After a brief hiatus from blog-writing, I am back with many Summer/hot weather-related topics that I hope you will find useful. I know I missed my weekly writing sessions!
I have a child that has a Winter birthday and one with a late Spring, it is almost Summer birthday. Stay tuned for Winter birthday ideas…Today, I am writing about budget-friendly tips and tricks for those birthdays that fall during warm weather.
There will inevitably come a time when your child will know exactly what they want and how they want it – but until then, take advantage of their excitement for birthdays and lack of general knowledge about what other options exist…
Here are my 5 best tips for throwing a fantastic budget-friendly kid birthday bash! Keep reading for a bonus at the end.
- Pick a free venue. The best part of the warm weather is that you can either use your backyard, a family member’s backyard, or even better…a park. There is minimal clean up involved when the location is a park. I like to pick parks where I don’t have to pay reservation fees for tables or covered areas and those that have at least part of their playground in a shaded area.
- BYOT. Bring Your Own Table! A lot of parks will have tables but as I mentioned above, some require you to pay a fee to book them. Other places have them for free but you run the risk of not having them if other people are there. You can either make sure you get there super early or bring your own beer-pong style table just in case nothing is available. What I love about bringing your own table is that you can pick a shaded area close to the playground and stay near the kids.
- Dollar Store. Everything you can possibly need for a kid birthday party can be found at a Dollar Store or whatever it is called near you. They have birthday decorations, tablecloths, plates and utensils, candles, party favors, and even helium balloons! If your child really has their heart set on a specific theme, this may be tricky but I highly recommend checking out what they have first and then supplementing any specific character decorations after. I typically end up ordering from Party City or Amazon (my least favorite option). Party City always has reasonably priced packages of decorations – this year we went with Barbie as you can see from the pictures.
- 5 Below. Another great store that is slightly more expensive than the Dollar Store but is great for picking up “activities” for the kids should the playground area not be enough. They have bubble machines, big inflatable balls, giant games of croquet/chess and others, sidewalk chalk, and many other things. They also sometimes have party favors for specific characters, so check that out as well. One year, I lucked out with a whole bag of small PJ Masks activity packs, which miraculously matched the theme of the party.
- Food. The time of day of the party you choose will determine what type of food can be served. You should probably have lunch or dinner if you are doing anything around 10-1 or 4-6. I recommend pizza, juice boxes, and fruit. If you are doing something from 2-4, you can do snacks. I like to do individual packs of pretzels, Pirate’s Booty, Goldfish, apple sauce, or any other snack you like. Costco or any other wholesale retailer will have better prices than your local supermarket. Individual water bottles and juice boxes are good for drinks. I like to do cupcakes since they are easy to handle and you don’t have to worry about cutting cake.
Bonus tips:
- Local supermarkets are great for cupcakes or cake if you prefer but most recently, I found a local teenager that bakes and the cupcakes were amazing at a great price!
- Bring something for the adults! Coffee, extra water, Bubbly or your preferred flavored seltzer water are always appreciated.
- Party favor ideas: bubbles, activity packs, a fun cup filled with healthy snacks
