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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Almost every year since my son could walk we have had a hay hunt party. I make the food simple, take and bake pizza or hot dogs, carrots and apple slices. Juice or juice boxes. We get a bail of straw and hit things in the straw, usually bought from the dollar store. Bubbles, crayons, erasers, stickers, whatever is age appropriate. Just give the children a sack and set them free. They love finding things and showing you what they get. Afterwards it is fun to throw, jump and play in the straw too. Makes for a very inexpensive and fun party.
Sounds fun – but don’t people have trouble with allergies? My family wouldn’t be able to last 5 minutes digging around in a bale of hay (or straw). I wonder if there is a way to do something similar without the hay. Any ideas?
Never had a problem with the straw. We don’t have allergies so it never even occurred to me. You may be able to save or get packing peanuts although it would take a lot.
My sons headstart did something like this but in sand. It’s not too much fun to clean up but if you have a wet/dry shop vac it’s much easier!
You can also do the same thing in sawdust. If it’s hot outside, use ice cubes in a swimming pool, and have the kids grab things with their toes. They love it!
Popped popcorn! We did this at a family reunion and the kids loved it! We layed a tarp down and mixed in little toys and candies for the kids to dig for.
mulch from Home depot maybe? easter grass type rafia? put it in a box with a hole cut in the top. Shredded paper or newspaper?
We got the plastic small pools and filled it full of potting soil and buried those little farm animals and gave each child a plastic spoon and cup and the first one to dig up the most or a certain animal won! This farm party was for my little granddaughters 2 and 3 yr. old party.
Love this idea! Especially for birthdays that occur in the fall (goes along with hayrides, etc)! Thanks!
There is a state park near me that actually has a little mini zoo attached to it. Part of it is also a petting zoo. Its completely free and there are mini picnic areas.
I think there is a week in April that national parks are free. There are some amazing national and state parks around me. Even when they aren’t free, you just have to pay for parking. They all always have plenty of picnicing areas
I am a 3 year old preschool teacher and trust me, simple is best. Three year olds get overwhelmed very easy. Simple games, simple food and keep the guest list small. The Dollar Store is a great place for birthday supplies (skip the birthday hats, they just break) and if you feel forced to do a goodie bag, give them something simple like a hat, a ball, a little bag of tatoos, things that are cheap and easy to pick up. Children like the IDEA of a party, you don’t have to break the bank to make them happy.
I agree with you 100%! (I also teach 3 year olds)
I don’t think one is really needed. BUT if you must, go the old-school route. Cupcakes that you make. Pin the tail on the donkey, a craft. Then party’s over. 3 year olds attention span is not that long, a short party – just dessert and a game or two!
Nothing fancy is always fun!
Good luck and happy birthday!
I totally agree. Our daughter’s 3rd birthday party was just the family, cake, gifts and enjoying the time together.
Same here! I figure once they get to school age and can have longer social interactions w/o tantrums, then they need bigger parties, before that they don’t really care either way! lol! But some of these ideas are great for either older kids (ie: the firestation idea is SO cool, and I’m going to see if I can do it for my son’s 5th bday!!) and some of the money saving ideas are great for ALL ages! (Adults included! 😉 )
Pick up party supplies at a dollar store, versus Target or Party City. Can’t beat the price and you can find decent stuff!
We had a cookie decorating party for my daughter. I baked the cookies ahead and mixed up some simple icing the kids could brush on with a pastry brush ( I bought the inexpensive mini paint brushes at the hardware store) and put various sprinkles on the table. I also bought a bunch of play dough out on our coffee table (that is protected with a glass cover) for them to play with. That way there were two distinct play areas for the kids. The cookies doubles as the party giveaway. I burned a CD of my daughters favorite songs as an added give away. Food was just inexpensive $5 pizzas and a home made cake. It was a blast and one of the Moms and at least one kid said it was the best party they had been to.
For all of my sons’ birthday’s, instead of buying all of the decorations in the specific theme, we just bought the cake in that theme and the rest of the decorations were in the colors of the theme. Like tractors, we have a tractor cake and yellow and black decorations, etc.
Do you have a theme or anything? Where are you located?
For our kids birthday parties we usually stick to family. My kids are 3, 2, and 10 months. My daughter and son have their party this weekend. I make the cake and do not serve a meal. We do snacks and cake. I put on the invite, Please join us for snacks and cake. I ask my MIL and Mom to bring a snack to pass too. Then for decorations I get a table cloth and birthday banner. I get some cheap flowers for the girls as well. Usually daisy’s or carnations. We do just plain plates, cups and stuff. This weekend is Mickey and Minnie themed. I am doing a mickey cake and minnie cake then take the kids Mickey and Minnie stuff to decorate the house. For favors this year I am making cake pops (cheap and easy). I have done cut out cookies in the past as favors and this has gone over very well instead of kids going home with more junk that they really do not need. Good luck with your planning. BTW the party with food, cake and drinks (beer included) will not cost me more than $50.00!
Just celebrated my daughters 3rd birthday this past week. We did a party on Friday afternoon. We invited 4 friends and their mommas and had lunch. I served a frugal/inexpensive/kid friendly lunch of: pigs in a blanket, veggie chips, fruit, mac n cheese and of course cake. We got all of our decorations, prizes, party supplies at the dollar store or in the dollar bins from target. It helped to have it during the day…just girls and their moms kept things simple for me and I didn’t have to worry about feeding an army. She was just thrilled to get to play with her friends.