Under-5’s Party On A Shoestring

We all want the best for our children but when it comes to throwing a party, things can easily get out of hand and cost a fortune. However listed below are some great benefits of holding parties at home, along with 25 hot tips that will still allow you to host a fantastic party for your child, while NOT costing the earth!

Benefits of parties at home:

You will have everything on hand, from first aid kits to spare sets of clothes, plus toys if some guests prefer not to join in the games.
The birthday child will feel secure in their own environment amid all the excitement of the big day.
Most of the guests will also be familiar with your house, so they will feel more at ease also.
It is less disruptive to other family members of the family (ie other siblings who may be sleeping during the party time)
You know that your house is child friendly and safe.
You don’t have to ‘panic’ about a wet weather alternative.
Because you are catering at home, a huge invite list won’t mean huge costs per extra child.

Tips:

Choosing the party date and time:
1. Don’t get too adventurous with the length of the party. One and a half to two hours is ample time for little ones under five. (The longer you have the party, the more things you have to do/organise/buy to keep them entertained.)
2. If you hold the party during school hours, you won’t get your guests’ older siblings tagging along too.

Invitations:
3. Forget buying fancy ones from the shop. You can have heaps more fun creating your own with your child.
4. Instead of sending them by mail, HAND deliver them to the guests. (or even better, their Parents, so you know they received it).

Food:
5. The best way to cut down on costs is to hold either a morning or an afternoon party if possible, that way you are just catering for a small snack as opposed to a big lunch (or dinner!).
6. Don’t get too fancy with food, kids like the basics – chippies, lollies, cherios.
7. Buy drinks in bigger bottles (ie 2 litres) and pour them into plastic cups. It is much cheaper than buying individual drinks.
8. Consider pre-packing the food into bowls/plates for the children. You can buy in bulk and then divide it all up first. That way you can limit the amount of sweet things they have too!
9. Don’t go overboard catering for the parents, at a morning or afternoon party, offer them a muffin/piece of birthday cake and a coffee.
10. Buy plain plastic plates and let the kids decorate them with stickers if they really want. (if choosing a theme, buy some stickers and put one on each plate).
11. If possible, think of an activity that doubles as food. ie/ making edible necklaces with taties or fruit loop cereal, or for the little ones, make their own fairy bread as an activity.
12. Consider an ice cream cake if you have a summer party. Children can make their own ice cream sundaes for their party food. For winter parties, try making pizzas. They will love it.

Decorations:
13. Get a big sheet of white paper for the tablecloth and let the kids decorate it with felts etc.
14. Photocopy off some pictures on A4 (especially good for a theme party) and let the children colour them in as they arrive and then they can use them as placemats. They can make their own hats too.
15. Balloons are great because you can use them as decorations and then give them to the children at the end as a gift. (see loot ideas)
16. Streamers are cheap to buy and look great hanging just above head height from the ceiling (with bluetac).

Games and Prizes
17. Don’t even bother doing games with children under three. Your best bet is to either hire some toys from a toy library, or ask all the guests to bring a big toy with them. Let them play.
18. Bubbles and bikes is a great theme for the little ones too. Get them to bring their trikes and make up some bubble mixture.
19. It is nicer for children to ALL get a little prize,(ie a lollipop or balloon) as opposed to just a few getting big expensive prizes. It’s also heaps better that games are ‘all-inclusive’ so children don’t have to sit out.

Three games which can be easily adapted to any theme are:
Pin the nose/tail/whatever on the … (you can make this yourself)
Musical bumps: No equipment, just some appropriate music. The children dance and when the music stops, sit down. Award the first ‘two’ sitting down a lolly or sticker. Make sure they all get a turn a being chosen as first down (nod, nod, wink, wink)
Spin the bottle: Again, you just need 4 pictures (ie Scoop/Muck/Dizzy/ Bob). The children dance and when the music stops the children choose a corner. Spin the bottle and the children win a lolly/prize if the bottle points to their corner.
20. Any game that can also ‘double up’ as a loot gift is great too. (see Loot bag section)
21. Using food as prizes means that if you play the games before they sit down to eat, they will be less hungry so won’t eat as much!

Loot bags:
22. Balloons are great because they double as decorations too. I push 5 jellybeans down the mouth of the balloon before blowing it up, and then add a sticker (in theme) to the balloon and write the child’s name on it before hanging it up. At the end of the party the children find the balloon with their name on it and take that home. Balloons on sticks are nice too, or if you can afford it, helium balloons.
23. A great double up is doing a craft activity which can then be taken home. (ie decorating hats or making necklaces out of food/straws/beads).
24. Consider playing pass the parcel just before the party ends, and have a small gift in each layer for the guests to take home, or a treasure hunt so that all the guests have something just as they are about to go home (ie an ice block or small packet of sweets).
25. A ‘lucky dip’ for little ones is great – again, do it just before they go home so it seems more like a take home gift than a prize.