BEST Birthday Party Ideas for Kids, Teens & Adults!

Get ready for your next party with these Best Birthday Party Ideas for Kids, Teens and Adults!

Then… create the ultimate birthday with some help from these amazing 201 Birthday Freebies!

Best Birthday Party Ideas

Planning a party??  Check out this BIG List of fun and frugal Birthday Party Ideas for some creative inspiration for all ages!!

You’ll find everything you need for Creative Party Games, Decorations, Fun Party Food and Punch, and more!

Are you ready for the BEST Birthday Ever?

Here’s what you need to do…

Related:  Most Popular Party Ideas!

Fun Birthday Party Punch Recipes

30 Party Punch Recipes (5 minutes prep)

Birthday Party Decor

DIY Party Napkins

This trick is so easy, and SO cute!

Use rubber stamps and an ink pad to create customized napkins on solid paper napkins!

Corinne writes: “I’ve done this and also use embossing powder and heat to set them.  It does not come off.”

Pretty DIY Flower Poms

Birthday Party Games

Birthday Balloon Game with Hidden Dollar Bills

Fun Birthday Party Themes

Girls Slumber Party Ideas

20 Winter Wonderland Party Ideas

25 Beach Party Ideas at Home

Summer Birthday Party Ideas

Planning a Red, White, and Blue party?  These festive Summer Party Food Ideas are always a crowd-pleaser!

Red White & Blue Fruit Kabobs

1. Wash and dry your fruits.

2. Be sure to remove the pits from your cherries, too.

3. Now grab your skewers, and let’s get started!

4. Begin threading your marshmallows and fruits onto your skewers.

5. You can use any pattern you’d like… the options really are endless!

6. I made a few different patterns of these.

7. For the first, I did 1 Marshmallow, 2 Cherries, 1 Marshmallow, 1 Strawberry, 1 Marshmallow, 1 Strawberry, 1 Marshmallow, 2 Cherries, 1 Marshmallow.

8. For the second I did 1 Marshmallow, 2 Grapes, 1 Marshmallow, 3 Blueberries, 1 Marshmallow, 3 Blueberries, 1 Marshmallow, 2 Grapes, 1 Marshmallow.

Red White & Blue Strawberries

Sprinkle Red White & Blue Cookies

Fall Birthday Party Ideas

Planning a Fall party?  Here are some fun Fall Party Food Ideas!

Red Velvet Apple Frosted Cupcakes

Tish writes: “I made them for my daughter’s kindergarten class. Kids loved them”

Here’s what you’ll do to make your cute Apple Cupcakes…

1. Bake Red Velvet cupcakes in red paper liners, and allow to cool.

2. Tint white or Cream Cheese Frosting red with food coloring gel.

3. Pipe your frosting onto your cupcakes.

4. Sprinkle frosting with red sprinkles.

5. Using a butter knife, poke a flat slit in the center of the cupcake.

6. Trim green licorice pieces into small pieces, and press one down in the center of each cupcake.

Spider Web Cupcakes

Marey writes: “Delicious and perfect for my party! Thank you so much!”

Here’s what you’ll do to make your Spider Web Cupcakes…

1. Bake White cupcakes in white paper liners, and allow to cool.

2. Frost smooth on top with white frosting.

3. Use Black Food Coloring Gel to create 3 circles in each cupcake.

4. Then using a toothpick, carefully drag from the center circle to the outer edge 6 times on each cupcake.  That will make the web effect.

5. Gently push down a plastic spider ring in the center of each cupcake, and you’re done!

Star Wars Birthday Party Ideas

Planning a Star Wars Party?  Here are some fun ideas…

Heather writes: “Han-burgers, Hoth dogs, Vader Taters, Yoda Soda, Wookie Cookies, Obi Wan Kabobies, and Galaxy Far Far Away Trail Mix.”

Wendy writes: “Porg Chops, Obi Wan Kabobbies; Tie Fighter Fruit; Yoda Cucumbers, Han in Carbonite jello, and Bacta Tank Water to drink.”

Christin writes: “I just had my son’s 5th bday party, Star Wars Lego theme. I made a 9×13 cake, iced it and put my son’s Lego pieces on it.  Then, I took pool noodles from the Dollar Tree and cut them in half, taped one end with black electrical tape and gave these “light sabers” as party favors. I dipped pretzels in red candy melts from Hobby Lobby and then wrapped the other end in aluminum foil. These “light sabers” were also put in the favor bag.

I did this with small pretzels and placed on top the cupcakes. Then I bought plain colored table clothes, plates, napkins, and cups in red, black and yellow.  I printed coloring pages from the internet of star wars characters and rolled these up for the favor bags.  My niece put on a bath robe backwards, boots and pinned her hair up. She posed as Princess Leia with the kids and 2 toy light sabers my son had already.”

Childs Birthday Party Ideas

43 First Birthday Party Ideas on a Budget

46 Preschooler Birthday Party Ideas

Boys Birthday Party Ideas

Alexander writes: “How about Knights in training, Nerf themed parties, or a pirate party?”

Terri writes: “We did a pirate theme party for my Grandson last year. The invitations, which we hand delivered, were plastic drink bottles with a little sand and a rolled invitation that one of my daughters tea stained and drew a rough treasure map on with our house being the X. We then hit up an appliance store for a couple of refrigerator boxes(free) and made boats out of these for the kids to play in. The extra cardboard was then cut into sword shapes and awaited the start of the party for the kids to decorate them. I did purchase eye patches, but I hit up a local fish restaurant for the pirate hats(they gave me all I needed for free).

We made a piñata out of a punch ball to look like the earth and drew pirate boats on it. I did buy a few “gold coins” to put in this along with several dollar store items and some gummys. We played pin the treasure chest on the map, one of my daughters drew this too, sh*ot the cannon (nerf g*n) at the ships, also made from the cardboard, and broke the pinata. I made a cake to look like a treasure chest with mardi gras beads and more gold coins spilling out of it.

My youngest daughter painted mustaches and tattoos on the would be pirates while they colored their swords. It turned out to be a great party. The kids loved playing in the homemade boats with their swords and spent most of the party doing that…it was hard to drag them away. Hope you have a great party and get some great ideas.”

Revonda writes: “To go with the pirate theme have husband or older bro dress like pirate. He can lead them in a game of pirate says. Play pin the eye patch on the pirate. Have a savenger hunt led by the pirate to find the treasure. Decorate a box to look like a treasure chest. Put the goody bags inside. Make soda floats. Put pork n beans on thier plates then cut a hot dog in half lenght ways leaving about an inch at top uncut. Cut again like pie pieces so it has eight legs. When you boil them the legs curl up. Put two little dots on the head for eyes and sit it on top of the beans. You have an octopus on coral reef. My grandson’s party was a great success.”

Amanda writes: “I know a lot of mommies would not be fans of this idea…..but we had a burping contest for my 8yr old and his buddies!  We served them a canned coke and let it rip. They LOVED it!”

Amy writes: “Make your own small decorated cake and some extra cupcakes for the kids to decorate.  Have a scavenger hunt leading to a “small” prize for each kid (their goody bag).  Have a cupcake eating race with no hands.  Silly science experiments (mento and cola), JUST BE CREATIVE and MESSY and boys will love it!!”

Chelsea writes: “Water balloon fights, Dollar tree sells 100 or so in a box for $1 and kids love it. I filled them up before the party 2 days in advance up to the night before and put them in big trash bags. Don’t expect to do it during the party because they take too long.”

Toni writes: “For my son who will be nine in June, we usually do a water party in our yard. We fill up a bunch of water balloons, buy some squirt g*ns, usually at the dollar store, these also double as your party favors. And we let them run crazy in the yard for 60-90 minutes, stop the water play and do cake, which Sam’s Club has awesome and cheap cakes, have ice cream and send a bunch of very tired boys home.”

Teresa writes: “Have the party at a local park… bring the baseball or soccer gear… get a game up…. grill hot dogs and have cupcakes… cheap and easy!”

Diane writes: “Treasure hunt, giving the boys clues to find another clue to a small prize at the end. You could also draw a treasure map to find the clues. If your son is into sports, you could do an Olympic Party, with an obstacle course, football kick, frisbee throw, soccer kick and end with a friendly game of dodgeball, using very soft balls that won’t hurt. Just did a sports theme Olympics with my son’s friends and they LOVED IT! It cost nothing!”

Frugal Tip: Make Homemade Brownies, then use a cookie cutter to cut into fun shapes.  Frost with frosting, and decorate with icing, and you’ve got a fun party themed treat!

Patty writes: “One year I contacted the local firehouse and had my son’s party there. They were very reasonably priced and the kids had a blast! I didn’t need any decorations or extras. The kids learned stop/drop/roll, sprayed the hoses and climbed on the trucks. They let me bring a cake to the firehouse and it was really easy for me.”

Birthday Party Ideas for Teens and Tweens

 44 Thrifty Birthday Party Ideas for Tween Girls

Sweet 16 Birthday Party Ideas (21 Amazing Party Tips)

Fun Birthday Party Cakes

How To Make a Butterfly Cake

Frugal friend Heather made this adorable butterfly cake, and emailed over this photo to share the idea with all of you.  Isn’t this the CUTEST cake ever?

How to Make a Butterfly Cake

1. Bake 3 heart-shaped cakes (using a 9″ heart-shaped cake pan)

2. You’ll use two of the hearts for the top wings

3. Cut and trim the remaining heart cake to use as the lower wings

4. Place 4 frosted cupcakes in the center for the body.

5. The cute lil’ antennas are icing piped directly onto the cake board (which was just 2 layers of foam board covered with material.)

6. Frost your wings with the colors of your choice, and you’re done!  SO cute!!

Great job Heather ~ thanks so much for sharing your photo and this fun idea!!

Christina writes: “So adorable and easy. I’m thinking to use small swirled lollipops for the antennae.”

Peeps Sunflower Cake Recipe

Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe

19 Crockpot Dessert Recipes

Fun Birthday Party Cupcakes

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes Recipe

 Peeps Cupcakes Recipe

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Easy Chocolate Frosting Recipe with Cocoa Powder (5 Ingredients)

Best Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

DIY Cupcake Serving Tray

It’s so easy to make your own 2-tiered serving tray!  You’ll need two plastic plates (one larger, one smaller), a small candlestick (I used a glass one from the dollar store), and E6000 glue.

Carefully glue the base of the candle stick holder to the center of the larger plate.

Once it has dried completely, flip over the small plate and glue the top of the candle stick holder to the bottom center of the small plate.

That’s it… so EASY!

Fun Birthday Party Cookies

90 Cake Mix Cookie Recipes
(5 Ingredients or Less)

Best Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie Recipe

Reese’s Skillet Cookie Recipe

More Fun Birthday Party Food Ideas

How to Get Free Domino’s Pizza (Genius Deals + Ordering Hacks)

Not in the mood to cook?  Use these Domino’s hacks to score free or cheap pizza instead!

33 Delicious Dip Recipes with Few Ingredients

Easy Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Sheet Pan S’mores Recipe

Recipes To Feed a Crowd + Cheap Ways To Feed A Party

Fun Birthday Party Favors

Wrapped Candy Bars = Thrifty Party Favors

How To Save Money On Birthday Gifts

I received the following question from frugal friend Madeline…

“My child is invited to a lot of birthday parties, and several are for twins.  I would love some ideas on inexpensive gifts to give!  Any ideas on ways to save??”

Dorothy writes: “I hit the gift packs during the after Christmas sales. You can get the bath baskets, girls’ glamor kits, etc sometimes up to 90% off”

Kim writes: “I have an old 3 drawer upright dresser in my home office that is my ‘gift center.’ The top drawer is the shallowest so it contains ribbons, tape, scissors, etc and cards. The second is gift bags and paper. (Which we reuse from gifts given to us.) The third, which is the deepest, keeps a small stockpile of generic kids items that I find all year. I have 3 kids and get invited to so many parties that we could never afford to go out a buy a specific gift for every one of them. After Christmas, during back to school sales, etc., I pick up really cheap things to add to my stash.

The things I tend to give most are art/craft supplies. I have had so many parents tell me that they prefer this stuff for their kids over cheap, plastic toys that just take up more room in their homes. For instance, during back to school sales, many places like Target will have crayons for 20 cents each.I will buy 50 boxes for $10. I also pick up drawing paper, journals, stickers, glitter, white glue, glue sticks, coloring books, etc at similar prices.

We also save our empty cardboard oatmeal containers and cover them with white paper. My children will decorate and customize the canister for the birthday child and we will fill it with art supplies, top with a big bow and homemade card and give this as a gift. Many people have commented that they appreciate the homemade touch.”

Becki writes: “When it’s time for back to school, I stock up on inexpensive crayons, markers, paper, etc – and give “art” themed birthday presents. Moms love it because they are always useful, and I usually spend less than $5 per present when it’s all said and done!”

Dina writes: “When I was a foster mom I would send gift certificates for a sleep over at my place with the kids as gifts.”

Jennifer writes: “Here are a few of my favorite ways to keep a supply of gifts on hand:

1. Target has awesome clearance sales. I check there weekly for their 75% & 90% off deals.

2. Once a month, my local Claire’s will have a 10 for $10 sale. If you have a Claire’s near you, check it out and ask when it is! I get a ton of lip gloss, earring sets, necklaces, purses, makeup kits, etc., that are normally priced $6 to $11 for only a buck each!

3. I also check out my local Consignment shops and thrift stores. I can usually score a new toy still in it’s original packaging for a fraction of the price I’d of bought it for anyplace else. For example, last Wednesday I got a Hello Kitty Diary set (new in it’s original package) for 75 cents, a Barbie of Swan Lake DVD (still in shrink wrap) for $1.50, and a new Tinkerbell Memory Stone craft kit for $2! I also got a bunch of new (with tags) Gymboree tops and bottoms for my daughter priced at 99 cents each! Then I had to hit 3 different stores, but I had fun with the hunt!! I also check out my local Flea Market often too!

Lastly, I always check out stores for clearance in stores I normally don’t shop in. Last month I scored some wooden car project kits at Lowes. They were originally $19.99 marked down to $3.50…..all because they were getting rid of them to replace those kits with bird house ones! Seasons are just as good as certain holidays to score good deals!  Best of luck!”

Brandi writes: “I recently stocked up on little bubble bath, lip gloss, etc., gift sets at the deep after-Christmas clearance in Walmart. I have girls, so this should cover us for gifts for this year!”

Cindy writes: “I also have a Gift Cupboard that I keep stocked with gifts for all ages. I frequent clearence sections for toys especially. Boys seem to be easier than girls. Any action figure or hotwheels die cast cars are inespensive. I like it when there is a Theme to the party that usually represents what the child is interested in. It’s nice to give Hair Bows to girls they are good for anytime of year. They are fairly easy to make too.

Summer time is a good time to give FlipFlops, hair bows and Chapstick in a gift pack. Be careful to double check before you give any type even kids make-up or nail polish some parents do not want thier little one useing it. Gift certificates to the movies usually come in $10 increments and I make up a Movie gift pack with goodies for at the movies.

My kids always liked to get Gift Coupons to mcDonalds too. They felt so grown-up going in and making their own purchase. Think outside of the box most kids have way to many toys.”

Linda writes: “For younger kids I like to give bubble bath, wrap it in a water themed or rubber ducky paper and use a big puffy (pink for girls, blue for boys)as a bow.”

Thrifty Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your List

Get ready to load up on creative gift ideas for men, women, coworkers, kids, teens, college students, grandparents… and more!