Have fun party planning with these fun and creative Preschool Birthday Party Ideas!
Preschool Birthday Party Ideas
Got a preschooler… or know someone that does? I received the following question from frugal friend Jessica in Ohio…
“I was wondering if you had any good ideas for fun and thrifty birthday parties? My daughter’s 3rd birthday is at the end of March, and we are trying to come up with something that doesn’t cost too much money… but that is still fun and entertaining for the children. Thank you for any tips you may have!”
Do you have any thrifty or creative Preschool Birthday Party Ideas for little ones?
Or any fun party games, decoration ideas, or ways to save $$ on the food?
Leave a comment & share!
Have fun checking out these 46 Creative Preschool Birthday Party Ideas in the comments below…
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Skip the expensive store-bought cake! Cupcakes are easier for little ones to hold and you can make your own for about $2. Really cute idea is to bake them in ice cream cones. You don’t need plates or pan liners. For favors, a lot of cartoon websites have free printables and even coloring books. Check nickjr or sprout for your daughters favorite character. Some even have invitations and party ideas. DLTK.com has free customizable invites of characters too! You can also make your own pinata. Time consuming, but much cheaper than buying one. I like to have the parties at home. If all else fails, a dvd or just playing together is enough at this age!
for my son’s 3rd birthday we went on a free tour to a fire station. We then went to our house for pizza and cake. We sent a couple of pizza’s to the fireman to have lunch as well as made a $50 donation to the station. The party favors were really nice (hard plastic) fire hats that I found online for $1 each and had a friend personalize them for free. The entire party cost me less than $110 for 45 people
When DD turned 3, she picked out 3 friends to invite over for a bounce house party (we own a Little Tikes one.) We made a cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s, had baby carrots & a watermelon slices. And her “cake” was a big chocolate chip cookie. We had another small party just for family.
This year for her birthday we were able to secure a birthday party package from Half Off Deals for $50 at a local zoo that had a value fo $175. All kids will get admission and we get to use the birthday tent (with all the decorations already there, so no need to buy any) and we get a personal show with 4 animals. Very cool! I’ll get a cake & juice boxes to bring in.
Last year for DD’s birthday I had won the McD’s/Shrek House Party from Houseparty.com and was able to buy everyone food and give them happy meal prizes. I did make other food and the cake and bought more prizes for the goodie bags, but this one was covered mostly through that house party. It was awesome!
For DS’s birthday, we got out our Little Tikes bounce house and let the kids jump in that. And we ate frozen pizza & spaghetti & fruit salad. I made up goodie bags with items I got on clearance in the Target Dollar Spot section.
I always keep my eyes open for goodie bag favors on clearance.
When my middle daughter turned three, she wanted an octopus party. Since the weather was nice, I found a fun, new park, brought along balls, chalk and sand toys. I got balloons and and cut out tentacles from construction paper and made octopus cupcakes and had juice boxes. I probably spent $25 and the kids had a blast. Oh! And I also did it during the week, during the day, so it was a fun mommy/birthday playdate.
If you can get away with it, avoid character themes. If you go with a more general theme like say, “Ocean”, “Farm”, “Construction site” and “Camp Out” like we’ve done so far, you can use just plain colored plates and napkins which are much, much cheaper than paying for Disney or Nick Jr. stuff. Plus, you can use toys and decorations you might already have around the house. Also, if you can’t afford a full meal, I don’t see anything wrong with having the party and a non-meal time and just saying “snacks and dessert will be served” on the invite.
Maybe try letting them fingerpaint their own party favors? And Target always has some kind of party supplies for 75% off and the end of their aisles.
We always have a cookout and ask everyone to bring a covered dish to share. We have also done a baked potato bar which was a huge hit and not too expensive.
Why not do a scavenger hunt. Have them go to a tree, car that’s a certain color, a chair, etc. If the weather is yucky you can always do it indoors. And kids love cheap little toys that you can get from Oriental Trading or a party store.
One year we did a scavenger hunt where we left clues of where to go next left the next clue of where to go next to find the next clue. Eventually (after touring the whole yard & 1/2 the house they found a “treasure box” w/a bag for each child inside. This was the party favor. For the treasure box I just painted a cardboard box gold w/spray paint. The goodie bags were brown paper sandwich bags w/a juice box & bag of snacks. This even works for older kids. They really enjoyed it.
For my son’s 3rd birthday we took a free tour of a fireststation. We gave a 50 dollar donation and then went back to our house for pizza and cake (we also sent a couple of pizzas over to feed the fireman). We gave super nice fire hats as the party favor which cost me $1 online. The entire party cost me less than 100 bucks!!!
That is an AWESOME idea!!!
Have the party at the park! If the weather permits of course. The entertainment is already there (aka the playground) and it’s free. You may need to reserve a covered pavillion or picnic tables ahead of time. Also, have the party mid-morning or mid-afternoon, that way you don’t have to feed the guests a meal. That will save money, just buy snacks and cake. Don’t hire any fancy entertainment, 3 year olds just love to play with their friends. You can always play simple games like the hokey pokey and limbo if you want too.
Good luck!
For my son’s third, we took a tour of our local firehouse. They show the kids around all the work and living areas, let them climb on the truck and try on the suits and talk to them about fire safety. And it’s free!
That’s an awesome idea! =)
I think I might do this for my son’s 3rd bday this year! Great idea!
I thought of this too, but don’t know what to do after??? did you serve food?