Children's Birthday Party for Twelve Dollars

Plan for this party on a guaranteed sunny, clear day. Warn parents ahead of time to send the party guests with a swimming suit or change of clothes that they can get dirty (this is important!)

Activities:
1) Okay, kids LOVE being able to get dirty and make a mess. Once the kids are in their bathing suits, give the kids an area of the yard or driveway that you don't mind harboring a mess and lay out bowls of paint. You can make this game a little more restricted and tell them they each have to paint themselves into convincing zoo animals, aliens, etc. Or you can let them be creative and just let them paint each other however they want. Stand by to keep things in hand, but otherwise--let them be messy!
When everyone is all painted, take some fun pictures and then move on to the next activity...

2) Now that everyone is covered in paint, you need a fun way to clean them off. A sprinkler is ideal. Hook up a gentle sprinkler to a hose and tell the kids they have to wash off all the paint. Waterballoons are another option (you can get a good sized bag at the dollar store).

3) Put out a big bin of "dress-up" clothes (random clothes from around your house). Give the kids each a "script" (that you can write up ahead of time--use a well-known funny story or one of your own creation), have them dress up and "produce" a movie. If a child doesn't want to participate, you can have them be the "cameraman" and "producer" (say "action", "cut", etc). Let the kids be creative with any additional ideas they may have. (And it's always a fun idea to actually tape their production on your own)

4) Scavenger Hunt! Before the party, pick out 20 random items around your house (about the size of your hand) and put them in "hiding places" around the yard or a certain room of the house. Make a list of all the items you hid and give each child a copy. Send them out on a scavenger hunt to find all of the items with a small prize for the one who finishes first. (If you have an older group of children, you can give them each a piece of different colored paper so when they find an item, they have to slip a piece of their paper under the item to prove they found it).

5) You have to have dancing! Turn dancing into another game. Put on music (birthday kid's choice) and choose one "DANCE king or queen" (paper crown is a good touch). That child has the "power" to control the dancing of the other kids. The king or queen might yell out "DISCO!" or "HULA DANCING" (you may want to have suggestions written down). If you have a theme party or want to mix it up, the King or Queen may yell out suggestions like "dance like a chicken!" or "dance like a person without a leg!"

Supplies:

CAKE
Out of the box mix: ~$3.00
Icing: ~$3.00
To decorate, mix white icing with food coloring and transfer a small amount into a sandwich bag. Cut a tiny corner off of the baggie and you've got yourself a makeshift icer. Squeeze the icing out of that hole to write detailed letters or other decorations onto the cake.

PAINT
You can purchase nontoxic, washable finger paint at any craft store for about $2.00 a bottle. Get at least three colors.