5 yo dd expects party! What else can I do? Any ideas please!!

[Honeymunster]

It's my dd's 5th birthday at the end of september and I don't know what to do. She's had parties on previous birthdays and really expects one. Truth is we really cant afford it this year! I have dd 2's 3rd birthday 5 wks later then xmas a few weeks after and we just cant do it this year! The thing is i'd still like to do something nice for her that doesn't need wks of planning and that doesn't cost the earth! If anyone has got any 'different' ideas I would be very grateful!

Party at home? Friends to tea but a specially decorated table andparty food. A few games, a DVD to watch (becaue it's winter and the weather may be bad). Nice cake. Sorted.

You have to do something if you are having a party for your other DD.

Party at home is easiest to organise.

Party at home, bouncy castle in garden? (costs about £40 and will keep them entertained for hours), some party games and party tea? Have done a kids party tea for around £25 before when times were tough.

We did exactly what Seeker suggests for my dd's 5th birthday and it was such a great success. She just invited her 5 best girl friends, we did some crafts (Yellow Moon have fab kits), they raided my nailpolishes and painted each other's nails, played 'Don't Eat Tommy Smartie' which is a brilliant game I found on here (do a search for it, it is hilarious!), had pizza for lunch and danced around the kitchen table. We were going to do a dvd but ran out of time! They all had such a brilliant time and I enjoyed it far more than the big children's parties we've had in the past - less stress and more of a chance to get to know her best friends and see them all interact. And we have a TINY house, so I did wonder if it was a crazy idea at first!

Plan something special with her, and allow her to bring a friend along? Thinking cinema, 10 pin bowling, soft play followed by pizza out, etc.

DD had a 'shared party' one year with one of her classmates. Their birthdays were close together, and as we'd essentially be inviting the same children, the other Mum and I decided to combine the two events. My costs were, as you might expect, about half of what they would have been.

Another possibility is to do a family party - still make a fuss with cake, decorations, perhaps cook her favourite meal, and maybe do a special activity together as a family, etc. Tell her that you don't do a 'big' party every year, and that this is the year for a smaller event.

I think the 5 friends round for tea sounds a great idea. We are doing that for our sons 5th birthday (he's 5 so he can invite 5 friends), will do the same for our daughters birthday when she's 4 (she can invite 4 friends etc.). I love 'old fashioned' style parties (if that makes sense), so much nicer than going to soft play party after soft play party after soft play party! xxx

5 friends round for tea is perfect

pass parcel, pin tail on quadraped of your choice, sausage rolls, balloons, wotsits, cake with candles.

prep time 2 evenings if you make the cake yourself, only 1 evening if bought
total cost about £20

You should definitely organise a small party at home. I'd ditch the bouncy castle idea though if it rains you've had it. What about organising a treasure hunt in the street or garden. At 5 they'll love searching for treasure even if it rains. Then maybe do some crafts or watch a video. I can recommend the following website if you want to avoid hours of planning you can simply buy a kit. Try these links princess treasure hunt games craft kits for parties

Have fun!

Thank you all for your ideas! I think i'll go with the party for 5 at home with some games! I feel a bit silly for not seeing the obvious Tbh I think that we've got carried away with previous parties and felt like anything less would be a disappointment for dd!

Tikka- will definately look out for @Dont eat Tommy Smartie' sounds great

Earlybird - I was thinking along those lines origanally re 10 pin then pizza, but Dh didnt agree Maybe next year!

We had a fab party last year for dd at home. I bought some white t shirts - £1 each and fabric pens and they decorated their own tshirts which was what they took home. Much cheaper than party bags and the children really liked them. You also get a set of fabric pens to keep.
Children decorated the pizzas they ate themselves and also decorated biscuits I'd made and cut in shape of pirate ships as party was pirate themed. I used the same cutter to do teh sandwiches, made a pirate cake myself and make fruit saws which were very popular - pieces of fruit on wooden skewers.

Oh and pirate balloons to play with which they got to take home too and games like pass the parcel.

You could let your DD choose what she and her friends will eat and then go shopping with you to buy it.

Decorating plain biscuits (shop bought or homemade) or little buns with royal icing and sprinkles/chocolate chips etc is lots of fun at any age. They can even make the icing up themselves.

Good luck with it all. Remember, waking up to lots of balloons and a birthday banner make the day special and cost very little.

thedolly- You are very right! Am glad I posted, has been very helpful and I dont feel like I have to spend a fortune to give her a lovely day thanks

When I was at primary school one of my friend's parents were strapped for cash when her birthday rolled around. They had iirc 5 of us round for tea, we played games her mum organised and instead of birthday tea and then cake her ingenious mother made a birthday cake out of piled up mash, sausages and beans. It was amazing, I have never forgotten it.

That is brilliant - genius even . I can just imagine it. In fact I may pinch the idea.

It's such a good idea. I talked about it for weeks and had no idea that she'd done it to save money, it just seemed so special to me!

Halibo- I love it, thats what I posted for. Some ideas that I wouldn't think of (I'm not very creative
As At1137 said about the soft play parties, DD has been to a few and really enjoyed them, but I wanted something a bit more personal and different! (and cheapish) I've got a few ideas now,thanks to you all
I looked up the 'Dont eat Tommy smartie' game on here and love it, will definately be using it!

Oh I'm glad you found it - it was such a hit at dd's party, I have been recommending it to everyone I know!

My mom once made a cake for my brother, who doesn;t like sweet things - out of a mountain of rice salad, with little people made out of cocktail sausages, and broccoli trees - it was brilliant!

cool