It’s almost time for my daughter’s 2nd birthday and that means it’s time to start planning her party. I really enjoy planning each of my kids birthday parties and seeing the excitement on their face when the big day comes. Last year I asked my son who was turning 5 what kind of party he wanted to have, he knew right away that he wanted to have a science party so I went to work on trying to find inexpensive birthday party ideas for a science party. At first I wasn’t sure how a science party would turn out but the more I researched online and at the library I found a TON of ideas that were fun and really inexpensive.
The first thing that you need to do when planning a birthday party is to decide what kind of theme that you are going to have. In my case I asked my son the last 3 years and worked around his idea. For my sons first and second birthday and my daughter’s first I worked around the things that they liked at the time. If you are having trouble finding a theme Birthday Party Ideas is a great starting place for all ages and types of parties. Party decorations are pretty inexpensive if you look in the right places. The dollar store has tons of different decorations and the Internet will help you come up with some nice homemade ones also. I printed out caution signs and bio-hazard signs to go along with the theme and posted them on the door and throughout the house!
Next you need to decide where you are going to have the birthday party at and what kind of food if any you are going to have. Most of the time it is cheaper and easier to have the party at your house but sometimes that isn’t possible. For Jeremy’s (my son) 4th birthday he wanted to have a fishing party and we don’t have a pond at our house to fish in so I did a little research and found a little park with 2 fishing docks about 3 miles away from my house! We planned on roasting hot dogs at the park and letting the kids play on the playground, open presents and then fish at the dock. We provided all the food (hot dogs, buns, chips, soda) and the bait for the fish plus we brought extra fishing poles for the kids that didn’t have any. We did ask that if the guests had a pole to bring it to the party. I bought the cake from Walmart for $25.00 and ice cream. So this parties most expensive part was the CAKE! If you are going to serve food hot dogs are a great treat at a kids birthday party, there inexpensive and most kids love hot dogs. I spent about $50 total for all the food, cake and supplies. The party was great but it didn’t quite turn out the way it was planned because it decided to rain and rain and rain that morning causing us to have the party at the house and afterwords when it stopped raining we headed to the dock. The kids had a blast and almost everyone caught a fish.
Next you need to decide what types of activities you are going to have at the party. For us since we were having a science party we needed some experiments. I never knew how many kids experiments were out there until I started to research it. The picture that you see above is the balloon blowup, very simple and cheap. We started to save our used water bottles in advance to use at the party other items for this were baking soda, vinegar and balloons. I put all of the vinegar into the bottles and filled the balloons with the baking soda before the party and then when it was time for the experiment I helped the kids carefully place the balloon over the top of the bottle and as the baking soda hit the vinegar it inflated the balloon..The kids LOVED it!
This experiment above was homemade slime. The kids got to make the slime and chose which color that they wanted. I bought the containers at the dollar store and the kids got to take the slime home with them after the party as a party favor. This was super gross but the kids were laughing and having so much fun and couldn’t get enough of the slime! Some of the other experiments that we did were:
(This was the most expensive experiment, after the party I found a cheaper brand at hobby lobby and they usually have 40% off coupons in the Sunday newspaper)
I used generic diet coke and I found the mentos geyser tubes at hobby lobby and used a 40% off coupon!
The next step is the birthday cake!
Ok I am going to admit it, I am not a cake maker as you can see in the picture but this was my first birthday cake EVER! As mentioned earlier the cake has always been a big expense with our parties so I decided that this year I would attempt to make the cake myself. I was very nervous that it would not turn out and Jeremy wouldn’t have a cake so I made cupcakes too the night before (just in case!) I actually got all cake mix and frosting for about $2.00 with coupons that is including the cupcakes, we already had the food coloring on hand. Jeremy really wanted to help make his birthday cake so I let him help frost the cake and he was so proud of his cake and we decided that we will make our birthday cakes every year from now on. It really feels good to see it finished and to know that you made this even if it is not perfect. This is the recipe and directions for the FLASK CAKE above.
We always send the kids home with a little goodie bag at the end of the party. Usually if you plan it right you can make a nice little treat bag for pretty cheap. We sent the kids home with their experiments plus they got goggles, gloves and masks from the dollar store at the beginning of the party. I also found mad scientist treat holders at oriental trading on clearance which I filled with candy that I bought on clearance after Easter.
This was probably the funnest party that we have had so far. It did take some planning on my part but it is all worth it in the end to see the kids so happy and having a great time, memories last forever! This party ended up costing me approximately $30, that is including the food, cake, decorations, experiments and party favors.
I know alot of people spend hundreds of dollars on their kids birthday parties when really you don’t have to. There are so many resources to help you plan a really cool party without breaking the bank. As my kids birthday’s get closer I will keep you posted on the party ideas and if you have any party ideas please let me know so I can pass it on! I hope this information has helped you realize that it shouldn’t cost a fortune to have a fun birthday party!
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