Throwing a birthday party for your young girl might seem difficult these days, especially if you are on a tight budget and can’t afford all the goodies. Throwing a birthday party on a budget don’t have to mean you sacrifice the fun and enjoyment that comes with it, but it does mean you just might have to be a little more creative. Here is one way you can throw a birthday party for a young girl if you are indeed on a budget, and this is something I have personally done with my little sister and nieces in years past.
Keep the Party at Home
It seems like you always hear about girls having a birthday bash at your local entertainment center or fun house, but keeping the party at home is one way to cut down a major cost. It costs a couple hundred dollars at least to rent out a place, and it’s just not worth it when you can have a fun party right at home for next to nothing. You might decide to bring a couple things into your backyard during summertime such as a small pool, but you don’t need the fancy games to give your kid a fun time. Plus, having the party at your house ensures there won’t be that many people attending, and your little girl really don’t care as long as her friends are there to celebrate with her. I know my sister just had a blast having her friends over, because she showed them all her cool toys, and they got to play their own games in the backyard.
Stick With Balloons
You might think that you need all kinds of creative banners and party decorations, but in reality all you need are some balloons. I have seen plenty of girls just have fun with balloons, especially if they are her favorite color. Balloons come in a pack of anywhere from 20 to 100 for a few dollars, which is an inexpensive way to decorate your home. You can also decorate the balloons with markers and silly string, and have them decorated in glitter if that is something your girl is into. Just because they are simple store bought balloons doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with them, and make them into something unique. When we had a party for my cousin, we printed out pictures of her favorite animals and glued them onto the balloons, and we also used pictures of famous people she liked such as Justin Timberlake and glued that on as well. I think she really liked those balloons because she felt like these animals and people were also at the party with her, and she just had this huge smile on her face.
Keep the Guest List Short
When you are on a budget, you really shouldn’t be inviting the whole neighborhood to the birthday party. Most little girls only have a few really close friends that they hang out with, so only invite those girls to your party. What I did was asked my little sister who her best friends were from school or daycare, and then she named about four people. It’s always best to ask your little girl to pick which friends she really wants at her party, because she knows better than you do who her friends are. You want to keep the guests short too because it can be overwhelming for a little girl if too many people are around. There is a rule about having the same number of guests as the age of your little girl, but I would just rather keep it to closest friends, because some girls might not have that many friends.
Just Have Birthday Cake
You might think that you need to have fruits, vegetables, chips and dip, and all of these other food items for your little girl, but no you just need a birthday cake. Birthday cakes are simple and can be purchased for as little as $10 depending on where you go. You might want to write on the invitations that birthday cake is being served, so that way parents can make sure their child eats a lunch before coming over. Little girls don’t sit there and chow down anyways, so you are likely wasting money if you buy a whole lot of food, since it will just be thrown away at the end of the day. I know when I was little, I didn’t care about the other food, I just wanted the cake. The birthday cake really is the star of the day, so make sure you make the cake a priority, and just forget the other stuff.
Ask For Everyone to Bring a Dish
If you really want to have other food options at the birthday party, but can’t afford it yourself, you can ask that everyone bring their favorite dish to the party. You want to get with the other parents to make sure this is in their budget, and ask for something cheap like chips and dip. I did this for my little cousin and she loved it, because all her friends brought their own favorite food item to the party, and they were able to share with each other. One of the girls brought over a special food item because she was from Peru, and that little girl liked being able to share her home food with my cousin. Like I said, it can be something simple from the store or something more elegant if the parents want to go that route, but leave it up to them how they want to handle it.
Make Your Own Games
Finally, you don’t have to go all out for your little girl, you can decide to make your own games to have fun. One that we did that was really fun was make a flashcard game, where it was all about my little sister, and her friends had to guess things like her favorite color and food. All the little girls had fun trying to guess what she liked, and it was one way to involve everyone, while also learning things about their friend. You can do simple games like hide and seek, tag, basketball, hula hooping contests, and so much more. For my cousin, we played a game of Jenga and Uno, and they all had a blast competing with each other, and the best part was the games were less than $10 at the store. You can really find a lot of joy with either cheap board and card games or making your own up, and the little girls won’t have any less fun.
