Kids Birthday Parties at Home

As a parent, you have likely attended endless birthday parties over the years and played host to more than you can count. You’ve probably also been to parties that run the gamut from elaborate and expensive to a pile of pizzas and a play date. 

As a family of five, we try to keep birthdays fun but economical. Out of home parties can get pricey so we decided to let our twins and our youngest son have their fifth birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Both were big bashes and we all enjoyed them plus there is something to be said for walking away from the cleanup. That alone can be worth its weight in gold. 

As nice as those parties were, we all liked the idea of home parties more. Granted it took extra time and creativity but it provides great memories for the kids and you just can’t beat the price. 

For my son’s fourth birthday, we decided to do a simple home party with old standards like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, the Limbo, Duck, Duck Goose and a piñata. With many kids used to attending pretty slick out of home parties, this was a surprising hit, not just with the kids, but with the parents too. Many of the parents in attendance said how nice it was to be at a party that reminded them of the ones they had as kids at home. The party favors were hula hoops and our little guests left happy as could be. 

For my twins’ seventh birthday party we chose a movie theme and rented Disney’s Pixar Shorts. We made our own concession stand and guests were given tickets that would get them a bag of popcorn, candy and a drink. That was a hit too and my twins loved being behind the stand doling out the goodies just like at the real movies. The Disney Shorts kept them occupied but not sitting in front of the TV for too long so the rest of the time they could play games. 

Home parties can be fabulous and a great family bonding time as you get to personalize everything and plan exactly what you want together. My boys have always enjoyed planning out their parties.

One year we had an elaborate scavenger hunt and came up with rhyming clues based on Star Wars characters. It was harder than we thought and the kids, broken up into two teams, raced through it much faster than we had imagined so it’s good to have more planned than you think you will need as you can’t anticipate how slow or fast things will go. 

As kids get older, parties change (as they should) and often get smaller. Last year, for my twins’ ninth birthday we let them choose a few friends each and they had a make your own pizza party, played some games and hung out, which they loved.

Sure, home parties can be tough on your house but the memories are well worth a few stains on the carpet.