Do you remember when you were a kid and your mom asked you what theme you wanted for your bedroom and it was something like “The little mermaid”? You envisioned a big picture of Ariel on your comforter and your mom took it as more of suggestion and decorated your room in a non-Ariel specific coastal vibe (which the following year when you no longer like Ariel turned out to be a wise choice). That’s how I feel about birthday party themes too.

Now as a mom myself, I want to embrace Fitz’s desire for a Rubble Paw Patrol party while also keeping it simple and affordable. After two kids and four years of birthdays, I feel like this year I finally nailed my kids party formula. This kept me sane while still allowing us to throw a nice little party for under $150.

Here are the general rules of the kid birthday party road that work well for our family:

• Pick a general theme (Construction vs Rubble Paw Patrol) or go to the dollar store and allow the kids to pick any of the available themes (dinosaurs, princess, and gaming are almost always available)

• Friend Parties every OTHER year

• Parties are at home (this keeps costs low and planning minimal)

• Invite the same number of kids as age of the child (Fitz is 3! So we invited 3 friends). I stole this from Busy Toddler and love it so much!

• I time my monthly house cleaning with the party to make it easy on myself

• No party favors

• Cater one thing at a low cost (either the cake or the food/snacks)

Party Decor + Food Formula

I love the idea of a Pinterest perfect party but I also know it will leave me exhausted and the reality of setting up for a party with two toddlers running around is laughable. So these few thing have helped me keep it simple while still festive and fun:

• Dollar store plates, napkins, candles and balloons in the colors of the party. I take the kids on a date to the dollar store birthday scavenger hunt. I try to focus more on the general colors rather than the specifics of a theme (see little mermaid versus coastal example). For example for Fitz’s construction/ Rubble / Paw Patrol party we picked out all the orange, yellow, black and construction-like items we could find.

• Order a balloon pack in theme color, birthday banner, and cupcake toppers from Amazon.

• Lastly, we gathered up all the construction vehicles and Paw Patrol toys we already own and used those as table decor

• Food:

  • Nugget and fruit tray from Chick-fil-A

  • Box cake cupcakes (this dairy cake free mix was delicious - so many compliments!)

  • Juice boxes

  • OR if I order the cake from the grocery we will skip the Chick-fil-A and do light snacks like pretzels, juice boxes and fruit

• Invite: I find an instant download on Etsy and use Paperless post blank invite to upload and send via text to our friends and family

Set Up

I place a happy birthday banner on the fire place. Blow up balloons and stick them on the mailbox. Sometimes I’ll make a balloon banner for the fireplace but this year I decided to just have the balloons be party floor decor and the kids had a blast kicking them around.

We keep the cake simple too. I either order a theme cake from the grocery store ($30) or make cupcakes and add a cake topper.

Party Itinerary:

This is by means the exact schedule we followed but I always think its helpful to know what other people plan for and do at kids parties. I always have a moment before the party where I’m wondering “what are we going to do for two hours?” but the truth is that it goes by super fast.

9-915: Guests arrive/kids play (Fitz was gifted this $70 bounce house and it was a hit for the 3-4 year olds!)

915-945: Eat snacks/food

945-1000: Clean up/Kids play

1000-1030: Sing Happy Birthday + Eat Cake

1030-1045: Open Gifts

1045-1100: Kids Play/People start to leave

Price breakdown for Fitz’s Rubble on the Double Party

• Invitation: $2.48

• Sending invite: $3

• Amazon decor: $29

• Food: $100 (catered chicken nuggets, fruit tray, unsweetened tea, juice boxes and dairy free cake mix)

• Dollar Store theme items: $7

  TOTAL: $142.48

I hope this will help you plan your next kids birthday party with less stress.

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