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Talk It Out:
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"We were just
invited to a birthday party at our local university's gymnasium.
There will be a basketball game between the kids and other indoor
games. I'm not sure of the cost to rent a room to do
this, but I thought it was a great idea." ~ Kris "My nephews' birthdays are in
November and February. They have both had awesome
sledding parties. We make the invitation BYOS (bring
your own sled) and we round up a few extras from the
family just in case someone didn't have one. We have a
great sledding hill on our property and we build a
bonfire and have hotdogs, marshmallows and cocoa. It
really is a great time. My sister Abby is also a
November birthday and her favorite parties have always
been slumber parties. Mom always limited it to her
3 closest friends and they did lots of good food and
movies." ~ Anonymous "When my daughter was young we did
a princess party in early February. All the girls sat at
our kitchen table and made their own crowns with
construction paper, glue and glitter. Then of course,
they posed for pictures in their crowns. After a party
game and cake and ice cream, each girl took home a
'long stemed' carnation. Use your imagination and make
the girls feel like special princesses!" ~ Lorraine "Here are a few things we have done
for winter parties. You can do these at home, or use space
at your church or public library or community center. "My daughter’s birthday is in November. We have had a difficult time every year trying to figure out where to have her parties. Last year we had her party at the church. If you are a member they allow you to use the recreation area at no cost. So we played games, I made some snacks, and we had a 'makeover' (little girls of course!) It was so much fun! This year we had a swimming party. She has always wanted one and never been able to because of the month of her birthday. A local Junior High school has an indoor pool so I called to see if perhaps we could use it. It only cost me $35 for 10 children and they loved it! Much cheaper then the YMCA or other alternatives. So that is something to check out too." ~ Juli "If you are a member of a church, perhaps they would allow use of a room in the church for a party. I think I'd probably start with a call to the Village or Town Office and ask what meeting places there are that you could rent." ~ Anonymous
"Birthday in the winter? Well, I raised two boys, both of which were born in the winter. Bad parent planning huh? I soon learned that there are several alternatives to having all those boys in the house. We would celebrate by having a bowling party. Most bowling establishments have party rooms where you could serve cake/ice cream. We would give party favors and have gifts for the highest score winners. One year we took a handful of boys (smaller party) to a local in-door aquarium and afterward we went to a pizza establishment that would allow us to bring our own cake. Another idea: We have someone in our community that has a small petting zoo. We took the boys here when they were young. Even though it was cold, they forgot about the weather because they got to see goats, a camel, a llama, and other exotic type animals. They were allowed to ride a donkey, milk a goat, and feed a monkey. It was a real hit with the boys. One year I took the boys to the local arcade allowing them a certain amount of money for them and their friends to spend however they wished. I'm not sure what I would have done for girls. But I was blessed with boys. They aren't near as picky." ~ Anonymous "First let me say I have a large family and the kids don't usually have parties with outside friends invited. But here are some ideas either we've done or seen other families do by inviting maybe 2-4 of the child's friends to participate with the family. 1. For our wedding which was in February (in a rather cold state), we rented a shelter at the local lake. The shelter had a cheaper price because it was winter and wasn't as high in demand. Some of the shelters are next to playground equipment in case it was warm enough that day for the kids to play a little while outside. 2. You don't have to pay the "birthday party" price to go other places and enjoy yourself. We've taken birthday cakes into places like Chuck E. Cheese, and just planned a little extra money for the kids to play games. Ask your local skating rink if you can do the same, and just let it be known the shoe rental price will need to be paid by anyone attending. 3. See if a friend or relative has an extra room or basement you could use for the party. 4. Plan
home crafts. - One year my daughter and her friends made glycerin soap. Glycerin is typically clear. I provided colorings and scents, and even cheap little trinkets to put in the center of the soaps. (This idea works with boys because they can put flies and frogs etc in the soap.) I bought special molds, but muffin or loaf pans, small glass bowls, all would work. - The children can cut out different colored papers or construction paper and make the child of honor a special birthday card or a picture. - For many years now I've made our children's birthday cakes. If you want to make something fancy, like a character (Barbie, smurf, ninja turtle, superman, Strawberry shortcake, etc) sometimes you can borrow or rent a cake pan from the local cake supply store (Wilton's comes to mind). That way you're not buying a pan you will only use once or twice." ~ Maggie "My daughter just turned 5 yesterday.
She wanted to invite three friends over for lunch after
preschool. I picked up a few decorations at the Dollar
Tree, made cupcakes (which the kids got to decorate
themselves), and picked up Happy Meals from McDonald's.
The kids had a great time with the meals, then decorated
the cupcakes. My daughter likes crafty stuff, and
requested sand art as a project. We did sand art,
spin art, then made homemade cards with leftover stickers.
I have lots of craft supplies, so each of these projects
costs very little. I bought the spin art kit at Goodwill
for $2, and cut my own paper. I'm not sure what it did
cost for the whole party, but it wasn't much over the cost
of the happy meals. Maybe $30? It surely could cut
the cost to have homemade snacks/or not serve lunch, but
we did everything right after preschool when we were all
hungry. I think the best part was the craft part, because
all of the kids had things they could touch and hold and
take with them." ~ Anonymous "My
daughter has a summer birthday, but we celebrate it with
her classmates in March (vs June). Why? Well, after 3 years
in a row of only one or two kids coming, we discovered
many of her classmates went to their other parents' homes
for the summer. So we now have her party early. We had a
great turn out last year (12). We went to the roller rink
and they skated. We had the place to ourselves on a
Saturday afternoon although the place was open for general
business, I didn’t rent it out! I took my own cake &
ice cream & pop for the girls. I paid for each girl to
skate ($4), but it was just wonderful having kids show up! "My daughter has a December
birthday and we just had a Pooh Bear Pajama Pizza
Party. The girls all wore their pajamas over (the
party started at 5pm). Then they decorated a journal.
(I had bought journals at the beginning of the school
year really cheap. I covered the front with card stock
and the girls decorated them with stickers!) Then the
girls ate homemade pizza, watched the Heffalump movie,
had cake and ice cream, then my daughter opened her
gifts. The party took no more than three hours and it
was easy and fun for the girls!" ~ Yvonne "One family of 4 with 2 young children reserves our church fellowship hall where they have a wonderful party for each child." ~ April "My son has a winter birthday as
well. Check with your local church, ours allows us to
use the fellowship room, as long as we clean it up when
we are done, for no charge. "For a low cost December birthday party I would take my son and his friends to the community pool, bowling or roller skating. The best year was when he wanted a surprise birthday party. We told him the party would be at 2 PM but actually invited his friends at 9AM. A parent of one of the guests gathered all the children outside so that they all came up to the door together and rang the bell. I asked Luke, who was still in his pajamas, to get the door. We left for the pool about 9:40 and later came home for cake and ice cream and gifts." ~ Merlajean "Having an 'at home' party doesn't have to be stressful or expensive. We threw a winter 'pamper party' for my niece's birthday. For crafts, the girls moved from station to station making friendship bracelets, decorating picture frames with snowflakes (each child took home the frame filled with a group picture that was taken at the beginning of the party and developed at a nearby one-hour photo lab), and each girl put together their own gift bags to take home with pamper items like loofah sponges, decorative soaps, etc [all available at dollar stores]. Next, we set up a fire pit and roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Finally, we had a spa time where each girl had pedicures and manicures, complete with feet and hand waxing, feet soaking, polish and nail decals. This party was so successful that every girl said it was the best party they had ever attended...and it was all done very inexpensively." ~ Candy "I have twins whose
birthday falls in January (as does mine!)
Perhaps Susan could check into using her
church's fellowship or activity hall. We did
this one year, and it worked out great. These
rooms are usually free for members to use and
large enough for the kids to be able to move
around and have higher energy games than they
would in a smaller living room at home. She
could also get party favors at the dollar store
and hide them around the room before the kids
arrive and have a treasure hunt as one of the
activities. By having the party from 2-4 pm, she
wouldn't need to serve a meal, just cake and ice
cream. The only trade-off might be having to do
a bit more clean-up than she would at a 'party
place,' but 15 minutes of running the sweeper
and wiping down the tables is worth the savings!"
~ Carolyn "Both my children where born in December (ages 10 & 3). With my older one once she reached 8 we started having a craft party where everyone does a craft that we come up with an idea from recycled products. Last year we used the CDs from AOL that came in the mail and made picture ornaments. My daughter picked a picture of her choice ofg the computer and we then printed them and added them to the CDs along with stickers and a ribbon and ribbon hanger. When she was small (3 - 6) we would frost and decorate cookies or cupcakes and one year we made our own ice cream sundaes. Everyone wants to come to our house for parties but we limit to our best friends and closest family to help keep the cost down and we start planning a month in advance so we have everything we need." ~ Debbie "Strike
a blow for simplicity. Something simple will not
be too overwhelming to have in the house. Have a
few children over for the afternoon for lunch,
cake, and playing together. "My
son’s birthday is in January too (he’ll turn 4
in 2006!). I want him to know that serving others
is a great gift to give yourself, and makes you
feel even better than getting presents. We are
planning to have a party at the Ronald McDonald
House where we once stayed for almost 3 months and
subsequently for shorter visits. Volunteers go in
a few times a week to prepare dinner for all of
the families staying there (we were served by
families, local medical, nursing and dental
students, various church and synagogue groups,
groups of airline employees…) We are
planning to invite a few people to help us take in
a meal for the families, complete with cake and
ice cream. My son will get some presents - at
home! Another year we bought lots of little
presents for the kids at the party, but this year
we are going to skip that for financial reasons.
We will put up decorations. “Our” RMH is
beautifully decorated (I think they all probably
are) and is a great place for a kids party – not
much of a surprise there! J "It could be tough to plan because of the weather, but you could do an winter theme party. If there is snow, they could build forts, have a snowball fight, etc. If no snow, maybe have the party in the garage. If it's super cold and have a paper snowball fight (just wad up white paper - kids love it!), cut out snowflakes and play other winter- themed games or even just board games. If you get a good supply of them the kids could spend all afternoon playing those. You could even borrow the board games from others so you don't have to buy them. You could make homemade marshmallows with the kids if they like to cook to put in special hot chocolate. Serve with cookies (the kids could decorate those too) and you have an 'easy' afternoon." ~ Liz "My daughter just went to a birthday party held at Micheals craft store. They made a craft, and it was conducted by a Micheals employee. Then had cake and brought her craft home. The girls had a wonderful time.... and talked and laughed as they created their work of art." ~ Diana "I
have a son who had his birthday Dec 17 and I
have a daughter who has her birthday January and
another son in February. The son who had his
party this past weekend asked everyone to bring
skates, hockey sticks and helmets and they spent
the afternoon - approx. 4 hours - skating and
playing hockey. The kids were all 11 years old
but they went out for 2 hours at a time and our
temperature was - 20 degrees Celsius (about -4
degrees Celsius). For my daughter we will
probably go to our local pool, pay for the
public swim and rent the party room for the last
hour (for the hot dogs and cake). She will be
turning six and I don't think her friends would
last in the cold weather like the 11 year olds
did. Other ideas would be to rent your
school gym. The cost to rent the school gym here
is about $10.00/hour and you have access to the
gym equipment. Hope this helps." ~ GG "Recently
my grandson (age 4) attended a BD party which
was held at the local Fire House. They
had a meeting room where they learned about
the fireman's clothes and got to ask
questions. They got to sit in the fire
truck and tour where the firemen sleep and
eat. Back in the meeting room there
were refreshments and opening of the
presents. The best part was that there
was no charge for using the Fire House."
~ Grandma What to do when it's too cold for an outdoor birthday party?? We wrestle with this too, as my son was born in January. Depending on the age of the birthday kid, a few ideas might be.... -- How about having an indoor picnic? Shuffle furniture around in the living room or kitchen, remove breakables, spread blankets and beach towels on the floor, and serve hotdogs, cake etc "picnic style." Indoor games could be modified to a summer theme too, depending on the child's age (pin the flag on the sand castle instead of pin the tail on the donkey, for eg.) Put on "summer" beach music and have the kids dance in place -- with little prizes for the wildest, craziest dance (give prizes for staying in one place so that the chaos is confined. :-) ) Have a movie theatre party...set up a ticket booths at the door for kids to 'buy' tickets as they enter, have a concession stand with popcorn etc, and set up the newest and greatest video or DVD for their viewing pleasure. You can break for 'intermission' ( a few party games etc) if you want. Have a concert. When kids arrive, they make weird and wild musical instruments and then 'rehearse' and stage a concert (use a blanket or scrap fabric for the stage curtain" and you can provide dress-up stuff and bits of material so they can dress up if they want)...kids will spend forever revising their show, so this eats up lots of time and is lots of fun for them, besides being cheap for you and not involving too much running around and indoors madness. If you have a camcorder, you could record them....maybe for a "viewing" while cake is being served etc? Also...how
cold and wet is too cold and wet?!! If
the birthday child lives in a snowy area,
maybe advise the guests to bring lots of
warm clothes that will stay dry, and then
host a winter birthday carnival or winter
Olympics...kids can go outside to build ice
castles (freeze water and food coloring
ahead of time, in buckets etc, so they have
building blocks), have snow shoveling races,
etc. etc. Maybe even erect a tent
(just a tarp might do) for pretend
"Winter camping." Or for the
awards ceremony at the end of a winter
Olympics. Or take the party to a local
toboggan hill and go tobogganing and do
snow activities (color snow with
food color, add syrup to make snow cones,
set up teams to be the the fastest to
dress a snowman etc.) Keep a crock pot
of apple cider or hot chocolate
brewing...and then bring kids in to warm up
over presents and cake or a few games (board
games, or Simon Says etc) in front of the
fireplace, if you have one." ~ Kerry "My daughter's birthday on December 19 was always a challenge. One of her favorites was to take her friends to the local indoor pool during family swim time (1/2 the usual admission price at certain times at our pool). Swimming is not something most busy parents take the time to do with their kids at this hectic time of year, so that alone was a real treat for the kids. Depending on their ages and our finances at the time, we would then go out for pizza and a birthday cake that I brought along, or order delivery pizza at home. Kids are also happy with just a low-cost hot dog and chips, and homemade birthday cake." ~ Kathy in VA
Editor's Note: Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. |
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