Budget-Friendly Boys Birthday

Birthdays are special days to celebrate especially with kids. My boys's birthdays fall within one week of each other, so for the past three years we have been doing joint parties. My boys- Aiden (6) and Liam (3) agreed on a Super Hero theme for their party. The goal was to make it fun, festive and budget friendly. We held the party at our house and told Aiden he could invite six friends since he was turning 6. Liam invited two friends. Once we had our location, guest list and party date and time; it was time to start planning.

1. Invitations- I used Evite invitations. It was easy to find a kids party invitations with a superhero theme. I selected a free one. I have the Evite app on my phone so I could easily manage the invites. The map/directions section helped friends easily find our house (something that a paper invite can't do). All the guests were instructed to wear a costume or t-shirt of their favorite Super Hero.

2. Games- I scheduled the party from 4-6 p.m. on a Saturday. After nap time to help avoid any melt downs and also after any sport activities. I imagined us playing carnival like games for an hour, but since this was a Super Hero party we turned the games into Super Hero Training. We had two sets of ages, so we had 2-winners per game. Winner's chose their prize from the Super Prize bag. I found prizes at the Dollar Tree and the One Spot section at Target.

We began with Captain America's Shield Throwing thru the hoop. Each guest had three turns to throw the Frisbee through the hoop.

Fire Balls Toss- Each guest had three turns to throw different size balls in the hole.

My favorite was Building Bowling. I took three large boxes and drew windows on them and then stacked them on top of each other. Each guest had three turns to roll an exercise ball at the building to knock it down. My kids enjoyed this game so much that they were playing it days after the party.

Water balloon toss was a must, especially on a 90-degree day. You have to be careful with this game because with a party of all boys it can quickly turn into a water balloon fight.

Game time ended with the much anticipated Pinata . I shopped around for a pinata, and they were all in the $20 price range which is crazy for something that will be destroyed in 10 minutes or less. I poked around on Pinterest and got the basics of how to make one. I am not particularly crafty, so I came up with a simple design- a rectangle. I cut the front, back, and sides from a box and taped it together with duct tape. I left a hole for the candy and fruit snacks. I decorated it with tissue paper, party streamers and a large Avengers themed gift bag. I think it turned out good, but most importantly the kids loved it.

3. Decorations. I found Spiderman decorations and Mylar balloons at the Dollar Tree. I had leftover streamers from a previous year that added to the festive decor.

4. Food- I wanted to keep the food simple. We served pizza and Capri-Sun, and then a cookie cake and ice cream. The kids were excited about the cookie cake rather then the traditional flour cake. I found plastic wear packets and Spiderman paper plates and napkins at the Dollar Tree. Spiderman is Aiden's favorite superhero, but since the party was open to all super heroes, I had more choices.

5. Favor Bags- No party is complete without favor bags, a special token or gifts to give your guests to thank them for coming to the party. I got a pack of 12 bags at A.C. Moore on sale for $3.99. I decorated the bags with stickers and markers. Our guests, a total of 7, received Super Sacks filled with little toys and games from the Dollar Tree and Target plus all the candy they got from the Pinata.

The 2-hour party went fast. I wish I took more pictures, but everyone had a good time, and we stayed within our budget.