Budget birthday slumber party ideas?

[kt_mom]

DD is getting a surprise trip to Disney for her birthday this year. At first we were just going to skip doing a birthday party, but decided not to do that. DD wants a slumber party again this year.

What are some fun ideas that we can do for a slumber party on a budget? Last year we ordered pizza, had cake, I paid someone to come in do manicures for the girls and by the time it was all said and done it got kind of pricey. And the girls seemed to actually have more fun just playing together upstairs.

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips or ideas. Please keep in mind that I am not crafty at all. I also work full time and am hoping to do this party next weekend if we can so I am limited in time. I wanted to have a few things planned or is it okay to just let the kids play and watch movies and play Wii without any planned activities/crafts?

 

[auroralark]

When I was a kid I went to a lot of sleepovers, and all they involved were us playing and sometimes a movie. You don't need to do a lot. Just provide some food and a cake and let the kids play and watch a movie. We always had fun.

 

[riley2008]

Order pizza and have cake. Maybe rent a movie and have popcorn to pop. I think the girls will find plenty to do.

My boys have kids over frequently and vice versa - it's not a birthday, but 4 boys can find plenty to do at 8 years old. I bet girls are the same. (Friday night they had two girls sleep over - family friends. The four of them didn't need any help planning the evening - now cleaning up, that needed help.)

 

[pat fan]

The best slumber parties I remember were not completely "planned" out. Have munchie food (chips, cookies, cake), maybe pizza or even hot dogs (cheaper than pizza) and some soda or Hawaiian punch (cheaper than soda).

Get a couple movies from the library, have some cards/board games (Twister is always good for a laugh) handy and just let them have fun!

If they like the manicure, you could ask your daughter about "facials". You can get St.Yves face masks/lotions pretty cheap at the Dollar stores, throw in a couple used beauty/17 type magazines and they could do it them themselves. More fun than a pro doing it anyway!

 

[Taja]

Our slumber parties always were casual and inexpensive. Playing (dolls when younger), board games, card games, talking, music (this was in the days of vinyl, so we all brought an album or single or two), snacks and a light breakfast (usually pancakes or French toast--inexpensive and easy). The biggest thing was being able to stay up all night--or until we crashed! You'll want to plan on having the particpants until about 11:00 a.m. or so. *LOL*

There also was only one television in homes at the time, so we didn't really have any options there, unless we watched with the family. We preferred just being off by ourselves in another room, just spending time together.

The main thing is to try to keep the volume down a bit so the family can function. We could be a bit noisy if not reminded at times!

That just brought back some wonderful memories! And, you know what? I'm still friends with several of those girls (now mature women) many, many years later!

 

[descovy]

I am just recuperating from my dd12's birthday sleepover last night!

We did DiGorno pizzas. They are $5 and many of the grocers have $3 off 2 DiGorno pizza coupons at the cooler (good until Feb 28) It was a BudLight/Superbowl promotion.

We did chocolate fountain instead of cake. We borrowed the fountain from a friend and I see it has a $29.99 sticker from Bed Bath Beyond, so not that pricey if you have to buy your own. It used 2lbs chocolate chips and vegetable oil.

We dipped fresh starwberries, pinapples, marshmellows, spoons of PB. It was dessert AND activity.

One of the girls gave my dd a Connect 4 "shooter" game and they played that over and over and over and over. So "presents" will be the great activity too. Another girl gave DD a "hoops and yo" animated birthday card. They played it over and over and when they were done with that they looked up animated hoops and yo cards on the computer.

Ahead of time dd made an itunes party playlist, and they used that for mood music dancing around and singing.

We finished off with a pinata after pancake breakfast. It was filled with discount valentines candy, lip smacker lip balms, and $5 Target gift coins. (Each had the girl's name written on gift card) This was their "goody bag."

All together I spent less than $100 (food, pinata, gift cards)

 

[famousmockingbird]

Order a pizza, bake some brownies, let the kids watch scary movies. That was a tried and true sleepover combo when I was young.
Do you know someone that has a karaoke machine? Or, do you have the karaoke game for Wii? That's an excellent party activity. Or, a Just Dance Marathon...for New Years, we went with four other families and rented cabins at a nearby lake resort. We brought the Wii and Just Dance and those kids had a blast with an all day dance contest. The winner got a crown and the honor of being Dance Queen of 2012.

 

[pixiewings71]

My girls almost always have a few friends sleepover, even when they get birthday trips to DL. We just do pizza or hot dogs with chips, we always have a few 2 liters of soda for them to share, do donuts or muffins for breakfast, cake or cupcakes and ice cream. We don't do activities per se but we always have movies the kids can watch, popcorn to pop just in case and we are a very crafty family so there's always something to do at our house. Most sleepovers the girls just hang out and talk, make up their own games and just have fun. I easily spend less than $100 and I don't do "goodie" bags so much anymore, they just aren't worth it after age 10, heck they aren't worth it before age 10! lol

 

[TinaMcTeer]

We did am Icarly theme party. Had the girls make up skits or funny jokes. Had special guests and interviewed them. Recorded everything and while the girls were winding down and watching episodes of Icarly, I edited all the videos into a nice format and put it on a DVD and made a copy for each of the girls to take home. Affordable and entertaining.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I would make pulled pork or chicken for slider style sandwiches, some potato or macaroni salad as a side dish and chips/dips for movie watching. The girls will have fun just hanging out, watching movies and being girls.

 

[deezeealum]

My girls are too little for sleepovers but I have alway thought fondue would be fun to do. REnt some movies, have plenty of munchies. You could even make brownies ahead of time then let them make sundaes. Kid will make their own fun, I think the key is to nopt over think it

 

[Diegosmom]

what about a candy buffet...with the vday clearance you could do that pretty cheap...do a google search or I think there is a thread here.

 

[englishteacha]

A few friends staying over with some food and a movie is just fine.

 

[figment3258]

If u wanted a small craft and a take home gift from the party you could buy a few different types of bath salts at wal mart and have them make their own jars of it to take home

 

[DSNY4ever]

I agree with the others food, movie and popcorn is just fine. Papa Murphy's always has good coupons online and is pretty cheap. You could buy some funky nail polish colors for them to do the manicures themselves. Just make them lay something down on the floor so they don't spill.

What is the age? If you really want an activity you could also buy some plain white t-shirts and some fabric pens in a couple colors and let them decorate them or sign each other's shirts. Or get them a bag of marshmallows and let them play silly games like chubby bunny (not for little ones in case they choke on the MMs or something). Or you could set up a treasure hunt with clues that take them around the house and the yard or something and at the end you have their Party favors all wrapped up in a basket, or you just have a basket of candy that they get to enjoy that night. Or the basket could lead them to the manicure basket and then they get to pick out the colors they want and can start nail painting!

Good luck. You can go really simple and they will just have fun staying up late and having girl talk time

 

[kt_mom]

Thanks for the ideas. We usually go all out for her birthday party but this year we need to tone it down since we're doing Disney. But she doesn't know about Disney and won't until after the party. So of course I still want the party to be nice.

The cake is usually a huge expense so I asked her tonight if she would like to bake cupcakes with me instead and do decorate your own cupcakes at the party. I can buy some white frosting and food coloring and sprinkles and stuff and let the girls decorate them themselves. Then they have an ice cream bar to go with it or something.

Of course we'll have popcorn to pop and chips and dip and some other snacks for the girls. They can watch movies and play the Dance game on Wii which was a big hit last year.

The problem right now is that DD wants to invite all the girls in her class plus some that aren't plus her cousin and its like 16 girls. I'm having such a hard time getting her to narrow it down because she's so afraid of hurting anyone's feelings. I just don't know if I can handle 16 girls. DD says maybe they won't all be able to come, but I've learned my lesson on that one. We had a $400 skating party a few years ago because every single kid in her class showed up although almost none of them RSVP'd. So I know that there is always a chance that everyone you invite will come.

But 16 is too many isn't it? I think last year she had 8 but only 6 spent the night. I've got to get her to narrow it down even if its just to 12. Then if some can't come she should still have a good turn out but if they all show up, at least it won't be as overwhelming as 16.

 

[aladams2]

Make duct tape projects. They are very easy and you can google ideas. Many of them have videos and they are pretty easy. My daughter made a wallet. I also saw headbands, purses, pens to make or decorate. Very cute and reasonable.

I remember my favorite sleepover. My parents did a mystery supper. Spaghetti, hot dogs, hamburgers, sides, dessert. They made up silly names for each and then gave us our menus. We had to circle one or two from main menu, sides, dessert, silverware, drinks. Some ended up with noodles and a hot dog bun!! Others had to eat spaghetti with a knife! It was so funny to see what we would get and then we tried to figure out what each item on the menu was. At the end, we could get whatever we wanted/needed to finish our meal. I'm waiting another year or so to do it with my girls. So much fun.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

I know one of my favorite sleepovers was tie- dying pillowcases. My mom had each child bring there own pillowcase and bought a tie dye kit ($10 does 8 tee shirts). Mom also let us bake a snack. She gave me a cookbook, ingredents and said "have at it". I recall a sprinkle fight (and a mess) but a ton of fun. We also got movies (in our case we would record er and third watch for weeks ahead of time) OH and we used to love taking out the campcorder and making our own movies... Just dont run around with maglights, a siren and a video camera after dark (thats a whole 'nother story)

 

[cyndik1111]

16 girls in one house, high on sugar and sleep deprived by morning? No one in their right mind would sign up for that kind of punishment!

I would keep is 6, including your daughter. And that will be a handful!

Love the mystery dinner idea. My daughter and friends would love that. I'm gonna make a note of that for our next party.

Definitely let them decorate their own cupcakes.

Wii dance is so much fun for little girls. Also play dance music and do "freeze" dance. Where you stop the music and they have to feeze, whoever doesn't freeze is out. Play till only one girl left- then give a small prize.

Love the fondu (sp) idea. Kids LOVE to dip in chocolate.

Have fun

 

[kt_mom]

16 girls in one house, high on sugar and sleep deprived by morning? No one in their right mind would sign up for that kind of punishment!

I would keep is 6, including your daughter. And that will be a handful!

Love the mystery dinner idea. My daughter and friends would love that. I'm gonna make a note of that for our next party.

Definitely let them decorate their own cupcakes.

Wii dance is so much fun for little girls. Also play dance music and do "freeze" dance. Where you stop the music and they have to feeze, whoever doesn't freeze is out. Play till only one girl left- then give a small prize.

Love the fondu (sp) idea. Kids LOVE to dip in chocolate.

Have fun

It would be nuts of me to let her have 16. Last year they were still up at 1am. They were settled down with a movie but I could still hear them talking and giggling upstairs. I finally had to just go to bed. They were good but they were HYPER all evening. I can't imagine having more than twice that number of kids. DD has such a big heart and so concerned about hurting someone's feelings so we're having a very hard time narrowing down the list.

I love the mystery dinner idea. I'll have to file that away for another party. I think we are definitely going to go with pizza just for simplicity. We'll do the decorate your own cupcakes but I might also get DH to get the fire pit going if its not rainy or anything and do smores with the kids. We have a nice big flat back yard and I read an idea to have all the kids bring flashlights and hide candy all over the yard and have them do a hunt in the dark. The weather here is hit or miss this time of year though. Saturday it was 60 and sunny and yesterday we got almost 8 inches of snow.