5Yr Old Girl Bday Party Idea/ Help!

Hi C.,

I had planned to have a low key party for my daughter and a few friends this past year, but ended up having a family party instead - still low key, but didn't get to use my idea. What i had decided was a cooking party where the girls would make their own mini pizzas. I had found a simple recipe online and thought that it would be fun to have them make the pizzas, play a little, eat and then have cake. Seemed simple, cheap, and fun. I never did it, but it might work for you.
Best of luck!

S.
mom of 7 yo and 4yo

I often took the kids for a movie- we would do pizza and cupcakes at home, open presents and then go to the movie. Parents picked up kids at the movie theatre when the show was over.
M. in EGV

Hi C., I am doing a party for my 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter together (they are only 6 wks apart in birthdates) and we chose the theme of Candy Land. I found the stuff online, but you could just buy a couple of the things and decorate with basic colors. Or, last year, we did a heart/cupcake party after Valentines Day and got all of the stuff on clearance the day after. That party was just for her, but it was really cheap!
Good Luck.

When mine turned four she invited four or five cousins and friends to go to the Woodstock theatre to see a movie. We went to the manitee, I bought snack packs and we got out of there for less than $25. Then we went home and did a little painting craft I got from Walmart for less than $2 each and ate frozen pizza.

I made her cake and we bought icecream from Aldi.

If you wanted to do a cute little gift bag then go to the cosemtic section of Walmart and buy those 50 cent bubble gum bottle of nail polish, tiny lip glosses, little hair pretties, and some stickers or something. Even go to Family Dollar and you will find a bunch of stuff that girls that age would find really cool.

My daughters got little wooden puzzles one year that you color with tiny markers that came in a package, some tiny notepads with tiny pencils and a little coloring book with cute crayons in the shape of butterflies. I think the mom got them all from Oriental Trader and she said she barely spent $15.

Kids that age love to bake. Get break apart cookies if you don't want to let the kids make them from scratch. Then get frosting and let them decorate them to take home.

Whip together a simple little apron that they can decorate with fabric markers.

Or get those foam crowns and let the girls decorate their own crowns.

Let them make their own little pizzas with ingredients you put in little bowls in the middle of the table.

Go to Michaels and see what kind of crafts they have.

Think of a theme and go with it. Princess, baking party, dress=up party, pizza party, craft party....

Hi C.,

Check out www.kidwinks.com. There is a section called "Services" (there's a tab at the top of the page to click on) that has birthday party places. Just look at the categories on the left, and you'll find a category for Party, which includes subcategories for party entertainers, party inflatables, and party places. Click again on "party places" to narrow down to only places that have parties. Here's the link if you want to go there directly:

http://www.kidwinks.com/events/index.asp?SECTION_ID=6&amp...

If you become a member of kidwinks (which is free), you can sort these results in order of distance from your home.

Good luck!

J.

Do a princess tea party! All the girls dress up how they like, and you provide small "tea foods." The tea can be hot chocolate if you wanted. You could probably find everything you needed at the dollar store! You could have them decorate their own crowns to wear and play memory with tea cups turned upside down to cover the numbers or princess objects...whatever you decided! You could even tie in Valentine's day if you wanted. They could make valntines to hand out. Have fun! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

Our friend had an at-home party with about 5 girls, and they ate on a blanket on the floor like a picnic. They had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Besides the picnic, there were other things set up for them to do, like crafts. We have a lot of kids to invite, so this year I'm renting the gym at our park district (only $38/hour) and having a beach-themed party, since my girls will never have a summer birthday. I usually do not serve a meal at kids parties- just a snack and cake. In place of a goody bag, you can have a craft that they make. Most importantly, have fun with it, and your daughter will too- that's what it's all about!

I highly recommend visiting the website www.birthdaypartyideas.com. I have found excellent ideas there.

When my kids were still in preschool, our parties were simply cupcakes and balloons in the classroom. We didn't do at home parties until they were much older. When my son turned 5, I invited a musician experienced in playing for young kids come over to our daycare provider's and play guitar. The kids sang along. I served cake.

Best of luck with your party plans. Whatever you choose - keep it simple. Birthday parties do not need to be huge production numbers. Also, old fashioned games are not only cost effective but lots of fun.

Simple/cheap game ideas:

- blow up balloons and have a balloon stomp
- clothespin drop - kids kneel on a chair and try to drop a clothespin into a jar on the floor
- pin the XX on the XX - draw something on a poster board and have the kids pin something on it
- musical chairs - a timeless classic and cheap

Make your own clown cake - a square cake pan and round pan. Round pan is the face, cut the square cake into three pieces - one triangle is the clown hat, the other two triangles form a bowtie underneath the face. Get cheap party goods from freecycle.org or check out your local goodwill or resale shop.

You have a ton of great ideas but her is one more:
I am a birthday party planner (pieceofcakebday.com) and this year my twin girls turned 5. We had a Barbie Pajama party. Everyone wore their pajamas and brought their favorite Barbie. We did Barbie Says (like Simon Says except you make your Barbie do whatever Barbie says). Had a Barbie Quiz, decorated Barbie Coloring Posters and just played with our Barbies (girls loved this!)
I made cupcakes with Kelly dolls (similar to Barbie skirt cake).
Hope this sparks some ideas! Please let me know if you want anymore details about the above activities.
A.

Does your daughter like animals? My daughter had a "dog party" a few years ago. Pretty cheap and quite different.

The crafts and activites were theirs to take home, so that served as goodie bags. They made "collars" (bead necklace on leather string), ears (foam sheets cut and stapled to the shape they chose), and we painted their faces to look like a dog.

I served the food/cake in dollar store dog dishes that they "bejeweled". They ate on the floor and took home the dish). They took turns getting their picture taken in the dog crate and laughed the whole time.

How about a tea party? You can use apple juice instead of tea and make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or decorate cupcakes. Have the girls come dressed up or they could even make hats as their go home gift?
Make it a little chefs party. Make pizza bagels and cookies. They get to take home the cookies they decorated and maybe an apron with their name on it ( if you can find cheap ones to decorate) or cookie cutters with the cookie recipe.
You can also make it a 1/2 sleep over. The girls come in their PJs. You do nails, eat popcorn and watch a movie in their sleeping bags, then send them home.

Have fun! She's only 5. All she really wants to do is play with her friends.

Is she still into dress up? Could you have a "high tea"? Have all the girls dress up & bring their favorite doll. Since you have such a small group - you could set up the table with fancy dishes, flower, etc...

They could decorate their own cupcake with fancy sprinkles & pink frosting... You could read "Pinkalicious" book - our 6 year old LOVES this book. You could even buy a copy & send that home with the girls as their "gift".

You might even want to paint all their nails pink when they get there & then give them a cute little play bauble ring to wear during tea time.... You could buy a pack of those nail gems & apply those to the girls nails....

Recruit a girlfriend to help you so you can paint the girls faster... So many ideas for girls this age..... Since it's close to Valentines too - you'll be able to find all sorts of Pink stuff!!!

Have fun.

I did a Fancy Nancy Party for my daughters 5th birthday. We had six girls total. We had a lovely tea party with little tea biscuits and tiny sandwiches. And we decorated little foam purses and tiara's for everyone. The party bags had a Fancy Nancy sticker book and some dress-up accessories. The girls are still talking about it six months later. I also did a pajama party (not a sleep over) for the girls in her class just for fun. All the girls had a fun time and all I served was popcorn and pizza. And we did our hair and nails and watched a short movie. Personally I think a lot of mom's have gotten a little crazy with the party thing. Kids don't need much to have fun and it seems like the parents feel like they have to keep up with each other. The some moms commented how strange it was to have a birthday party at home, but were surprised that their kids had such a great time doing something so simple.

Since I only have boys I thought it might be fun to respond to a girl question! what about having her choose two friends and take them to the build a bear place at the mall! It just looks like fun to me. I have never gone there, but when you walk by, it just looks pretty cool. I bet they will have some specials that aren't too expensive.
then, just do some fancy cupcakes and skip the ice cream. there would be no need for goody bags as each child would get a bear!

I agree with your husband on this one. I think some kids have way too many parties. So if you want to do something, why not have a friend or two spend the night. Make pizzas, let them watch a favorite movie, let them go crazy with the play makeup and take out the camera so they can do their own thing. My daughter did that and had a blast. Or take them to a movie. And take the focus off of presents. I know many others have parties, and then some feel that that if you are dishing out money to the same people year after year you want your kids to be able to do the same. But why not make your own trends. I do !!! I think having big parties year after year are just another way people keep up with the Jones family. I also think after awhile kids just expect it. ALso, if you do do something special ocassionally, you may be able to do something really exciting for your child. We don't have parties every year. My son had his first big party when he turned 7 and we took him to a minor league baseball game and could include the parents too...It was a huge hit. Yes pricey, but when you don't do it often, you can justify the cost. THe next one will be in 3 years...and I can decide once I know what his interests are verses the interests of what everyone is is doing at the time. Even though I know kids love the bouncy houses, after awhile....keep it small...and you will enjoy it too !!! Unless of course you want to spend time with the moms...then set up a mom and daughters night out. Keep the focus off of birthday. And just go out. YOu will find later, you are not just doing it for birthdays but a fun thing to do...regularly.

This is the best "bang" for your buck. Look into your local Moose Lodge Family Center. These lodges have a "Kids' Klub, find the organizer. Women of the Moose offer an international membership organization. Membership is less than $5 per month and Moose International is all about children. You'll find a great place for your family to meet up with other families. Members get a reduced price on space rental or arrange your party during lodge open times.
For example, the McHenry Moose lodge every 4th Wednesday of the month is Hamburger Night ($4 for a burger and fries)and the entertainment is "Moose Races", the kids get a kick out of it and no extra charge for them to be part of the game. This is also a fund raiser that goes right to Mooseheart Charities that benefits under priviledged children. Besides the frugal party space, there are benefits for your family the whole year through. Low cost meals, play area, socializing and sporting clubs, reduced price or free family events, products, and insurance. There are various fundraising and tax deduction donation and volunteer oppotunities. Tired of the "cliques" at school, meet other families dedicated to serve to help Seniors and children. More than likely your local lodge has already contributed to your community causes. Moose International is a proud
contributer and organizer of The Special Olympics. In this day and age of increased costs for family entertainment, the lodges offer a great alternative- family values, friendship, leadership, community service and dedication.

Hi, my birthday is in January so it was always harder to find something to do. However, I remember always wanting to do a sledding party or go swimming indoors. The sledding is very inexpensive and the swimming would be something fun to do in the winter. Just some ideas! Good Luck!!!

Could you maybe take the five girls to a matinee movie instead? If you limit the snacks to a few big tubs of popcorn, it can be done for under $50, and you won't have to clean your house afterward.

Regarding goodie bags: dollar store is your friend. Not the most eco-friendly option, but at least you can get plastic jewelry and stickers for not much money.

Make it simple. Invite five of her friends. Make 5 phone calls to their parents with the day and time. Have a Tea party so they can play dress up. Let them play with nail and face makeup. Read a new story and let them share. Music!! I am a grandmother of 4 the youngest is 7. I hope this is helpful. I don't know who put me on this list. O.

Hi C.!
I have a dance studio, and we have been doing parties for the past few years. It is NO maintainance on your part, and the kids have a blast. If you want to keep it "low key" you could use the same format, only do it in your home. You could hire a local dance teacher (or teacher assistant...the teenagers do a great job and love the extra money) to come and teach them a short routine. My themes include ballerina (usually for the little girls...I usually do a small snipet from sleeping beauty ballet), High School musical (1, 2 or 3), Hannah Montana (Rockstar), cheerleader (Mickey). Anyway, we do about a minute and a half routine with them and then perform it for the parents when they arrive to pick the kids up. I dance with them for 45 min, then they do the birthday stuff (cake presents etc) then I do a little make over on them, then the performance. I order supplies based on the theme...I usually do sparkly hats for the Hsm and HM parties, tutus for the ballerina and pom poms for the cheerleader (these become their goody bags...as I have 4 kids myself and I hate goody bags coming home...more mess for me to clean up!!!) I do programs for the performance listing all the kids names and the birthday girl as the star.

If this doesn't seem like something you would do, here are some other ideas: Scrap book party...each girl can bring photos, you do stickers and accessories...you can even MAKE the booklets for them instead of purchasing (or you can get really inexpensive PAPER albums...let me know if you need info on those). The little girls love to get creative and come away with something they made. You could also do a tea party...theme all the treats around tiny tea party things...you could purchase inexpensive plastic cups that they could decorate and take with them...you could even have all the girls dress up for the party (in either dress up clothes or their fancy dresses that they never get to wear!) Five may be a little young for this, but you could do a spa party...soak their feet, paint their nails...purchase hand towels that you can sew together to make the hair twist with...you could run with this in many directions. These are all things that would work with a small number of kids. The key is keeping them busy, so they are having fun and no chance for fighting!

Good luck! Parities are FUN!!!
R.

With only a total of 5 girls at your house, I think you can pull off a hair/nail/makeup thing like a Libby Lu but a lot cheaper. My 5 year old loves to get her nails done. So you can do their nails, curl their hair, and put on some glittery lip gloss. Party favors can be some nail polish or chap stick/lip gloss or press on nails that you can get at the dollar store wrapped up in cellophane. They can all dance to kid bop music while they are waiting their turn and put out some sticker books/coloring books for them to play with. Sounds pretty inexpensive and cute to me!

We are hoping to stick with this plan....Our son is 4 years old. On even years we plan to throw big "to dos" for his birthday. On odd birthdays we will reserve birthday celebrations for family only with the exception of maybe one close friend quietly invited.

Our hope is that this will keep the stress over birthday parties down, the expense down, and the expectation level for each year down.

So far the 2nd and 4th birthdays were fun.

If your guest list gets bigger......Since you need to be indoors you may want to look into what your park district, local small churches, or YMCA has to offer for low cost rental space. Gather a bunch of friends and family to operate and organize your own round of games....the good old fashion pin the tail on the donkey, bozo buckets, face painting, potatoe sack hopping (use pillow cases), pinata smashing, etc. get dollar store prizes because in reality kids don't care about the quality of prizes.

If you remain a small party of 4-5 girls perhaps with 2 cars or one mini van you can go on an outing to some of the free places available in and around Chicago....The Garfield Park Conservatory....Pack a "Tea Party" (finger sandwiches, mini cupcakes,tiny tea cups, etc.) and eat in the one garden room with tables. Get all girly. No goody bags needed. No dishes in your house.

Good luck and Let yourself get creative.

Hi C.,

Why don't you do a sleep under. You have all the girls bring sleeping bags and pillows. YOu rent a movie for them, make popcorn and then have cake and ice cream. I bet the girls would love this and then their parents pick them up! You can even have a painting nails part to make it more "big girl"ish.

Hope this helps.

My daughter just went to a "pamper your doll" party. Each girl brought their favorite doll and they "pampered" the doll with toy hair dryers, combs, ribbons and little handmade scarves out of scraps of cloth. Then she hired two teenagers to do the girls hair, makeup and nails. My daughter had a blast! They served pizza and cupcakes.

C.,
I have a suggestion for a fun game. Put all differnt types of clothing,socks, shoes, hats,gloves, etc. in a laundry basket.Have one girl start, time her (You can establish a time limit) to see how many differnt pieces of clothing she can put on in set time..... winner can get a small prize. I did this years ago for my son and his boy party they had fun and came up with some silly outfits.....

Have you ever seen or done this? one person lays down on back then 2nd person sits on that person with her knees going to back.... then start some music the top person uses her own upper half of body and then the bottom person just uses her legs... looks like one person but the top person does most of moves... she can grab the bottom person's legs and use them in the routine.... again years ago my daughter and the pom pon squad did this for a half time routine... was fun entertainment and you could tape it to show the girls! Have a fun party for your daughter & friends, A.

Hi, C..

My son's birthday is in January, so we have the same problem. We're renting the hall in our church to solve our problem. It's free for us as members. Many churches do this; and if you're not members anywhere, a lot of times they have a small fee. As far as games, etc., you could search on the internet. I have sons, but I would assume that for girls, all you would need is some music and balloons, and they'd create their own fun. Maybe they could just have a good time playing with the presents if your daughter is willing to share. Hope this helps.

My daughters are 6 and 9 and they know on the even number years they get a party, on the odd years they just get dinner out with the family and a cake to eat with the family. They LOVE this tradition actually. Maybe it's because on their party year there are no holds barred. When it's only every other year you don't mind doing as much. I still keep it under a reasonable amount, but they get to pick the venue and theme.

The traditional party games are FUN for kids. They haven't done them for 30 years like us, they have only done them at parties which are few and far between. So, do musical chairs, a spoon race, drop the clothespin in the bucket and pin the tail on the donkey. Stick to only cake and icecream (have the party from 2:30 - 4 pm and that works out perfect).

Oh, and for party favors hit the stores now for non Christmas looking Christmas things - red for valentine's day is all over after Christmas. Target has some of their dollar spot stuff 75% off as well. They had lip glosses, little notebooks, pens, and Hello Kitty stuff that would work great. You could do the party bags for $2 a piece and they would still be loaded. I do this after each holiday and stick them away for the birthday goodie bags, treats to hand out at Halloween or class parties, etc.
Most of all enjoy the day!

N.

how about taking them to see an early afternoon movie? i know a lot of people who have done this and it works out great! some theaters offer packages and others you can just pull together yourself for about 6 or 7 dollars per child! another idea is to check the local park districts and see what they will do! i hope this helps!

L.

I think the movie idea is kind of mature for that age - my kids wanted to play with friends at that age (but they are boys, so maybe it's different)

I really like the tea party idea. It will also be around valentine's day so if you shop cleverly you could get a lot of after-v-day merchandise like napkins, candy, etc. One activity that might be fun is to do "Valentines for Veterans," which we did for Camp Fire last year. I can't remember when they needed the cards, but here's a link for more information: http://www.military.com/veterans-report valentines-for-veterans.

For the record, I don't think there's anything at all wrong with having a big party if the budget and your child's personality goes along with it! I think people project a lot of their own issues onto others - many of us really like hosting a lot of people, extended family, etc., and I think it's great for the other kids that they get to have a fun afternoon at those parties. My mom the introvert would have hated it, and that's fine too. We're all different. (and just because it's a lot of people doesn't mean it has to be all that expensive, if you can do it at home, outdoors, or at a park in the summer.)

I don't understand the attitude of some of the responses here, to be honest. Seems like a lot of spite to direct at some little kid's birthday party.

How about a Movie Opening/Theater Party. The girls could get dressed up in "fancy" clothes and you could roll out the red carpet (one of those disposable table cloths work well). Your daughter can pick a movie she has been wanting to see (either buy or rent) and they can watch it theater style. Line up chairs in front of the T.V., turn out the lights, serve popcorn and juice, and have the room decorated with movie posters (they kids could do this before watching the movie...coloring book pages that coordinate with the movie would work). The cake could be a giant movie ticket and while they are eating the cake they could rate the movie with stars (give them ballot sheets - made on the computer - and some shiny sticker stars to create the movie rating). Finally for treat bags....a bag of microwave popcorn, an extra ballot and stickers, a gift certificate to the local Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, etc., and a juice box...so they can recreate the fun on their own.

Hi C.,
Have a little tea party for her. Have them come dressed in their "Sunday best" and bring their favorite doll or stuffed animal. Set 2 tables, one for the girls and one for the dolls. Have cupcakes and little sandwiches @ PB&J and cheese - use 3 slices of bread and cut crust off and cut each one into 3 strips, or use fancy cookie cutters to make cute shapes, maybe hearts since it's close to Valentines day - and put on cake platters - carrots and celery on a fancy plate, etc. - few finger foods that kids love! Break out your best china, pretty table cloth, and fancy tea cups - they will be so thrilled! I did this for my daughter after we had gone to the American Girls store - their restuarant does this, except the dolls sit at the table with you, and my daughter wanted to go back and have her b-day party there, of course we did the tea party as an alternative, and she was thrilled. It turned out great, nothing got broken, and the girls thought they were so special because they were treated like Big girls! With my daughters B-day Feb 1, I found tea cups on sale after the holidays real cheap, I think Burlington coat factory or Tuesday morning. This was their take home gift along with a pretty little hankie! I made up little name cards for each place setting and used paper doilies on the table for place mats etc. I borrowed a childs table and chairs for the dolls and set it up like a little version of the big table, using a childs tea set my daughter had. It really turned out nice. My daughter who is going to 18 on 2/1 still talks about it. Have fun - cherish the time and memories - it passes way too fast!!!!!! Keep this in mind -When my daughter was 9 or 10 we did a hair and make up party sleep over - I had 2 friends come over 1 a hairdresser and one a Mary Kay consultant - we had a riot - took polaroids and gave to each girl, another big hit party with little expence except lack of sleep!!!
Have fun,
P.

Hubby is right. It would be a lot easier on you if you had the grandparents, immediate siblings, and godparents for cake and coffee. Just a couple of hours. When your daughter is in school all day and seems to have found a real friend, have playdates and special things of the sort to see if you think the friendships will last. That's the child that should be at her party when that day comes. Special birthdays are 13th 16th 21st, graduations, and religous accomplishments. Great report cards are something to celebrate as a family of 3. Hope this helped. Don't forget, people eventually start feeling like "when will these parties end". Don't let it get to that point.

There are some very good idea from the other replies. I remember when my son was 5 or 6 I was planning on reserving a place to have a party and having a "big bash" and he said "can't I just have my friends come to my house" After the party (at our house) he said "that was the best birthday ever". It may be the difference between boys and girls but he really didn't care about all that "stuff" he just wanted to play! My only advice is keep it simple. Kids get bored and frustrated with lots of details. Since her birthday is close to Valentines Day you could have them make cards and actually if her b-day party is after the 14th I am sure you can lots of goodie bag items 1/2 off!

Good Luck!

I haven't tried this myself as I have a son, but my sister-in-law swore by it for my niece's 5th or 6th birthday party: She had the girls come over for a princess party. They each wore a fancy dress to the party. the first activity at the party was making their princess tiara. Each girl received a plastic headband and proceeded to decorate it with the provided materials (i.e ribbon, glitter, whatever you find). Then the princesses had a princess tea party (with pretend tea or water) and ate the cake at the tea party.
The only cost were the plastic headbands, glue and decorating materials all of which can be found pretty cheap at discount stores or Target. The tiara's double as an activity and the party favor. If you make the cake that will cut costs even more.
The only downfall I see is that it could be messy.
Good luck!

my girlfriend did a red carpet party for her daughter- she got most of the things from a birthday catalog- pretty cheap. From what I heard the girls had a blast!

I helped a girlfriend with her daughter's birthday and we did a sleepover/nonsleepover party. There was a craft, a nailpainting station (that's where I helped), a dance party and the girls decorated their own cupcakes. They wore their pajamas over and I had a great time with them. Hope this helps!