Jill's Low Cost Birthday Party Ideas

My friend Jill is one of the most inventive and resourceful people I know!  She did an amazing job leading our church's family camp this year.  These are some of her ideas for birthday parties, so you will see why she's so much fun to hang out with!  Thanks for sharing, Jill! 

 

"I have 3 boys and 1 girl, so some of these parties are for boys and some are for girls.

I've done just about every sports-themed party imaginable, but here's a taste of some of the more unique parties we've had:

Veggie Tales Party

As kids arrived, they colored Veggie Tales pictures, which they taped to their goody bags.  For games/activities, I used two red "hippity hops" (the large rubber bouncy balls with handles.  You sit on them and bounce.).  I taped large paper eyes to them and they looked just like Bob the Tomato.  The kids had Bouncy Bob races on them!  I had jumbled up the following phrase, "Go in the living room for a fun surprise".  I had written each word on a separate piece of paper and hid the clues inside green balloons.  I called it "Jr.'s Jumble" for Jr. Asparagus.  The kids had to sit on the balloons to pop them and get the clues out, then put them in the correct order.  Once they figured it out, they went into the living room, where my teenage niece was waiting in a Larry the Cucumber costume!  Larry joined the kids in playing Limbo and Musical Chairs while Veggie Tales music played in the background.  

Little House on the Prairie Party

When my daughter was younger, her favorite books were from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House series.  The girls came dressed in Pioneer style clothes.  I made a cake that looked like a log cabin, using packaged cake rolls stuck together with toothpicks.

 Activities included hand-sewing small pillows for their dolls using old fashioned calico fabric, dancing to fiddle music, and played Blind Man's Buff just like in the books.

 

Spider Man Party

I created a spider web on the wall using black crepe paper streamers and we played "Pin the Spider on the Web".  The child whose spider was closest to the center won a prize. I took each guest's picture with the birthday boy in front of the web, then included a copy of the photo in thank you cards sent after the party.  The kids "webbed" each other with silly string.  

Lego Party

My son proclaimed this as his favorite birthday party ever!  The boys each worked on a Lego creation using ALL the hundreds of Lego's my boys have collected through the years and my husband and I judged each creation.  We displayed their work on a table and created certificates on the computer to place in front of each one, such as "Most Creative", "Largest", "Coolest", "Funniest", "Most Action-packed", etc.   We played "Lego Toss", using 3 different sized containers.  The boys took turns tossing a Lego into the containers and got 1 point if it landed in the largest, 2 points for the medium-sized, and 3 points for the smallest container.  The cake was a giant Lego made from a sheet cake with cupcakes on top. 

Butterfly Party

I found small purses at the dollar store and the girls used butterfly stamps and beads to embellish them.  For lunch, I cut English muffins in half and turned them around, so the curved parts were in the center.  They resembled butterflies.  We spread pizza sauce on

them and the girls chose their favorite pizza toppings for their butterfly pizzas.  I popped them in the oven for a few minutes til the cheese melted.  While waiting for the pizzas to get ready, the girls decorated cupcakes with butterfly-shaped sprinkles.  They played "Pin the butterfly on the flower".  I painted a huge flower and taped it to the wall.  The girl whose butterfly got closest to the center won.  

 

Princess Party

For my version of the princess party, I read a book to the girls called The Princess and the Kiss by Jennie Bishop.  It is a sweet book that introduces the concept of God's gift of purity to children in a way that doesn't steal their innocence.  I decorated a chair to resemble a throne.  Each guest arrived in their prettiest party dress.  The invitation was worded using old English and began with "Here Ye, Here Ye, Her Royal Highness, Princess Brooke requests the honor of your presence...".  I took each guest's photo with the birthday princess sitting together on the throne.  The girls played dress-up and had high-heel races.  So cute!  

Knight Party

Jennie Bishop's book for boys is called The Squire and the Scroll.

I had a knight party for one of my sons based on this book.  Activities included dressing up like knights with some awesome costumes I found at a garage sale, jousting tournament using pool noodles, and stick horse races.

Misc. Party Activities

These activities can be adapted to just about any theme.  

Sheet Volleyball:  Divide kids into 2 teams.  Each team holds a sheet on the edges.  Place a beach ball on the center of each sheet.  Teams toss the ball back and forth by shaking the sheet.

Cotton Ball Transfer:  Fill a bowl with cotton balls.  Place an empty bowl beside it.  Blindfolded, the kids hold a plastic spoon spoon in their mouth, dip it into the cotton balls, trying to pick them up using only the spoon (No hands allowed!) and transfer them to the empty bowl.  It's hilarious to watch!  

Bucket Brigade Relay:  Line up kids in 2 teams.  Put a bucket of water at one end and an empty bucket at the other.  Each child should hold an empty cup.  Child closest to full bucket dips cup in and fills it up, then pours water into next person's cup, etc.  The last person pours their water into the empty bucket.  Of course, they are trying to do this as quickly as possible, so lots of water get spilled in the transfer.  You can either set a timer or have a fun song playing.  When time's up or the song ends, the game ends and whichever team with the most water in the second bucket wins." - JILL

Comments

[hcg weight loss]

Wow! This is so cool. I can minimize my budget for my next party.