Birthday party for 5 year old on a budget?

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My daughter is turning five in a couple of months and really wants to do a birthday party. We’ve moved to a new area and new school, so trying to make friends. As its reception many children are having parties. We’ve noticed she hasn’t been invited to many and would like to bond with parents as well as the kids to bond.
the problem is every party idea we have found are in the hundreds and I’m not medically unwell and waiting on mri’s and so on so not working.

I’ve looked at the local farm. Looking at around £300 + food and drink.
soft play £260 for 15 kids and it’s really out of the way so unsure who would come.
gymnastics centre £250 + food and drink.

everything seems to me in the hundreds and then also getting her a present. Halls are cheaper but then hiring a bouncy castle and entertainment will then rack up.

can I just do something small with a few children or do I have to invite the whole 42 children year or her 22 class? I don’t really know what to do if I am honest.
anyone got any recommendations

Hi, you don’t have to do the whole class but in that case keep it really small!

Why not ask the class teacher who your dc has been getting on well with, and organise a get together just for 6 girls & boys incl your dd… some ideas that have gone quite well:

• “Entertainer” in your home who will do cupcake decorating (or see if there’s a cafe or cake shop nearby who offers this), or an arts & crafts party with a theme eg dragons and princesses, or Under the Sea
• Pizza Express party where the kids put toppings on their pizza.
• mini golf if you have one near you and the weather isn’t foul

if you are not well I wouldn’t recommend trying to host at home without help.

This is me right now. The "local" farm was too far in my opinion and the soft play was slammed. Was also 300 quid. odds farm park if you've heard of it.

I'm now looking to book a church hall, bouncy castle as she wants 10 friends and we will probably be inviting family too

I've been to a few 5 year old birthday parties recently that were just church hall + simple food + music. The kids absolutely loved it and no need for entertainment. They love to just bounce and run around.

One had a table off to the side with lots of plain cupcakes/fairy cakes and there was icing and various sprinkles and edible stickers etc for the kids to decorate their own cakes.

Another was similar but instead of cakes it was paper crowns and the kids decorated them with stickers and little sticky gem stones. They had set up an area away from the bouncy castle with props like capes, sunglasses, moustaches etc for the kids to take silly photos which was really cute. The family had brought their own Polaroid so the kids got instant snaps to take home.

No one had party bags either which I love as I think they cost a lot for what's basically cheap tat.

Whoops should also say bouncy castles! It wasn't just a hall with music and food.

Some of my kids best parties were at home with some arts and crafts and snacks. With the rise of activity parties, a home one was seen as a novelty and cool.

I love the cupcake idea! Stealing that !

Weird idea but DD and her friends loved it, "Bring your Stuffy (stuffed toy)" party. Everyone brings their LABELED stuffy to the party. Stuffy dance contest, stuffy chats, stuffy crafts (make a portrait for example), stuffy stop motion if you have the time, energy and tech, and because my kid is weird stuffy fight where they all threw their stuffies. And had to refind them. With cooperation.

Honestly, every kid remembers it as epic, mostly because they would never be allowed to chuck stuffies in their house.

Add some cupcakes, job's a good 'un.

Love it. A teddy bears picnic 🧸

Party hats for all the bears for the kids to decorate, big blanket for them the sit on and have party food, teddy bear games

We’ve just hosted a small (six kids total) 5th birthday party for DD at home. We usually do fairly big parties, but tricky this year due to family illness. It went well, although was hard work! This is what I did:

When they were all here they sat around the table and decorated two biscuits each - one to eat now and one to put in their party bag.

Pass the parcel - enough wrappers for each child to have two turns. Small trinket in each layer, with a book as a prize for the ‘winner’. Trinkets put into party bags.

Musical statues. Rather than anyone being out, I chose the stillest one for each round. They got a bag of sweets that they got to put in their party bags. Obviously, each child won a round…

Party tea

Birthday cake

Disco

Home

The idea of winning things to go into their party bags worked really well. We did drop off so parents could work (party was after school) and parents seemed to love the fact that they didn’t have to stay, it gave an activity after school and didn’t take up valuable weekend time.

The cheapest parties we've been to were simply at a nice local park, parents bring food and a few games but mostly the kids played in the playground. I've never been brave enough to do it as we have April/May birthdays which is too unreliable for weather. I've seen people put up little gazebos and put them up in public parks though.

I wouldn't get my kids a big present if they're having a party - when they got a bit older I'd let them choose each year if they had a party or a big present and so far they have both always chosen a party (12/8 now) so they just get something small from us - a few books or similar. They get presents from their grandparents and friends and a super fun day and that's enough.

If you are well enough to host that would be the most affordable and doesn't have to be super complicated, particularly if you have a garden. Or if you can manage one of the easy option party places you can keep the food super simple. My most successful version of this is doing snack bags for each kid - got a paper party bag and popped in a fruit shoot, string cheese, crisps, fruit snack, some sort of small chocolate, and whatever else my kid wanted. No waste as the bags just go home with the kids and easy to prep ahead of time. I do cupcakes at the party and sweet cones for the party bag and job done. Not free but not expensive so the rental was the only big cost.

Where I live you can hire the council sports centre for around £65 including use of bouncy castle and gym equipment which would be perfect for reception age kids. Not sure if this is an option where you are?

If not I would do it at home with around 5 children invited. At that age they have a great time whatever you do.

I'd do local church hall, bouncy castle, put music on a speaker/alexa, few party games, cheap glitter tattoos / face painting from Amazon, setup a few play stations/ areas.

You could do it for £100-£150 if that's more feasible and you are careful

We have had:

• a party at the council leisure centre in the sports hall, that was £120 for 3 hrs, 2hrs for the party then 30 mins either set for set up and break down. We got a bouncy castle, soft giant Jenga type games, tables and chairs within that price.
• party at the local library in a big room for convention/community group/networking type events. That was £60 then we hired a bouncy castle on top of that for another £80. The room had an attached kitchen area with ovens so we got a load of frozen pizzas and sides and cooked those up during the first hour while they were bouncing then in the 2nd hour they had pizza and cake then more running about like crazy things.
• garden party, with burgers/chicken burger and ice cream sundae bar. No hire costs but we spent a bit on water pistols, really brightly coloured chalks, chalk bombs, piñatas to hang from the tree, some giant games and other outdoors messy stuff. Made clear on the invite they would be getting messy so to dress appropriately and be prepared to hose them down afterwards.

Having run a few of these things now, 5 yrs old need very little to keep them happy at a party. Put them in a space and tell them they can run around, scream, shout, dance and eat junk food and they are perfectly capable of having a great time. Add a few balloons and some music and you're well sorted, a plate of Chocolate fingers and jammy dodgers mean that they'll think you're wonderful.

Village hall, a couple of games like musical chairs and pass the parcel . Hot food and bobs your uncle. No need for a bouncy castle or an entertainment. At that age they would be happy with playing with Lego or trains

Kids that age love a 1980s party!

Lots of music, traditional party games, buffet, make it fancy dress if you want. Local hall usually doesn't charge too much.

Keep it simple. Church hall, music, balloons, games, musical statues, bumps played quickly, pass the parcel - 2 parcels going around everytime small sweet person layer and bag of haribo in middle. Keep the food simple, cheese or ham sandwiches, slices of plain pizza, some carrot and cucumber sticks, lots of different shaped crisps.
Tea & coffee for parents if there's a kitchenette as they'll be grateful and enjoy chatting/helping too.

Cheapest but much enjoyed party for mine at that age was hiring a local university's sports hall with a package that included two students who got them doing games with plenty of running around. I did low cost buffet myself and cheap tat party bags. Kids loved it and way cheaper than soft play if there's anything similar near you.

We've done a range of parties over the years, but when DD was that age, we had them at home - we can host up to 10, but a smaller number would work too!

We got craft kits from Baker Ross, and they worked really well - you can select ones which include everything and don't need glue! We alternated a craft with a party game (pass the parcel/treasure hunt/musical statues etc.). While the crafts weren't free, it was much cheaper than hiring somewhere/someone.