No matter what you choose to do, the important point is to do it together…
As a parent, budget constraints and financial glitches keep happening all along. These money related roadblocks can setback your birthday organization plans. Since your child is the central part of your life, you still keep striving your best to not let the lack of resources hamper his or her special day.
In order to accomplish your kid’s birthday plans, you might end up taking a personal loan or even maxing out your credit cards! Now that can be problematic for the financials of your coming months! In order to help you glide through such a crunched situation and still make your kid’s birthday party extra special, we have curated 20 easy-peasy tips for you!
We won’t let a tight budget hold you back from making your kid’s birthday a grand success! So, are you all set to make this birthday extra special for your child? Then here’s presenting 20 ideas for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or for that matter even an older sibling, in organizing a great children’s birthday party, when money is extremely tight. While some of them are actually free, others might cost only a small sum of money. I have used a handful to make my own kid’s birthday – extra special!
A day together doing something productive and enjoyable
Despite a money issue, some of the most valuable gifts you can shower upon your child every single day (and not on the birthday alone) are your time, love and undivided attention. Once these basics are in place, the lack of an expensive gift is hardly an issue!
Try and focus your child’s birthday around a day’s worth of your time and energy. Play any and every game with them with the toys that they already have. Take a walk in a nearby children’s park and swing together! Or simply visit a museum or a zoo. Once you are back home, sit together and draw some pictures together or watch a movie on TV together (you can call it a ‘Birthday Movie Marathon Night’). Cook their favourite food at home instead of eating out and the smile you get in return, will be priceless.
Make a ‘coupon book’ or a ‘scrap book’ with pictures from old magazines
‘Coupons’ or ‘scraps’ are simply small paper cuttings that describe special things that your children might want now or in the future. This might demand extended attention and time from you.
All you need are a few sheets of paper, some creativity, a few old newspapers and magazines, a glue stick, a marker or a pen. You can also doodle or draw images to the scrap book.
Make a homemade printable game
My daughter loves the Avengers and DC Comics superheroes. So a weeks back, we made a version of Snakes and Ladders using a bunch of superheroes and featuring Joker (a Batman comic book villain) as the “Snake.”
All I did was copied some superhero images and reduced them down to the size of a finger in a Word document so that they fit on two pages. I superimposed their images with a grid of numbers from 1 to 100 and printed two copies of each page. I then pasted these on a folded cardboard sheet. This soon became a frequently played game for a long while, which reduced my daughter’s screen and TV time considerably!
Make some homemade play dough
Kids love playing with play dough and enjoy making sculptures. The simplest recipe for a good enough dough is just four cups of flour, some salt, vegetable oil, water and food coloring of your choice. Knead the dough thoroughly and separate into small balls and start playing!
Decorate in surprising ways
Make breakfast and use the cereal pieces to spell out “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” on the toast or on a plate. Make their favorite snack and spell out “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” with snack food.
Such a simple little tweak on ordinary things shows your love and displays your excitement to your little one.
Borrow some children’s books from a local library and read them aloud
Borrow all the books your kiddo loves. During bedtime, read aloud all these books to your child. I often do this with my daughter and I literally read until my voice cracks! She just loves it. Reading aloud is a great way to bond and show that you care for and love your child.
Build a giant blanket/pillow fort before they wake up
Take all the blankets, pillows and cushions in the house and convert any corner in the house into a birthday tent or fort before he or she wakes up. Announce that this is their ‘birthday castle’ and let them spend the whole day playing inside!
Final Thoughts
Once again, I’d like to reiterate that the best gift you can give your child is your undivided attention, patience, love and lots of smiles. While all the ideas above are based on the key element of budgeting as a parent, the value of your attempt to make your child’s birthday special within a tight budget will be priceless for sure.
All the best and happy partying!