I have to confess that I'm not a massive fan of kids birthday parties. In my experience they often get built up to be such a big and important event; there is so much pressure for everything to be fabulous and then instead of going with a bang it is more of a poof!
The recent research commissioned by SunLife Direct makes for interesting reading, they found that the average cost of a child's party is £101 and that those living in the London or the North East are the biggest spenders, with £115 and £114 respectively. The most sensible spenders are in East Anglia with an average spend of £78 but it just shows how it all adds up and can really eat into your monthly spending.
The research also showed that 8 out of 10 parents of children under 16 throw a party and that does make me feel a little bad as none of my kids had a party this year. But if you ask each of them they will tell you they had a good time. We went on holiday just after my girls birthday and they had a day to choose our activities and we called it birthday treat day. Realistically they didn't do much different to what we would have any other day but it felt special to them and JJ went to London with dh and enjoyed a trip to the theatre (a blog review opportunity) and a meal (paid for by Tesco deals tokens!). Father and son one on one time is more cherished than any party when you are 12 I think.
SunLife have produced an infographic to give an idea of what is spent on the average party in different parts of the country but if like me you like to be a bit more thrifty then read on for my top 5 party ideas that don't cost a fortune...
1. Take a small group of friend to Saturday morning cinema - You can tend to find cheap Saturday showings in most towns, the cost of a ticket is anywhere from £1 each and most can be booked in advance. Many times my kids have had friends dropped at the cinema for a film and then we have walked over to the local McDonalds for lunch afterwards.
I tend to get to the cinema nice and early to bagsy a row of seats and have small bags ready made up with pick and mix sweets, some popcorn and cartons/ water so the kids can relax and snack without too much cost.
The cost of this kind of morning is normally about £5.50 (by the time you add in a McFlurry) and you can just invite the number of children that suit your budget. Your child and five friends is only just over £30, add in your ticket, lunch and maybe a small goodie bag for the guests and you are still no-where near the UK average of £101.
2. Check out your local park - If your child has a summer birthday, then an outdoor party can be perfect. One of the parks local to us has a fabulous splash area and play equipment and many families would pitch up with fold-up tables, banners to go across the trees and a picnic spread. The kids can play, you can organise games and then everyone can enjoy the food. We also found parents were more happy to stay at this kind of party as it is very casual and of course absolute minimum of cost.
3. Cater your own soft-play party - Don't just go with the regular offering when you chat to your local soft-play centre (if that is what your child fancies). Find out when their quietest time is and see if you can hire the whole place for a couple of hours. I think at least once in a child's life it is nice to do a really big party and before we moved we hired out local soft play for £70 for 2 hours at a non-peak time and catered it ourselves. Yes it cost a bit but we had 60 kids and my children got to say a fond farewell to all those they had come to love.
4. Create lunch packs rather than a massive buffet - We've all seen the waste at the end of the party buffet or noticed the child that ate 8 swiss rolls and nothing else, well a great way to avoid those problems is to pack a lunch box for each child. It is really easy to buy small, colourful boxes off the internet now and you can pack each up with a selection of the food that you would have put in the buffet. Minimal mess, no need to set up a big display and the kids can eat quickly and get back to the real business of having fun!
5. Get them to create their own cake/gifts to take home - At the girls last party we had lots of craft tables around and the kids all made their own treasures to take home as their party gifts. A group photo taken at the beginning and then printed out and laminated in a frame they had made. A decorated crown, a cup of pic and mix sweets and a cupcake that they had decorated were put into little plastic cases and I didn't even have to give away the girls proper birthday cake!
There have been years when we have not had a party at all but we have saved up the tokens from one of the national newspapers and had a weekend away in a caravan for about £10-£15 each and taken one friend with us. This is something really special that lasts a whole weekend and all the family can enjoy it, so I'd definitely recommend this option too. I often find that saving up vouchers or coupons is the way to do something that is beyond your regular budget.
I hope my ideas have helped you to think differently about planning for your child's next birthday.
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