Planning a great birthday party!!

If you are like me you are short on time to plan the best birthday party ever for your child. And let’s face it kid’s birthday parties can be expensive, so what do you do??  There a couple of options, you can save some money by just having a couple of your child’s friends over and have cake and ice cream, or you could have a full party but at home, or a third option is to find the most cost efficient way to have a party at one of the kid’s entertainment places.  All parties need cake (or some other sweet) so I will talk about that last.  Since I have actually done all three options let me help you choose.

1.       Invite a couple friends over – just because you only have a couple of your child’s friends over doesn’t mean it can’t be a GREAT party.  You will want to spend some time thinking about what your child and his or her friends really like to do and to eat.  My son and his friends have a couple of favorite video games and toys.  I set the room I am going to let them play in up with the two video game systems we already have and their favorite toys, (my son’s birthday is in the winter but you could also set up the back yard for the kids to play in). I let him open his presents first so they have more options to play with.  And after about an hour or so of playing I serve his favorite food.  The first time I did this I thought he was going to be disappointed but he wasn’t at all.  He actually told me that year that was the best birthday party he had to date.  Remember all kids want to do is play.  Create an environment for that and you will be all set to have a great birthday party.

 

2.       Full party at home – This party will be a little more expensive as you will have more children over but still should come in under the budget of going out and paying a place to have a full birthday party where the kids play on their video games or what have you, and they establishment serves food and cake.  The way you set up the area for the kids to play in will be basically the same except you will just want to add more activity options depending on the number of kids you invite.  If you have an outdoor party some options to keep the kids busy are water toys like, slip and slide, a water sprinkler and water guns.  (With the water party make sure you tell the parents up front to bring swim gear. ) For the food option you could take your kid’s favorite food and have a make your own bar.  This works well with hot and hamburgers and sandwiches and won’t cost much.  The other option is to buy a variety of pizzas.  I am sure you can find a local pizza place that is running a special. Great birthday party plan complete!

 

3.       Don’t want to have a bunch of kids in your house but don’t want to pay an arm and leg to have a birthday party out??  Figure out where you want to have the party and ask for their ala cart options. Most places a 10 child minimum to have a party and they can start as low as $14 and go all the way up to $30 per child.  My problem with these places is no package ever has exactly what I want to be included or they want me to use their catering service and or allow them to make the cake.  So instead of being frustrated ask if you can pick the activity or the combinations of activities your child will like.  Also ask if you can bring your own food or cake.  These place charge a surcharge for the services of their staff.  Save this money and plan your party great party ala cart!

 

So now let’s take cake and or treats.  There are a couple of bakeries in the metro area that make awesome goodies.  For birthday cakes I love Mrs. Maddox bakery.  She makes cakes, cupcakes and a variety of other treats.  She is reasonably priced and treats are delicious.  So what if your child doesn’t like traditional birthday cake??  My son and could do without birthday cake so I have discovered the cookie cake is great alternative to birthday cake and doesn’t cost that much more. These can be purchased thru the bakery department at most grocery stores or your local Mrs. Fields. 

When it comes to birthday party planning just remember to keep calm a great birthday party is a breeze.