Birthdays - ideas and keeping up with the

Joneses!

DD is having her birthday party on Sunday, she's turning 6.
We're quite strapped for cash at the moment and are just having a bunch of her friends over to our place for sugar-loading and tearing around the place giggling and screeching.
I thought this would be enough at 6 but since we started arranging it DD has been to about 4 other classmate's birthdays and every single one has had at least 1 professional entertainer/face-painter/balloon animal maker/bouncy castle.
I can see how cool they are and how much the kids enjoy them, but I can't justify that kind of expense, not for a non-milestone birthday anyway!
She goes to a great little public school and we live in a middle of the road kind of suburb, I really didn't expect to be having to keep up with the Joneses kid's parties! Not yet anyway.
I want to make it cool for her though and would hate for her friends to be making fun of her for not having the things they all have at their parties, so I'm looking for ideas that we can use to make the party memorable and great-fun for the kids without costing the earth.
Help please?!

I wish I had a girl so I could have a tea party!

I would have a "high tea" and say on the invite for them to wear there best dress.

Have juice etc in teapots and teacups. Decorate the table in a cute pink table cloth, flowers, napkins etc and try and borrow a couple of tired plates so it all look flash. They coud decorate their own cupcake to take home etc. Would be great fun.

I would also try and take a photo of each child while sitting at the table to send to them with a thank you note.

making it a dress up party is free and fun... or a disco. i think someone on here did one once. get coloured lights for the lounge and shut the blinds! hang your xmas lights, especially if they flash!
get them to make some necklaces perhaps, you can pick up bead kits from the $2 shop. or get them to decorate their own cupcakes. we did that at an adults party recently and its fun!

you may find that they like the freedome of doing what they want too.

Peanut wrote: I wish I had a girl so I could have a tea party! I would have a "high tea" and say on the invite for them to wear there best dress. Have juice etc in teapots and teacups. Decorate the table in a cute pink table cloth, flowers, napkins etc and try and borrow a couple of tired plates so it all look flash. They coud decorate their own cupcake to take home etc. Would be great fun. I would also try and take a photo of each child while sitting at the table to send to them with a thank you note.

I like this idea!!

Doesn't that sound fun?! I would have loved that as a kid, unfortunately my cousin smashed my tea set

You could do fairy bread for sandwiches. Or little club sammies with ham, tomato, cucumber etc...

I remember my 6th, we went to Macca's and the week before it had been my best friends birthday party at none other than... McD's!

You could always dress up and try entertain them? Or if you go with the tea party idea you could play along and be like a waitress?

Best idea that we had for girls birthday that has lasted us from ages 3 to 9 was a fairy or princess or dress up party. A few fairy sandwiches, cupcakes, anything cute to eat, plus a bit of confetti or similar and you have a great party. (She's 10 now and the girly theme has morphed into singstar!).

Kids of that age aren't too concerned with keeping up with the Jones, its just us parents who feel that we have to! A bit of music, pass the parcel, and running around and screaming is what the kids enjoy, and being able to eat whatever they want.

And as for party bags ..... these should be banned! Since when should the birthday girl/boy have to give the guests presents? Whats wrong with a "thank you for coming and for my present" and taking home a piece of birthday cake and a balloon? Kids these days have come to expect far too much and the blame is squarely on the parents (we dont have these at our parties anymore and we only have parties for milestone birthdays now). Bit of a rant about the party bags but it is a real thorn in my side issue.

Your daughter will just be excited that its her birthday and her friends are coming

What about a Nail party?    Get some cheap nail polish and stick on stickers and do the girls nails?

Or do what we did for DD's I did a "Canvas Party" for her, and the kids and parents thought it was a great idea. There were 4 girls and I just loaded up the dining table with paints, stickers, ribbon and got cheap canvases for them and they had a blast creating their own masterpiece. I just asked on the invite that the girls had an old t-shirt to paint in. I got the paints from the $2 shop as well as the stickers etc. I think all together the add ons cost $20 and the canvases were 1/2 price so all up I spent $40 and then just had sausage rolls, fairy bread, lollies etc.

If it's a nice day you could have them outside on your deck and just let them go for it!

Can't believe she is 6!!!

I think they enjoy the fancy stuff (prof entertainers, etc) if its there in front of them but if its not there and they're still enjoying themselves I don't think it'd be a problem. JM2csW though

There are some great ideas for little girls parties.
Party bags def should be banned, a piece of cake and a balloon to take home is more than adequate.

The good news is that your daughter isn't demanding it. Kids really like party games like pass the parcel, musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey etc. The 'high tea' party idea is great. Princess parties are also good, with lots of pink food, nail painting etc. For kids this age the excitement is in the party itself.

I am totally turning into the Jonses
Its Keira's 5th Birthday at the end of the month and I have already been busy the last few weeks.
I am trying to stick to a budget and making a lot of the things myself which is why its all taking so long. I am cutting out butterflies from coloured paper to stick around the house. I have found some old pink sparkly material to drape around the house and will hopefully get the fairy lights up too.
I have made little goodie bags full of bracelets (with beads I found around) Butterfly Pens and Notebooks, etc
We are going to set up some butterflies to decorate with glitter and markers.
If I am able to find the time I am going to paint butterflies on the girls faces.
Cake, I haven't even thought about cake yet :s

I figure it is her 5th birthday so its a big one... Her other parties won't be quite as extreme

Last year we had a dress up tea party which was fun. A box full of dress ups, over sided dresses, old jewelry, big hats.. and then I found a cheap tea set at an op shop and we sat around and drank 'tea'