Bigger is better - that’s the latest trend. Birthday parties have got bigger and brasher with parents continually trying to outdo each other with their party ideas and gifts. However, a children’s party should not be about how much it costs - it should be about fun! Fantastic parties can be thrown on a budget and the children will be none the wiser! Here at MoneyTowers.com, we have put together a guide for throwing your children a superb party they’ll love without breaking the bank.

Invitations
If you don’t have a lot of free time, shop-bought invitations are fine and can be bought cheapely these days. However, if you want to get creative, you can. You could use a digital photo as a background or design something yourself. Print out multiple copies, grab some coloured pens (glitter pens usually go down well), fill in the blanks and mail the invitations out.

Games
Classic games such as the ‘pin the tail on the donkey’, ‘treasure hunt’ and musical chairs’ are always popular with children.

Pass the parcel is a crowd pleaser - wrap up small gifts appropriate for the age group, such as sweets, hair grips and slinkys, every few layers. Make sure there are enough gifts so that each child gets something! The children need to sit in a circle. Play some music in the background and get the children to pass the parcel around the circle. When you stop the music, the child who is holding the parcel gets to take one layer of the wrapping off to see what’s there.
Smarties-relay is also popular. Divide the children into teams. Each team is given an empty bowl and a straw. In the centre of the room is a bowl filled with smarties. On your mark, the children have to take it in turns to run to the bowl and pick up a smartie with their straw and then drop it into their team’s bowl. The team who collect the most smarties win - all teams get to eat all the smarties they collected plus the winning team may get a small prize.

Goody Bags
Goody bags do not have to be expensive. You can also make your own - get a long sheet of cellophane (available from your local florist), some plastic cups, ribbon and/or glitter Fill the cups with a small toy and some penny sweets and maybe some birthday cake or small gifts such as coloured or novelty pens. Decorate the cups with glitter and then wrap them in cellophane and tie with some coloured ribbon.