5) Food: When it comes to food, you can get away pretty inexpensively.  A simple cookout with hot dogs and hamburgers is always a hit and you can choose a summer party theme, with a water sprinkler, a baby pool or a sandbox with beach pails and shells. Pizza parties are a good way to go, as well. 

If you want to make your own food, you can usually buy frozen finger foods like pigs in a blanket and cook those yourself or you can serve small pizza bites or chicken nuggets.  These items are small and easy for little hands to hold. 

But, you must carefully choose foods for children under four years of age.
 
You can stick with snack foods instead of serving hot dishes.  Serving is easy and you don’t have to keep the food warm. Popcorn, gold fish, small pretzels, small cheese bites, crackers and other healthy snack food are great choices.

Buy make-it-yourself lemonade or other beverages in large canisters and mix up a gallon of lemonade at low cost. 

6) Chairs and Tables: Instead of renting chairs and tables, you can have an Aladdin theme party and place blankets and pillows on the floor for the children to use during games and while eating. 

7) Decorations: Decorate the house with sheets and brightly colored cloth draped over pictures and curtain rods. You can also buy one packet of balloons, blow all of them up and leave them on the floor. It looks pretty nice too.

Also, look online to see what clearance deals are offered for the birthday packaged decorations.  Even with shipping, these items may be less expensive.

8) Games: Don’t go crazy buying games.  Many of today’s kids have never been introduced to old-fashioned games like musical chairs, Simon Says, or Mother May I. You can create a throwback theme to capture the flavor of the old-fashioned party and you might even read a few old nursery rhymes for effect.

Don’t be discouraged when it comes to finding games or activities to fit your theme and budget. You can check books out of your local library or look online to find those free or inexpensive games. 

You can also make up games to complement the theme of the party. Buy your decorations from dollar or discount stores.  You can usually find matching napkins, plates, cups and tablecloths in these stores and they are likely to be less expensive than the party store. 

9) Invitations:  If you have a computer, you can design your invitations in PowerPoint, Word or even a card making software product. 

Print these in color or, if you don’t have a printer, put the file on disk and take it to the library or to a local office products store to have the invitations printed in color but first, check your local dollar store or discount store to see if they have party invitations.  At $1.00 per pack for 8-16 invitations, you probably can’t make them any less expensive. 

You can also ask your child to give invitations to children in person OR email them if you have everyone’s email address or you can call the parents on the phone.  If your child is going to hand out invitations be sure that they do not forget. 

Many children have felt left out or ignored when they do not receive the invitation. If you can work around involving your child in this activity, it is best. Email or phone call to the house works better than counting on a child to remember that invitation in his backpack.

Online services like ‘e-invite’ allow you to enter all the information about the party and include all the email addresses of your child’s friends, then send the invitation with one click of the mouse or use a free egreeting website to write your party invitation and then fill in all the email addresses and send the invitation.  Be sure to include your RSVP email address in the text of the invitation.

10) Party Favors: Buy favor items in a local craft store or bulk candy from a wholesale or warehouse store.  Ask your child to draw decorations and write each guest’s name on the small brown paper lunch bags you buy in the grocery store, and put the favors in these.