Create Birthday Party Fun With Frugal Live Entertainment
Depending on the age of your child, one of the most entertaining forms of fun is live events. Hiring a professional singer or rock band can be too expensive, and not everyone enjoys a magic show or clown act, which leaves many parents wondering what else they can do to provide live entertainment at an affordable price. There are alternatives that are both fun and frugal.
Make Musical Fun
If you have a karaoke system, set it up in the backyard or in the house for some real fun. Write a list of all of the songs that you have available to sing and let everyone take a turn singing their favorite melody. You can have contests set up if you like with trinkets for prizes.
If you don’t have a karaoke system but play musical instruments, or know someone who does, arrange a little singalong. Again, pick a selection of songs that everyone will have fun singing. Clear the area so anyone who chooses to dance can have the room and have even more fun. If musical talent isn’t anywhere to be found, make musical instruments out of paper plates, paper towel tubes, bells, whistles, or whatever makes a fun sound. Then let the kids create their own music and lyrics to go along.
Puppet Playhouse Fun
Start by making a puppet theater out of a large cardboard shipping box. You can usually pick one up if you ask at a store that sells appliances or furniture. Using paint, fabric, stickers, glitter, and other embellishments, you can decorate it anyway you would like. Then decide on your puppets. If you are handy at sewing, look for patterns online for simple people or animal puppets to make using a variety of materials, including fabric, felt, yarn, and even old socks.
Another option is to have the children at the party make their own puppets using brown paper bags and craft materials. They can create characters and the story to tell during the puppet show. You could choose to use small paper bags and create hand puppets, or use large paper bags and the kids can actually become the puppet. Then these ‘kid size’ puppets would come out and act out the play as their character.
Silly Story in the Round Fun
Telling a story as a group is another fun activity. The kids sit in a circle and a story is started by the first person. Perhaps an assortment of beginning lines are written on pieces of paper and put in a hat, then the first person draws a slip and starts the story. The story continues with the second person, then the third, and so on. Each storyteller gets to add another character and work it into the story. The characters change what they do each time a new person starts telling the story.
The object is for the story to get sillier and more involved, picking up more characters with each new storyteller. As each person participates, the story will get funnier and everyone will soon be rolling on the floor laughing. Each person takes a turn starting the story so each child gets a turn finishing the story.
Just like the days before high-tech electronics and computer games galore, entertainment is possible on a low budget. I hope these ideas have inspired you to get back to basics and add some fun to your child’s party, even on a tight budget!