Tag Archives: birthday party

Plan the Party at the Park This Year

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If your kids have summer or spring birthdays or you live in an area where the weather is fairly warm year-round, one of the easiest ways to have a birthday party is to have it at the park. Your entertainment is built in and the cleanup is much easier, and you will be surprised at how affordable a park birthday party can be.

If you are interested in this type of birthday party, the first step is choosing a park. Consider the facilities you will need, like access to drinking water, restrooms, open play areas, shelters, and a playground. Then, contact your local park district to make the reservations. You will want to reserve the shelter several months in advance to ensure you get your preferred party date.

For food, keep things simple. If you plan the party at a time that is not normally considered a mealtime, you can offer cake or cupcakes and a small snack, rather than a full meal. Your children’s friends will be too busy playing to want to sit down and eat, anyways, so this could work out well both for your budget and for the party guests. Try to avoid foods that need refrigeration, as this can be a challenge at an outdoor party.

Have someone who can help you at the party, because you will need to leave an adult with the shelter, food, and party gifts while the children play. If you decide to have a game or two, consider options like piñatas that work well outdoors. But realistically, the park itself will provide all necessary entertainment, so you can just sit back and enjoy your child’s special day.

Birthday Parties On A Single Mom Budget

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Birthday parties! Kids get so excited about a party just for them, they start planning and begging and dreaming long before the birthday month gets there. By the time their big day is almost over, they are already talking about the next birthday party and what cool things it might entail. It’s impossible not to be swept up into the magic of it all.

But getting caught up in that magic is exactly what leads parents to spend an enormous amount of money on all the birthday party trimmings for their children. Avoid that temptation, especially if you are a single mom on a tight budget. Instead of inflatable castles and pony rides, pony up something that your child will remember forever – a special day filled with so many good things that don’t cost a single dime.

  • Free day at the pool. If your child’s birthday falls in the summertime, look for free days at the local pool. Take your child and several other children there to play. Pack sack lunches for everyone, and include a cupcake for the birthday baby.
  • Scavenger hunt in the park! Ask the children to play scavenger and find a list of natural items, such as certain rocks, feathers, leaves, and the like. Whoever wins the hunt gets a homemade prize!
  • Bonfire on the beach. Go digging for crabs, and then have a bonfire on the beach with your kid and their friends. Be sure to bring the things you need to have an old-fashioned crab boil! Then sit back and look at the vivid stars.
  • Kitchen party. Ask your guests to bring one ingredient for the cake you will create, and then help the children put it all together. The good conversation and laughter will be memorable, and the cake will be made with plenty of love from everyone who came to the party.
  • A community service party. If your kids are a bit older and understand the thrill of giving to others, celebrate by getting a group of their friends together and helping out at the shelter or neighborhood community center. Make it something the kids will always remember, and when you get home, bake their favorite dinner and of course, dessert with a candle.
  • Movie night. Get friends together with their sleeping bags and homemade popcorn. Check out free movies from the library, set up the “camp-out” in front of the television, and make it a marathon.
  • Ghost stories campfire. If you have the equipment to wander the woods, go camping! Take a few friends, be sure to pack the candles and lantern, and tell ghost stories around the campfire while you cook dinner over the flames. Talk about a birthday adventure your kids will never forget!