I need fresh fun ideas on a birthday party held at a park for my 10-year old. She is a girl but there will be boys and girls there. Her father does not want to spend much money and we have to consider food and party favors in this whole party package.
Someone was going to rent me a Bungee Run for only $200 for 5-6 hours, but he doesn't want to spend even that for any "inflatable" or climbing objects. She is a sporty girl, but loves girl things as well, like Hannah Montana, etc. Any ideas?
Emilia from Brandon, Florida
I found these ideas online.
Come as You Are Party:
This party requires the birthday child to keep a secret; Her guests are about to be kidnapped!
Call your guests' parents a few weeks before the party to let them in on the plans. Find out where each guest will be located at the appropriate time. (Times will have to be staggered to allow pickup of each guest.) If you're having a sleepover, ask each of your guests' parents to pack a bag and let you know where you can pick it up.
On the day of the party, pack a few drinks, snacks, and party hats, and drive to each location, picking up your guests one at a time. The fun will build as the group gets larger, but the real fun will begin once you get everyone to the final party destination.
For an inexpensive home party, girls might like having a brunch, dancing, playing in a pool, making cool crafts, or watching a favorite movie. Boys may like playing a game of Flashlight Tag after dark, with bases illuminated by glow-in-the-dark light sticks, or Squirt Gun "Paintball."
Squirt Gun "Paintball":
Have your guests put on white T-shirts (to easily determine hits), and divide them into two teams. Give each player a water gun containing colored water (red for one team and blue for the other). The idea is similar to Capture the Flag, but a warrior must go to the opposing team's POW camp if he gets hit.
Survivor Party:
Decorate with a jungle theme. Divide the kids into teams. Give each team tasks and challenges; obstacle course, treasure hunts, team building skills, etc. We don't recommend voting people out of the games or off the teams.
Extreme Sports Fun:
Go to a skate park or rock climbing facility. Provide snacks and sports drinks. Then return home for cake and gifts.
Hope that helps ;) (03/18/2009)
By Jamie
My kids always love a treasure hunt where all the kids run around together as a group to find the treasure chest (this can be a shoe box your daughter can decorate with paint, and glitter whatever you have), make the kids really think on the clues too and lead them on a merry chase all over the park. You can make clues on any paper you have and roll them up and tie with ribbon.
The treasure chest can be filled with cheap trinkets from a dollar store and small sized candy bars, ring pops, balloons, etc (you can fill the chest just prior to the game to make sure the candy works out even). My kids love this so much we usually do 2 treasure hunts, one at the beginning of the party and one towards the end.
Make your own cake and save $$$ with box mixes, or better yet cupcakes and bring along a bunch of toppings and have the kids decorate their own. You can have a contest on best looking. Toppings can be sprinkles, chocolate chips, crumbled cookies, gummy candies, gum drops, licorice whips.
Play some music and have a silly dancing contest. The kids will have fun just being together. Buy a face painting kit and some fake tattoos and have a "tattoo parlor". Bring along some outdoor games like Frisbee, horseshoes, croquet, whatever is gathering dust in your family's garage. There's a lot you can do and stay on a budget. Good Luck! (03/18/2009)
By Cassandra
When my son was that age we had a birthday party in the park. Our town had their swimming pool in the park, and we rented it for a couple hours. The cost included a lifeguard, and was relatively cheap. Since we had the entire pool, we told all his friends to bring their brothers and sisters. We tossed in quarters for the kids to dive in after--they kept throwing them back in and just kept playing. We had races, the craziest dive, the fastest to swim across the pool, etc, for prizes. After the swim, we went to the park to allow the kids to play on the gym equipment, swings, slides, etc. We also brought baseball equipment, volleyball balls, some brought their bikes and roller skates. We went to a picnic table to open gifts.
Rather than a cake, I made cupcakes (no plates or silverware needed), push up Popsicle in an ice chest rather than messing with ice cream, and punch in one of those big athletic insulated water containers rather than soft drinks, glasses had the kid's names on them and they could refill as often as they liked. I didn't even mess with napkins, I just brought a roll of paper towels. there was no clean-up! Several parents stayed and we just visited while keeping an eye on the kids. Dads engaged the kids in sports, and they played into the evening, not wanting to go home. This was by far the simplest party we had, and it was the one the kids enjoyed the most. No pressure, just a full afternoon of fun and games, parents intermingling with children, and everyone enjoying time off their regular schedule. Several parents stated that it was one of the most enjoyable parties they ever attended. (03/20/2009)
By susan
Take a hint from the old fashioned church picnic. 3 legged races, egg in the spoon races, potato sack races, horse shoes, ring toss, croquet, tug of war, etc. Get two cardboard lids for each child and have a 'snow shoe' race. Blow up some balloons and tie strings to them. Tie the strings around each child's leg and they have to try to stomp on someone else's balloon to break it. They are eliminated when their own balloon is broken, the last one with a balloon is the winner.
There are lots of websites to tell you how to make kites, so make them out of newspaper and have a kite flying contest. Hop scotch, marbles and jump rope are fun. Make it an old fashioned day and they can even wear pioneer or cowboy clothes. Forget the technology and go back in time with them, it will be a new and fun experience. Call it an American Girl day or a Little House on the Prairie party. (03/20/2009)
By Di
I did the treasure hunt thing with a group of 24 ten year olds at our day care. I separated them into different groups looking for different clues. One group had to find alphabet letters in order, another group to find numbers in order, another to find written clues (oak tree, water fountain, etc.), another group, I took digital photos of each "next" item...a tree, a fish pond, a fence post, and started each team out with their first clue. Then they, and one adult with each team, had to find the next clue in order, they loved it. I dollar store shopped for trinkets, games and candies to fill a box for each team. I decorated the boxes to look like treasure chests.
(03/20/2009)
By Dena Roberts
Hi there, we are doing a softball birthday party for my grand daughter's 10th birthday (who wants it at a park as well). My daughter does not want to spend too much either. We are sending out handmade invites and the theme is "diamonds are a girls best friend", hence the baseball diamond and using rhinestones as bases on the front of the invite. Serving hot dogs, peanuts, cracker jacks! Also, we are changing the labels on bottles of Gatorade to suit her name and stamping the labels with pertinent stamps. I think this is going to be so much fun and the kids will play softball, kids vs grownups and just having a good old all American fun day. (03/30/2009)
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
