even more economical. We could always pop a back-up pizza in the oven if it looked like the kids were burning through the food. And the grapes that didn’t get eaten went back into the fridge.
Balloons are cheap, especially when you blow them up yourself. And every year, we would make our own piñata. Fun in the doing. Fun in the busting.
We always made sure to get lots of pictures during the party. I’d usually assign this job to one of the parents who chose to stay and watch our crazy afternoon unfold. As the kids got older, we added a couple of disposable cameras to the mix (back before digital) and had the kids take pictures too. They loved it. We could then use a picture of a child who attended as a thank-you card, writing on the back on the photo.
I was exhausted after these parties. So were the kids. They were falling down tired from running, jumping, whacking, and laughing. Nobody fought, bullied or behaved badly. Why? There was one simple rule for attending a parting at our house… if you caused a fuss you went home. We only had to enforce the rule once.
So what are your favorite children party memories? And how do you make a birthday party special for your Mini-Me?
February 16, 2009 at 7:57 am
Great ideas… and just a reminder for us adults that we too can have fun at home. My partner and I used to always o out with people to movie, supper, show, etc. Now we are definitely entertaining more at home. The Chef gets to enjoy the meal prep and I get to bake dessert. Board games or good conversation and music is just as fine and for a fraction of the cost. We’ve calculated a few times and for less than $25 we fed 4 adults supper (included smoked salmon) and had dessert (with all having a 2nd portion)!
I know as a kid I hated the MacDonald’s parties but loved the at home ones – my favourite memories are parties like when we 12 year olds watched a bunch of horror movies with all us girls piled onto the couch screaming! All the parents did was get some pizza, get an ice cream cake and maybe 3 videos.
February 16, 2009 at 8:35 am
My eldest son is now 15 and I have thrown most of his birthday parties at home. He loves it, we think of a theme and go with it. We’ve done Poker Night with the boys even with a few “virgin” drinks in martini glasses and everyone had to dress up…it was a black tie affair. We’ve done the movie night and gave out movie posters as the “gift bag item”(I got the posters for free). We’ve done a circus theme with a magician(he was actually pretty cheap). This year I’m thinking of a Joker themed night(my son is obsessed with the Joker)…..watch the two Batman films with the Joker and make up a game asking questions, testing their knowledge of the Joker. Make up some type of purple drink in a fancy glass and have a Joker cake(I know someone who does cakes for pretty cheap). I might even have the guys at my pizza place make the pizza have a “smile”….lol. It’ll be fun.
February 16, 2009 at 9:09 am
One of our most successful kids parties involved the following, ‘make your own Superhero’ fridge magnets. We’d ask all the kids to bring a photo of themselves that they didn’t mind cutting up. In the meantime we’d buy comic books from the local Goodwill, or just recycle our own kids’ comics. We’d also collect cardboard and those flat fridge magnets that real estate agents, etc. give you to ‘remind you’ to call them. Then we’d have the kids cut out a hero from the various comic books, glue the body on the cardboard, and then add their cut out face. Next, we’d cut around the cardboard and with a hot glue gun (operated by mom or dad or aunty for safety reasons – depending on the kids’ ages); glue a wedge of the recycled fridge magnet. Voila! You had a very cool customized gift to take home for your guests + a lot of fun making it.
Another fun idea we did once was take a broken TV (you can use a cardboard box instead) and use the puppet loot bags I had sewn. These were simple puppets (almost mitten shapes) with a draw string at the bottom. We filled the ‘guts’ with markers and stickers (all low fat). Then had the kids decorate the puppet loot bags – and create their own puppet shows in the ‘TV’.
February 16, 2009 at 9:10 am
My oldest daughter turned 7 last June, and wanted a party for her friends to come to. She had just taken swimming lessons at our local outdoor pool (small town), and wanted a pool party. We rented the pool for an hour ($35 with two lifeguards included), and had an outdoor barbecue right beside the pool area in the park (brought our own barbecue over). We had hot dogs, fruit, koolaid drinks, and I made a “pool cake” and everyone had a blast! Twelve kids were invited but parents were invited to stay, and siblings could come too – seeing there was plenty of room in the pool. After the swimming, the kids ate and played for two hours. Our local health unit has “Active Kits” to borrow (free), so the kids played with the balls, hoops, and scoops in the kits. As part of the party, we also asked that instead of birthday gifts, each guest bring donations for the local food bank. We collected over two laundry baskets full of food, and kids also brought my daughter small gifts (even though were asked not to!!) For “goodie bags”, my daughter made each guest a bookmark with their names on it, saying Thanks for Coming, and there was candy in the bags too. I also took a photo of all the children holding food for the food bank, and sent it in to our local paper – and it was published. The kids were able to get a copy of this picture as well. All in all, everyone had a great time, cleanup wasn’t too bad (make sure you have lots of garbage cans), and I still get comments about the food bank donation idea. My daughter wants to donate items again this year – which is a great way to instill the act of giving in kids! We will probably do a home party this time (which is what I do most times.) My youngest turns 5 in a month, and I’m doing her first party here at home – can’t wait!
February 16, 2009 at 9:56 am
…rice crispy squares…my favorite as a kid, and easy/inexpensive to make. yummy!
February 16, 2009 at 10:02 am
My oldest will be 2 in April…who do I invite? Where do I draw the line. We have a big family and several close friends with kiddies the same age. I don’t want to go overboard as I find entertaining that many people overwhelming and stressful, although my hubby enjoys it. What do I do with them?
February 16, 2009 at 10:11 am
Michelle – we basically limited the number of kids to the age of the child, e.g. age 2 = 2 other friends, age 8 = 8 other friends, etc. If going with the extended family, make life easier for yourself – have 2 big pots of chilli – one vegetarian and one with meat, possibly a case of beer, fruit juices, some veges & dip. Do limit the numbers of adults so that you don’t get overwhelmed. If you do go your husband’s route, having a huge bash – have him start helping you bake in bulk and freeze things. Most importantly remember ‘WHY’ you’re even bothering to have the party – if it’s to make your child happy, use the KISS principle = Keep it Simple Sweetheart, and limit the numbers.
February 16, 2009 at 10:16 am
Adult Birthday Parties
I forgot to mention that I’m throwing my own 50th this year. I’m doing it on a budget (have been squirrling away $ for this over the past few months). My theme, “Party Like it’s 1959!”. I’m asking everyone to bring ‘their favourite Doreen memories’ to share. I’ve already started baking in bulk and freezing. I’m also delegating to prevent burn-out (e.g. one friend is ordering a special birthday cake; my husband will rotate the foods so there’s always something warm & ready to serve; our son is the coat check man & bartender). All food will be ‘finger food’ so we’ll use less plates & cutlery. I’ll get a lot of President’s Choice’s frozen appetizers. It’s going to a lot of fun!
February 16, 2009 at 10:20 am
Parties were never a huge thing when I was a kid. It may have helped that I wasn’t very popular. There are two parties that really stand out. One was a costume party that was lots of fun because people were dressed up (and I love dressing up) and the second was my tenth birthday party which was held at a bowling alley. Lots of fun. The others were usually pretty low key, and when I was a teen I rarely had parties.
I don’t have a little one, so I’m not sure how I’ll eventually tackle birthdays, but it seems to be that they will also be pretty low key.
February 16, 2009 at 10:34 am
My son’s pinata party is a great memory, and my daughter had a spa party last year…I bought files, nail polish and lip balm at the dollat home in lieu of a “boodle bag” (I never understood those either). And for the cost of a bottle of pink grapefruit pop, we made pink “champagne” to drink in martini glasses.
February 16, 2009 at 10:52 am
I used to love the parties we’d have at home with the cakes my mum and gran would make! They’d always hide coins in the cake (wrapped in butcher’s paper) and the filling was gran’s homemade jam. MMMMM.
I did my daughter’s party at home and the parents were all awe struck that I’d do such a thing. I didn’t do loot bags but gave webkinz to all the kids (on sale half price then buy one get one half price so some were CHEAP!) and they were cheaper than loot bags and no mess for the kids!
My sons are both AS kids and would much rather go out for dinner with the family then have alot of people here for a party. My oldest will be 17 at the end of the month and he’s thinking him and his best friend might just play video games and eat pizza here (even cheaper than dinner out!) so I’m encouraging that.
February 16, 2009 at 10:53 am
Oh and a suggestion, if your having a family party for the younger ones or older ones and family asks what they can bring TAKE THEM UP ON IT! One less thing for you to worry about and one less thing to prepare.
February 16, 2009 at 11:00 am
Parties in our family weren’t a big thing either, but because my birthday is in the middle of summer (when everyone’s away) and my sister’s is in January (when everyone is broke). We lived on an acreage out of town on the same land as my grandparents so there was a cake and presents, but again very low key as well. I do remember my 13th birthday vividly as my three best friends came over, we had a sleep over in my parents holiday trailer (in our yard) and stayed up all night making as much noise as we wanted as we weren’t disturbing anyone. Assorted snacks and candy were what sustained us and we were perfectly happy. Does anyone remember homemade birthday cakes with change in each slice? I remember one mom of a friend of mine who forgot to wrap the money in wax paper and she used some pennies – YUCK!
February 16, 2009 at 11:01 am
Diana you must have been thinking the same thing about the coins when I was typing!
February 16, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I loved sleepover parties as a slightly older child. As an adult, I do not have such fond feelings.
My own daughter will turn 4 this week. She’s chosen to have family parties. I asked her if she wanted to have kids here, but she declined. She will have a cake and they will sing for her at daycare, and she’s quite happy with that. So I have not actually hosted (or even attended) a child’s birthday party as a parent. I’m sure that next year we’ll be having a kid’s party for sure.
Having a February baby does make things a bit harder. My birthday is in May and my sister’s is in August, so as kids we were often able to have outdoor celebrations. I think these are always fun and very affordable to boot.
February 16, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I used to be really jealous of my friends that had birthday party outings at the roller skating rink and other places, but it turns out they were actually looking forward to my birthday parties every year, where my mom orchestrated a craft for everyone (e.g. decorating gingerbread houses, magic mitts, t-shirts, etc).
February 16, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Great ideas! My daughter will be 2 this April and I will be planning a small at home party for sure! Friends, family and food is all you need to make the day special!
February 16, 2009 at 1:02 pm
For older kids, I recommend a cooking party. I bought some dollar store photo albums and printed out receipe card of my girls favorite dishes. I also went to the discount art supply store and bought some $3 plain cotton aprons. The girls decorated their aprons with permanent markers. Then everyone helped cook dinner (learning the recipes in the “cookbooks). While supper is baking, the girls got all fussed up in nice party clothes and I was the waiter serving supper.
I took pictures of each girl showing off the finished dish to put into the photo albums to go with the recipes. The cook books and the aprons were the “loot bags.”
The whole thing cost $4 each guest plus cost of food. Since it is easy recipes for beginning cooks, the food costs weren’t much. And since the kitchen is small, it made a nice reason to transition from “invite the whole class” parties to “your three or four best friends” parties.
Everyone had fun. It was a lot cheaper than taking a bunch of preteens to a restaurant. Plus, I got to sneak in something educational.
February 16, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I love this article, Gail, because even though I do not have children, I am still a believer that simpler is often better, and homemade is often better than store bought. That’s just the way i was brought up. I remember my mom making a pinata and engaging my friends and i in crafts. One year we made dinasour masks and then paraded around the street. Being frugal often means getting creative, and that can be a terrific asset.
Erin, what a terrific idea – Love that one!
LeslieM – I do remember those money cakes. That’s hilarious about the pennies… how gross, hahah!
February 16, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I loved this article since I have been to more than a few over the top kids parties in the last few years (just for family friends as I don’t have kids yet). I love what my mom did for my sister and I when we were kids. We had a family get together every year that consisted of cake, ice cream and punch. Every other year we had friend parties with a location or theme of our choosing. Depending on what we wanted to do determined the number of friends we got to invite. The year we didn’t get a party the family party cake was an ice cream cake and that summer when we went camping at the beach we got to take a friend. My mom essentially set the system up so she only had to do one friend party a year and there was no argueing over who got to bring a friend camping. Most years the friend parties were at home. I once had a party of the bowling alley and another at the skating rink. My mom never did goody bags but there were always prizes for the games (not everyone was a winner). As I got over there were less people, more were sleep overs and I have done a craft party or two. By the end of middle school I basically did all the party planning and my mom told me yes or no based on cost.
February 16, 2009 at 3:06 pm
My first sister was born two days short of my first birthday – we are twins for two days, and always had our birthday parties together. The one I remember the most was a treasure hunt (July birthdays), where mom left pictogram clues, since we might have been 5 and 6 and barely able to read. She also had two more babies to look after, so her efforts on our part are much more appreciated now. Anyway, the clues had us running around the back yard and our small neighborhood, eventually finding a garbage can (new) full of small loot bags! She also did the money cakes, and theme foods. One Hallowe-en we each had a friend over for a spooky food night, including orange construction paper pumpkin menus. Two of my three sons are Christmas babies, so planning parties during the holidays was always fun. The third was an easter baby, so spring picnics were possible. We have had a few parties ‘Outside”, like glow in the dark bowling, laser tag, swimming, etc. but probably the most fun were the decorate the t-shirt party, or the build a sock puppet (lots of scrap yarn and buttons, etc.) Feeding boys can be a never ending feat, especially when they have burned off lots of energy. Hot dogs, or chili, are always economical. I used to limit the number of guests to their age when they were under ten, then the older parties were generally limited to 5 or six, plus their brothers. My oldest son turned 30 on December 30 three years ago, so to honor his ‘Royal’ birthday, we had his favorite pizza party, just like when he was a kid. Youngest son turned 17 on December 17th the following year (yeah, I know, I spread them out a bit) so he also got a revival of his favorite birthday party. Middle son will be 25 on March 25th in two years, so I better see if I can find my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake pan! For my 50th, my family surprised me on my 49th birthday with a huge surprise BBQ party. I was a ’spare’ parent when one of my sons attended a Ruckers party. The noise and the expense was incredible. I agree with keeping it simple, and creative. The memories last longer. I think I will ask my sons just which birthday party they really do remember the most…….
February 16, 2009 at 5:28 pm
2 years ago we held a joint birthday party for my 3 year old son and 1 yr old daughter. We thought we were making life easier by renting the local community hall (cheap) and then picking up the pizza, drinks, appy’s, etc, etc, etc all at Costco. Oh don’t forget the Dairy Queen cakes too. After all the damage was done it ended up being $500 total… this was before budget days.
We had fun but with more planning we could have had just as much fun at home for a lot less cash… lesson learned.
February 16, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Funny enough as you posted this blog Gail I was at a birthday party! A friend of ours has a now 4 year old and soon to be 2 year old with their birthdays 16 days apart. So today, family Day here in Ontario, she threw their party. Living in a small apartment building I was wondering how she would make it work. There was 9 children (under 4) and 8 adults. She and I picked up fresh-ready to cook pizzas from costco (2 for 10$ half cheese half pepperoni) Really quite large. A veggie and dip platter – 9$ and a LARGE full slab chocolate cake – 20$. Juice for the kids, 3 $. Total of 50$ for two kid parties! The kids ran around the place – another child’s toy box- WHAT!? its a whole new store! They ate lunch, played some more and then went home. They all enjoyed it for sure!
Definitely worth it, and we plan on doing the same with our daughters next party in November.
February 16, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Hi Gail and all party people! I have a 10 year old and all her parties before her 8th were at home outdoor parties – usually on the hottest day of August – so when she was really little, we borrowed a few plastic pools and had pool parties with all her little friends – later – on, I think one of the most memorable was her 8th, where we all tie-dyed pillow cases! That was a hit! But my friend had the greatest idea for her daughter’s recent 10th birthday. It was a spa party – she borrowed foot soak spas (x3), enlisted the parents, one for the makeup room, one for pedicures and manicures, one for hair. Stations were set up, mothers ready to ’serve’ the guests. As all the girls were in their stations, having their ‘makeovers’ done – they were being served fancy ‘drinks’ in cute little glasses – were given magazines to read while they lounged in their housecoats – and were made over. At the end, each girl had brought a best outfit, and all modelled their new look at the end of the party! It was fabulous and fun. One mother photographed each girl in her new look ! and all will be given a picture of her makeover! Cost – almost nothing – except for some punch, a few disposable fancy glasses and the snacks! The loot bags were little cloth bags with their own brush, facecloth, cream and nailpolish – all from the dollar store! It was a hit!
February 16, 2009 at 11:24 pm
My birthday is in the summer, so as a kid, didn’t have parties with school friends, or not all of them. My birthday was either at home, we’d have a bbq and everyone in the block would come, or at the beach. Either way, they were great. No kids of my own, so have no control over my nephews’ parties, except the amount of presents I buy them. LMAO My brother and sil must be cursing me under their breathe somedays. HA! All things my nephews can use, and share with each, then hand down to someone else’s kids when they outgrow them via a yardsale I’m sure.
February 17, 2009 at 9:11 am
Kids parties today have become over the top cuhrazy. My oldest daughter is three and we get invited to a b-day party at least every other weekend. This past week we had two. One at a swimming pool, and one at a bowling alley. 30 4-5 year olds running around with heavy balls, good times, good times! Only one party we went to was at a home, but it was professionally catered (complete with waitresses and waiters), they had rented a bouncy castle, & had three different childrens entertainers come in. I don’t get that.
I also don’t understand grad ceremonies for elementary & jr high students. My colleague bought a $600 dress for her daughter, rented a limo for her and her friends, they all went to a salon before the dance. Why? Because they had “graduated” Gr.8.
February 17, 2009 at 9:19 am
All of my kids birthdays fall in September, the end of the summer. So I let them have Water Party. We tell everyone to come in their swimsuits, bring water balloons, super soakers. Set up a couple of ‘forts’ with a capture the flag game. a couple of hours later everyone is wet and happy.
February 17, 2009 at 9:54 am
We recently attended a very nice birthday party, lots of kids, but for a child that just turned two. I think that it’s excessive to have one friend over for a 2 year old, let alone 15 kids! Crazy. I guess I’m lucky, although my wife’s family is small (4 adults + her) my immediate family accounts for 13 people, right there (not including us). So we’ve just decided no kid friends for a while, at least until our son is 5 and then we’ll see about slowly increasing it (ie so 5 – 7 one friend, 8 – 10 two, etc). Lots of kids is just too much time, money and work — I think a lot of these expensive parties are more about the parents than the kids, which is kinda sad.
February 17, 2009 at 11:42 am
My oldest is turning 3 next month and we love the at home party. I would love tips on making your own pinata, for when she is older.
February 17, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I had a really fun birthday party for my daughter when she was 8. We had a paparazzi party! My friend came over and helped me paint all the girls nails, then we let them put on some light blush and lipgloss and eyeshadow. I had borrowed a instant shot camera and took pictures of each girl and one of them each with the birthday girl. They loved waiting for the pictures to “appear”. For their party gift we gave each girl a dollar store photo clip that held the 2 pictures. All the mums and the girls loved the idea.
I also had another great party. We had a ’scrapbook” party. They all brought some pictures, we supplied the stickers, makers and glue and I had put together small scrapbooks with leftover scrapbook paper. They all went home quite proud of their “scrapbooks”.
Just a couple ideas….
February 17, 2009 at 12:34 pm
My son’s birthday is on June 1. Each year we have invited family and friends over for a BBQ and had a big party in our backyard. The weather has somehow always managed to cooperate. As Josh got older, we incorporated crafts into the party. When he turned 3, we had the kids paint their own T-shirts. A bit messy, but we made sure parents didn’t dress the kids up in their Sunday best. Then they could play in our yard, have fun, eat, then go back for more fun. Paper plates, cups and utensils made for easy cleanup, and leftover turned into snacks and lunches and dessert for the following week!
February 17, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Aaarrrggghhh!!! My pet peeve. Since my eldest son started preschool, we’ve received 4 invitations to birthday parties for children in his class. None of the parents bother to introduce themselves to us, one invite didn’t even have his name on the envelope! Needless to say, we didn’t attend any.
I’m lucky my sons were born in May and July. More room in the backyard than in the house, although so far we’ve kept birthdays to our immediate families only, so it only ends up being a few kids and 12 adults at the most. All the kids get a small trinket, usually a little book or something to take home. Neither of us grew up with fancy parties, so I don’t think it would become a regular thing in our household either.
When I was young my mum would have us decorate cupcakes instead of having a cake. She would dress us in some of dad’s old shirts so we wouldn’t get messy and set out icing, jelly beans, sprinkles, and let us go to town on the cupcakes.
One of my favourite birthday memories was my brother’s 14th, when mum had nothing to add to the cake other than some icing. So she placed some gummy bears on, thinking the whole time the boys would consider it childish. I’ve never seen teenage boys attack a cake like that before. “Gummy bears! Awesome!” It’s now a tradition on my brother’s birthday cake (23 years later!)
February 17, 2009 at 3:20 pm
A few years ago I discovered the JOY of renting the school gym!
It was seriously cheap for 3 hours of unlimited mayhem, and I had full access to the multi-purpose room kitchen for the food. Absolutley the best parties ever! Because space is not an issue, my kids are allowed to invite the whole gang, and the played dodgeball, nerf tag, ball hockey, basketball and just free play with the mats for the whole time. Everyone leaves sweaty and happy. And clean-up is a quick run around with the giant broom. What could be better than a giant room with lots of sports equipment? It is a fraction of the cost of renting anything else I have seen, and much kinder to my house.
February 17, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I am wondering if any birthday parties ever include bringing a food item or buying a gift for a toy lending library or the school library or contributing to buy school supplies for children who might need it in the name of the children having a birthday. I would love to see some parents opt for a present free party where the gift the child receives is from their parent and where loot bags or boodle bags are banned. I think taking children on outings are wonderful, skating, climbing wall, tobagganing, visiting a farm or museum, crafts at home.
I made the mistake of having two birthday parties at one time – my son who was 7 and my niece who was 6. They were each allowed to have 5 friends over and to this day I laugh about how ‘insane’ that idea was! It was like mixing oil and water!
I am a grandparent who would love to see my grandchildren be taught the importance of the simple things in life – love, respect, joy, fun without all the excess of things being given to them. Some of the ideas people have mentioned here are so much fun and the things that are remembered seems to be the simple things, ie gummy bears, money cake, baking and games!
February 17, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I have no kids yet so I haven’t had the fun of planning a party for one, but we always had our parties at our house as kids and to be honest, I liked that better. My mom is probably the most creative person in the world and always had great games and prizes.
The best game EVER (which works best for summer birthdays like mine) was when my mom would buy one of those huge, cheap boxes of mini freezies (unfrozen). She would hide them all around the backyard and we would have to hunt for them. We would put them all in a box and she would divide them up into the goodie bags for kids to take home. It was cheap, a game AND a prize (that won’t get thrown out in a week), and it takes a lot of energy for kids to run around and find them all.
February 18, 2009 at 3:47 am
I think, to a point, celebrating birthdays is more about recognizing someone’s ’special’ day. And the simplest things are the best. I was just trying to remember some of the things I have done besides the few ‘big’ parties, and the picture of my son Jason handing out cupcakes to his classmates came to mind. With a newborn at home, a big party didn’t seem like an option, so I decorated cupcakes with icing letters spelling out HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON, and his age, and some plain ones for the spacing. The fun was trying to match classmates names to the letter on the cupcake! In high school, my sons always got to take a cake, or two, to school to share with classmates. As a prize winning chiffon cake baker, I started a tradition while in my post-secondary studies. If I got wind of a classmate’s birthday, I surprised them with a special chiffon cake (orange brandy, or coconut rum, etc.) to share with the class. All the instructors found a way to make it to class for cake as well. One teacher even made a point of having a spy find out when my birthday was (July) and the class surprised me in return! That in itself is enough to commemorate the day.
February 18, 2009 at 5:57 am
Suzanne, time to post your fav chiffon cake recipe for us!
February 18, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Friends of mine gave their 11 year old a budget of $100 and put them in charge of planning their own birthday. Helped her with the budget and handed her the cash and helped her plan and shop. It worked great!
February 19, 2009 at 12:22 am
MY philosophy from day 1 is that we don’t buy our kids birthday gifts, the party is their gift. As my older son approaches 13, he is told how much we can spend and decide what he wants to do. We did a camping backyard sleepover for my younger son whose birthday is in june. For loot bags (Gail, what a quirky name ~ boodle bags!) I gave them water bottles and flashlights. We took the laptop outside and they watched movies and they had bags of “crap” to eat in the tent like chips etc.
A trick I learned from my sitter for the bouncy castle rental is to book it for Sunday. Most places don’t deliver on Sunday so they will bring it over late on Saturday afternoon so you can have a family get together on Saturday night and the party on Sunday and have the bouncy castle until Monday morning for the price of 1 day rental.
And is it just me, I totally detest the trend of gift cards for gifts. We actually even received gift cards for loot bags gifts.
February 19, 2009 at 8:48 am
A trend I’ve noticed (and like!) is ‘no gifts’. Most of the party invites I’ve received in the past year have specified ‘no gifts please’, but the organizers have mentioned they will collect for a charity in lieu of gifts. I like this. The gift opening is tedious (parties we’ve had with gifts we never open at the actual party) the birthday child can’t process it all usually. And what a relief not to have to remember to get the gift at the last minute!
February 19, 2009 at 7:00 pm
@Susan M: I love gift cards. I know many people think they’re not personal enough, but I would rather get a gift card than a crappy gift I can’t use. Especially for things like restaurants; with such a tight budget we don’t get to eat out unless we get a gift card to cover some of the meal!
March 10, 2009 at 1:12 pm
One option I read somewhere for a ‘green’ party was to somehow (need to work on the wording) say on the invitation:
gently used toy or book wrapped in newspaper or fabric
then the child is getting a gift still, no waste of packaging or wrapping paper, parents aren’t buying a gift just because they have to, and it’s one toy out of their toy room that their child probably doesn’t play with anymore anyhow.
It might not be for everyone but my friends & I all love garage sales and realize times are tough these days. Im going to try it for my daughters upcoming 2nd birthday.