Cheap Birthday for a 3 year old

[jrayn]

I need to plan for my dd's birthday party, we have a very low budget, but I want it to be special for her, she will be 3

So fire away, I have food ideas, but more along the lines of activities or fun decorations.

[mamameg]

Bubbles! They all love 'em.

You can easily and cheaply make bean bags out of any fabric and beans. If you don't sew, you can make them with fabric glue. Set up a few cardboard boxes - they will toss them for a long time.

A simple craft of paper plates, glue sticks and stuff for them to glue is always fun.

[LynnS6]

Make an obstacle course for them to run through. Use pillows, sheets, slides or whatever you have at home. That's a great activity, it's not competitive, so there isn't a 'winner'. If you want to make it more 'interesting' put on music and have them 'freeze' whenever the music stops.

I second the bubbles (if you can be outside).

At dd's 3rd birthday party we just set up a couple of play 'stations' -- one with playdough, one with puzzles and one with trucks, played with toys for about an hour or so. Then had cake and snacks.

Crepe paper and balloons are pretty cheap and look great. Or you could do paper chains and balloons for under $3 I bet. Skip the birthday hats and blowers. You can get brightly colored napkins (not themed) and paper plates pretty cheaply. That's really all you need.

For party favors, I went to the dollar store and bought puzzles (they had some nice Clifford puzzles) for each of the kids. They each got one, and it wasn't a sack full of candy or other stuff kids don't really use. One friend of mine had her daughter go through her old books and choose ones to give away. The party favors were then books. Another friend of mine had the kids paint little plant pots as the 'activity' and then the party 'favors' were a packet of flower seeds and some dirt.

At this age, about one organized activity lasting 5-10 minutes is all they're good for, so don't overplan! Leave them lots of time to run and play.

[Pastrydemon]

My mom reminded me of something this weekend (I was running around getting stuff for DD's 4th birthday party). We were staying w/ my grandparents one summer and it was my cousin's birthday. I think he was probably turning 5 or 6...my mom made a "pinata" for his party with a brown grocery bag! They had so much fun swinging at it and breaking it! You could fill w/ cheap little treats. My cousin said it was his best birthday!

[columbusmomma]

each child could help w/ decorating a cookie/cupcake

an on-the-spot talent show

lawn bowling! playing tag,outdoor games

Dancing!

Balloons, lots of candles, fun music!

Hope her party is awesome!

[mom2mywiggles]

Going on the assumption that the weather is nice and you can be outdoors...

Sidewalk chalk-even if you don't have a sidewalk, you'd be surprised at what you can color on. Biggest plus is that it washes right off. Our son colors on our tree outside all the time.

Bubbles-is definitely a must if outdoors. Have one person blow while the children chase all the bubbles. That's fun for kids of all ages.

I like the planting idea. I've done that before at parties. Usually we'd have the kids decorate the outside of a cup, or plant pot. Then they get to add the dirt, and the seeds. When I taught preschool I would also have a "lesson" to go along with it, which was actually just a story I had written about the life cycle of one very special plant. It kept the kids intrigued and the activity kept them busy. It's a lot funner than it probably sounds. For my middle child's first birthday the kids made "Hairy" Harry plants. They decorated plant pots with faces, then they planted grass seed. When it grew in, it was a "hairy" guy.

The obstacle course is a great idea too. And can be made with just about anything.

Maybe find a really BIG box(ask around at local stores) and let the kids decorate it as if it's a playhouse. I know my kids just love boxes, lol, especially at that age.

Dressup is always fun too. You can use clothes you guys already own, or go to goodwill or something and buy some. Then have a "fashion show".

If I think of more, I'll add them
Happy early Birthday to your DD!!

[trinity6232000]

I love the decorate a cookie/cupcake. My dd never gets tired of that. When my dd turned
4 or 5 (can't remember : ) she asked for a easter egg hunt, in JUNE! haha. You know
what the kids had a blast. Well during that same party we had a treasure hunt. This could
be inside or outside. I bought this really small trunk at a craft store, and painted it gold. All
together that cost me maybe $3.00. Then I gave all the kids a map, marked with a X where
I had hid the treasure.

[mazajo]

I love the Easter egg hunt in June and the obstacle course idea!!

If it's too cold to be outside, you could always fall back on the traditional favorites like musical chairs, or pillows instead of chairs. Kids always love that! Dancing is great too.

For birthday hats, let them color a piece of construction paper and staple or tape it in a cone shape. Decorations + activity!

Good luck, I'm sure she'll have a great time!

[timneh_mom]

My son is going to be 3 on Sunday and we aren't having a kid's party, just having some family over for lunch, cake and presents. If I did have friends over, he would probably have plenty of fun just playing with them and running around!! He probably wouldn't want to stop for an "activity" at his age. You can get paper streamers at the dollar store (at least I saw them there yesterday) and just string them in the room, with a balloon or two, and you'd be all set.

[mummy marja]

We've had a lot of fun with treasure hunts. For clues, I drew pictures of simple objects where the next clue would be hidden, rather than a written clue. They loved it.

When DD turned 3, we made pizza during the party. I had made the dough before the party, cutting it into small pizzas the right size for a small kid. I also had all the toppings in tiny containers, just the right amount for each kid. They really loved doing this and even ate most of the pizza! I had made aprons for each child (there were only 3 guests) out of scrap fabric.

[sarah_bella1050]

I just had my dd1's 3rd birthday party last month. We reserved the birthday circle at an awesome park in the next town over (free). Then I bought face paints (you could get them really cheap from halloween clearance). We just played and had a good time. I made cupcakes and gave out kazoo's and fake tatoos for favors. It was so much fun! I spent about $30 on the party and there was over 40 people there