Budget Birthday party for 8 year old girl??

[Minnie M6]

DD turns 8 in October, and I am trying to think of something different to do this year that is not a budget buster. Our WDW trip is in December and any extra cash is going toward getting it paid off and saving some spending money.

We have in the past had theme parties- when she turned 6 we had a food/ cooking party.....we made our own pizzas and decorated mini cakes. You know those cakes with Barbie coming out the top? We made little ones and used Kelly sized dolls instead- they turned out cute! The kids decorated their own aprons before we started working with the food and they got to take home personalized aprons and the doll from the cake.

I would like to invite her 5-6 closest friends and do something special and fun that does not involve a sleepover. We don't have one of those decorate your own pottery places around here, I think that would be so much fun. Has anyone ever done a party at a bead store? My mom took DD to a local bead store today and they made bracelets. My mom made one using beads from her baby bracelet, and DD made a bracelet and a necklace- both for $7! I don't know if they do parties but I am going to look into it.

Any other ideas?

 

[Laurie Disney]

I just has my daughter's 8th birthday party in May. We did not have a themed birthday party, but played alot of games. The games they loved the most was..
* egg on a spoon race
* freeze dance
* twister game (HUGE hit)
* egg toss (hardboiled)

If you are looking for a theme for her party. How about a pretend sleepover? Have the girls wear their pj's and do everything you would normally do at a sleepover. (pizza, Popcorn, Movie and a craft) Now have the parents pick their daughter up @ a specific time.

 

[sameyeyam]

One of my DD's favorite birthday parties was her 8th birthday party. We had just bought a new house, so funds were a little tight.

I bought a tie dye kit at Walmart, a couple packages of men's small white t-shirts and a package of girls white socks and they made their own tie dyed shirts and socks outside. Be sure to have big Ziploc bags to send them home in as they will still be wet.

They always love the toss the balled up socks into a laundry basket game to win a prize.

They also had a lot of fun doing a race across the yard where they each had 2 paper plates and had to keep their feet on a plate as they raced across the yard.

You can search for party games and find a lot of easy & low cost games to play.

Since it's the summer anything with water is always fun. Water balloon races, filling the cup with spoons of water, etc...

 

[pigletto]

If you check your local Target or Walmart you could probably find huge bead kits for really cheap. I remember getting them for dd when she was younger and they were around 10 dollars or so. You could then do your own bracelets at home. Add in some games.. pizza and cake and goody bags and I guarantee you they will have fun.
It's all about them squealing and running around and being together. At that age they could care less what you spend.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

My dd will be 8 next month as well we usually do some time of party somewhere but this year she decided she wanted to do a sleepover but I need something for them to do so I looked into doing a jewelry making/bead party at a couple of those places around here and I think the cheapest one was like ten dollars a kid and that was just for them to make a bracelet. I am planning on going to hobby lobby and a few other craft stores around here for the next few weeks and just buying the beads and things myself and have the girls come over and make their own jewelry.

 

[rach2674]

I was at Party City last week and they had a bunch of older decorations and things for 50 cents. I got a bunch of stuff for my daughter's party yesterday. And then filled in the rest with a few things from the dollar store. Not sure if they still have that sale going on, but it's worth a shot to check it out.

Rachel

 

[mjantz]

A few years ago we did a 'Glamour Girls' party. My nieces & my mom were the 'beauty assistants' who put on nail polish, lip gloss and hair & body glitter. It wasn't that much for the stuff & I even bought some cheap craft kits for them to do as well (the foam ones that come in a bucket & you can make 30). Most of the goodie bag stuff came from the Target Dollar Spot when it was 75% off. It was a lot of fun & I think everyone had a really good time.

 

[mjrich73]

Do you have a Michael's near you? My son had his past 2 birthday parties there. You can choose from a variety of crafts to do, or they can theme a craft just for your party. My kids really enjoyed it!!

 

[squirrel]

Here are some fun games/activities from parties when I was younger.

Get 2 decks of cards and a few wrapped gifts. Hand out all the cards from one deck (you might want to make the deck smaller as there aren't so many kids). Then a parent holds the other deck and starts reading them out, as the children make a match they take a present from the middle of the circle. You continue untill all the gifts are taken and then the kids can start taking from each other. When the game is over the kids unwrap the presents.

A little bit before the kids go home put on a movie and then have a bag with many different colored popcorn bags inside, each attached to a ribbon/string. Have the string sticking out and let each child pull out a bag of popcorn. You could change this to bags of chips or some other treat.

 

[zazu1971]

You could teach them to make friendship bracelets during your party too. Or friendship pins (anyone remember those little safety pins with the color coded beads on them that you'd wear on your tennies?) Am I showing my age?

 

[Pixiedust34]

One of my DD's favorite birthday parties was her 8th birthday party. We had just bought a new house, so funds were a little tight.

I bought a tie dye kit at Walmart, a couple packages of men's small white t-shirts and a package of girls white socks and they made their own tie dyed shirts and socks outside. Be sure to have big Ziploc bags to send them home in as they will still be wet.

We did a tie dye party one year, and it was a blast! The kids loved dying their own shirts. Instead of a cake, we had cupcakes and the bakery did the icing to look like tie dye. If you do this, make sure you tell the girls ahead of time to wear old clothes. Buy extra gloves for the girls to wear, too.

 

[laughinplace199]

Is your DD into the American Girl stuff? When DD turned 8, I bought a Samantha Mystery game for $15.00. The girls had so much fun running around the house solving the mystery. I made cupcakes instead of a big cake and the girls frosted/decorated them. Instead of goody bags full of junk, I bought each girl an AG crossword puzzle book (got a great deal on them at Overstock.com).

This year, DD just turned 9. I let her pick 3 friends and I took them to see the Kit movie. After the movie, we had cake at our house. I bought each girl a Kit book for a party favor. They all had a great time.

 

[HeatherC]

For my daughter's 7th party, I had it in the basement. I bought one of those helium balloon tanks for $20 from Walmart and blew up a bunch of balloons to fill the room.

The kids had a ball...chasing, swatting, catching, doing races with the balloons.
We also played the typical party games like:
Musical Chairs
Pass the Present
Egg Race
Duck Duck Goose

Very cheap and they had a great time.

 

[Minnie M6]

I just has my daughter's 8th birthday party in May. We did not have a themed birthday party, but played alot of games. The games they loved the most was..
* egg on a spoon race
* freeze dance
* twister game (HUGE hit)
* egg toss (hardboiled)

If you are looking for a theme for her party. How about a pretend sleepover? Have the girls wear their pj's and do everything you would normally do at a sleepover. (pizza, Popcorn, Movie and a craft) Now have the parents pick their daughter up @ a specific time.

I like the idea of the pretend sleepover! I wonder if Kit Kittredge will be out on DVD by th en and they could watch that as their movie.....

 

[Minnie M6]

One of my DD's favorite birthday parties was her 8th birthday party. We had just bought a new house, so funds were a little tight.

I bought a tie dye kit at Walmart, a couple packages of men's small white t-shirts and a package of girls white socks and they made their own tie dyed shirts and socks outside. Be sure to have big Ziploc bags to send them home in as they will still be wet.

They always love the toss the balled up socks into a laundry basket game to win a prize.

They also had a lot of fun doing a race across the yard where they each had 2 paper plates and had to keep their feet on a plate as they raced across the yard.

You can search for party games and find a lot of easy & low cost games to play.

Since it's the summer anything with water is always fun. Water balloon races, filling the cup with spoons of water, etc...

Ooh, I love to tie dye! And we have a discount store here that sells plain tee's for $1- I have been stocking up on them in case I ever get motivated enough to make us all matching shirts for our trip! We did the Mickey swirl tie dyes and they came out pretty well.
This sounds like a good option......I do like the idea of the girls having something nice that they have created to take home. Thanks!

 

[Minnie M6]

If you check your local Target or Walmart you could probably find huge bead kits for really cheap. I remember getting them for dd when she was younger and they were around 10 dollars or so. You could then do your own bracelets at home. Add in some games.. pizza and cake and goody bags and I guarantee you they will have fun.
It's all about them squealing and running around and being together. At that age they could care less what you spend.

Thanks, I'll check around for bead kits. I do like crafts and could probably save money doing it at home instead of at the bead store .

 

[Minnie M6]

My dd will be 8 next month as well we usually do some time of party somewhere but this year she decided she wanted to do a sleepover but I need something for them to do so I looked into doing a jewelry making/bead party at a couple of those places around here and I think the cheapest one was like ten dollars a kid and that was just for them to make a bracelet. I am planning on going to hobby lobby and a few other craft stores around here for the next few weeks and just buying the beads and things myself and have the girls come over and make their own jewelry.

Great- will you post if you find any great deals on the beads? Have fun!

 

[Minnie M6]

I was at Party City last week and they had a bunch of older decorations and things for 50 cents. I got a bunch of stuff for my daughter's party yesterday. And then filled in the rest with a few things from the dollar store. Not sure if they still have that sale going on, but it's worth a shot to check it out.

Rachel

Thanks, I think we have a Party City.......I'll have to check it out!

 

[Minnie M6]

A few years ago we did a 'Glamour Girls' party. My nieces & my mom were the 'beauty assistants' who put on nail polish, lip gloss and hair & body glitter. It wasn't that much for the stuff & I even bought some cheap craft kits for them to do as well (the foam ones that come in a bucket & you can make 30). Most of the goodie bag stuff came from the Target Dollar Spot when it was 75% off. It was a lot of fun & I think everyone had a really good time.

I know the girls would love this! I'm keeping track of all these great ideas to talk with DD about. Keep them coming!

 

[Minnie M6]

Do you have a Michael's near you? My son had his past 2 birthday parties there. You can choose from a variety of crafts to do, or they can theme a craft just for your party. My kids really enjoyed it!!

I wondered about the Michael's parties....we've never been to one so I'm glad to hear they do a good job!