Looking for Cheap, Inexpensive Birthday Party Ideas for 8 Year Old & 4 Year Old

I'm a single mother and my money is tight. I've had sleepovers and my daughter really enjoyed it. We played gmes like musical chairs, made cupcakses and decorated them. I even had the children make their own jewerly as a take home present. This year I am going to have a bbq for her bday.. Nothing expensive just family and a couple of her friends and have it at the park so the kids can run around and play..
I hope this helped

Hi L. Have you tried Walmart? Here in northwest Indiana, we have Family dollar and Dollar General. You can find some nice things there. Some are name brands too.

Hi, there is a cute DVD bingo game that my friend had at her daughter's birthday - something good for all ages.
Target has the Mattel Disney Bingo for 10.00.

You could have all participants dress up in their most stained, holy clothes and come for messy games day. You can have them wrap each other up like mummys in race to get done first, ask trivia age appropriate questions and if they get it wrong they can choose a bucket from several and they either get it dumped over their head or poured on their back, we filled a poolsmall plastic with generic jello and a coin for every party goer and once they find one they are done, they played 2 liter soda wars with cheapy soda from aldi, they were shook and they sprayed each other, and we did a slip n slide with pudding and a little whip cream sprayed on it.... it was called the sundae slide. The kids may need to bring a change of clothes or an old towel. Parents like this becuase they don't have to dress up their child or send the good towels. You could start off having them decorate white lunch bags so that they can collect their goodie bag at each station they complete. I am sure there are many messy games online and this was our biggest hit. We served cake from Sams and got a case of water and made lemonade

I don't know what month your children's birthdays are in - but the local park or Chicago lake front is free.

You can pack sandwiches and chips or bring a small grill and do hot dogs and chips. Lemonade - again Kool Aid mix - you can find it on sale sometimes for under 25 cents a packet. I cut fresh veggies and buy the ranch veggie dip from Aldi - very good. Get a watermelon. Serve cupcakes (Aldi cake mix).

I always bring some card tables. And make goodie bags from stuff you can get at the dollar store.

You only have to plan a few games as the kids will entertain themselves. Just provide some balls and outdoor play equipment. The adults like it too. Sitting in the park and visiting.

We had an American Girl doll tea party. Well I called it a bring your favorite doll, they all ended up being American Girl dolls, LOL. I also did a Teddy Bear tea party for my niece. I made matching bonnets for the girls and their dolls/bears (they fit all sizes), and a little shawl that fit the doll. We had sweet tea and hot chocolate and lemonade, in tea pots, and served it in tea cups. Made finger sandwiches (that they still request everytime they come here) with Pepperige Farms dinner rolls, and white bread sliced diagonally. Have a relish tray of carrot sticks, celery sticks, black olives mini pickles and cheese cubes. We had a birthday cake 8" surrounded by fancy cupcakes for dessert. They got to keep the bonnets and shawls as a favor. (I sell them if you want info pm). I was amazed at how they liked the drinks out of a tea pot and cups (I had to borrow a few from my mom, LOL) and the bonnets/shawl ended the whole junk bag favor. Very grown up.

If you're looking to combine the parties then I think the park is the best free party out there! You could do a few organized games for each age (one for your daughter's friends and one for your son's) but other than that they'll just go nuts playing on the equipment! You could do sandwiches and Kool-Aid and chips for food.

My daughter just went to a party at the park yesterday and she had a blast! There were no organized games, they just played and played on the jungle gym. When it was time to go she didn't want to leave. She had more fun there than any organized party.

We just had a princess party for her on a budget. All the girls wore princess outfits and they played princess games like pass the poisoned apple and kiss the frog. I baked a castle cake and they had chips, sandwiches and we made multilayered Jell-O in clear cups. It was great!

Your son could be a Prince.

Good luck!

For mini pizzas you can also buy English muffins and just have the kids put on the toppings they like - put them on a pan, throw them in the oven and 20 min later - voila - mini pizzas.

Instead of having a b-day cake, you might make some cupcakes and give each child two to decorate - although this could get messy if the kids are in their pjs, but you could ask the parents to send each of them with an apron or smock to put over their pjs. If you have a digital cam, take a photo of each of the kids holding their cupcakes and just print it out on paper for them to take home. Cheap and fun.

You could do a "cooking class" for the girls. Have them break into two groups and learn how to make something fairly easy that kids would like, then they get to eat it. One group makes home made garlic crescents and another makes sphaghetti.

The girls could play pictionary with easy words - that's always a blast. Just buy a write on/wipe off board and put say 10 words into a jar - break up into two teams.

Some fun and cheap games include: balloon stomp, musical chairs, pin the birthday hat on the picture of your daughter/son, drop the clothes pin into the small-mouthed jar (they kneel on a chair and looking down have to drop it into the jar on the floor.) Bean bags into buckets. For your son, maybe something along the line of your favorite superhero - have them draw what superhero they would be. You can go buy some super cheap different colored fabric and cut it into capes, them have them draw with marker on the cape.

Hope that helps!

We had a baseball themed birthday for my daughter who turned 5 in May (it was her idea). It was a hit! We also had her whole preschool class over along with her friends from our old neighborhood.

I made cupcakes that looked like baseballs. We had a pinata which was the kids treat bag to take home. I went a little over board and let each kid make a tshirt. The tshirts I got on sale at Hobby lobby for $1.5o each and I already had the paints, and I cut sponges from the dollar store into shapes for them to decorate. And we had a T-ball game. Read the book, Hit the Ball Duck! And we own a bounce house that we got online for around $200 so that went outside as well. And we did this all in a 2 hour time frame. You can easily switch the sport to soccer or basketball even tennis. Have a great time planning and what is most simple usually is a hit with the kids and their parents.

Hi L.

My cousin just had a combined b-day party for her kids, 7 and 5 years of age. It was a circus theme. They had pin the nose on the clown, bobbing for apples, pinata, face painting (her sister did the painting) and balloon animals (her other sister did that with the help of a little book). It was an old school party but a lot of fun. The kids really had a great time and there was nothing fancy there. My husband and I commented on what a great time it was and the kids did not need anything over the top to enjoy themselves.

not sure what you think
but it is an idea

The sleepover idea is great, though some children at that age may not be ready, so just have it until 10pm, say, and have them bring sleeping bags, change into pajamas,watch a movie and eat popcorn. Boys love to run, how about going to a local park and having races. Or have them bring their cars from home, tag them somehow, and have a giant road map made from chalk on your sidewalk. My grandson is turning 4 and he's not that good at playing with yet, or sharing, but he loves a crowd of kids, so just having friends over to play with and the cake, etc. would be a thrill for him. Do concentrate on the goody bags, because they mean a lot to kids, so spend a little more here. Make your own cake, use dishes instead of buying the paper ones that get thrown away, or serve cupcakes without plates. Put them in a circle on a pretty plate and put candles in 4 of them. No need for ice cream. Give a lot of time to opening presents and then let the kids play with them, they would love that. They usually have been thinking about what they are giving and dying to play with it themselves. Be prepared to cut those wires and put a few things together, but get them out of their packaging. And there is your party.

are you having a lot of kids or just one friend each? we always gave our kids the choice. the big parties are fun but the kids have more fun with a one on one friend. in the past we have done for the bigger amounts of kids the following parties

olympics in the back yard we set up a few stations where they did things like shot put (threw a big beanbag) long jump, 50 yeard dash, push ups etc.... got some fat ribbon and at the party store some medals that looked like gold medals. each child got one at the end. then had hotdogs chips etc the cake had the gold rings on it.

pirate party, we did the canonball stomp, pin the treasure on the treasure chest and a scavanger hunt. all we had to buy for that party was a package of black balloons for the canonballs, some red/white striped material for headbands and some black pirate eye patches. and some papersacks they decorated to take home some goodies I made. email me if you want details on that party it was the one they talk about the most and it was by far the easiest we did.

little mermaid party - the girls watched the movie and we had a trivia contest. each girl made a poster based on their fav part of the movie. (a long roll of white butchers paper was used for the posters) and a cake with mermaid themed stuff.

a new fav with my granddaughter is the "spa" thing. which is done at home. manicures and pedicures and hair and face stuff. all of which you probably have at home. go to the dollar store and get those little soft things to put between the toes and some jars of nailpolish and your set to go. i also got a bag of combs so each kid has there own. no sharing as you just don't know anymore...

good luck
S.

Many wonderful times were had at stay at home parties. Get the movies free at a local library, buy some inexpensive hotdogs or we always had tacos on the cheap and if you shop at Aldi's you won't break the bank. And welcome back Koolaide, we're having it again now.Some treats from the Dollar store and voila, great time for them and you won't be poorer. who says you can't have a theme? The Dollar Stores have all sorts of goodies to decorate with. So have fun and enjoy yourself, too.

Home parties are the best. Do them while you can. I had manyfor my daughter. You can try to do games and crafts but they realy are not necessary. I would buy a frozen pizza from Sams, they are huge and only $8.00 or yuo could order from pizza hut, they are inexpensive also. Snacks from Aldi and a couple of movies and their happy. I don;t thik goody bags are ncessary, people usualy give junk that gets thrown away anyway. You could go to michaels and gt craft ideas and let them bring that home. Picture frames, door knob signs, etc. They have great ideas. Keep it simple and don;t stress out. Good Luck and have fun.
PS. Sams has really cheap cakes also. I would just make one and let your daughter decorate it, easy and cheap

I think they are both able to decorate their own cupcakes, it is fun and just have a few colors available and various "sprinkles" and/or small candy type items and let them use their imagination.

We "paint" a frame for the older ones, we buy a bunch of plain mat's (4x6,5x7) and again get a variety of stickers and coloring items. Finger paint is always a hit. Anyhow have them decorate to their hearts content and while they are busy take pictures of them! Send them home with a picture of themselves at the party.

We've had so many sleepover parties, when my daughter was younger. Have the kids come in pajamas. Fridays for us were good sleepover nights. Make their own "personal pizzas" and provide all the fixings. If you don't have time to make the pizza dough, just by "Rhodes frozen pizza dough" and follow the directions. Play a couple party games (I have a few very fun and easy ones if you are interested - just personal message me) and a movie with popcorn and the kids will have a great time.

If you are planning on having a "combined party for your kids", your 4-year-old may not mix well with the 8 year olds. You may want to consider a smaller party for him, possibly even the next day, with a couple friends. I'm guessing you are not having 4 year olds sleep over. Even some 8-year olds are very leery about sleeping at someone's home. (I had an 8 year old walking through my house, in the middle of the night, one year - she didn't WANT to fall asleep she was so excited! The next year, I had a 9 year old ask to leave at 11:30 pm and her mom had to come and pick her up.)

Good luck.