A Fun, Inexpensive Birthday Party Idea for Your Middle School Child

Birthday cakes are expensive if you purchase one from a bakery. Bakery cakes are pretty and they can be fancy, but they aren't necessary. Sometimes bakery cakes taste great, but sometimes you spend a good deal of money on a fancy cake that looks great, but it doesn't taste good. The kids might eat a bite or two, but they throw most of it in the trash. Middle school kids might like the looks of a bakery cake but they mostly care about the taste. I am not a great cook so I have purchased many birthday cakes from bakeries over the years. This year, I had to plan a party on a tiny budget so I made the cake myself. I knew better than to attempt a layered cake, so I opted for a simple sheet cake. That way, I only had to ice the top of the cake. I tried to write "Happy Birthday" on top, but the icing came out too quickly and I couldn't adjust my writing speed to the flow of icing. It did not look pretty, but the kids didn't care. When I began to serve the cake, they couldn't get enough. It disappeared in record time. Unless you or your birthday child has your heart set on a fancy bakery cake, make the cake yourself. It doesn't matter if your cake looks pretty. You can keep it simple. You will save a good bit of money and the kids will love the taste.

When my children were growing up, we fell into the habit of renting out places for parties. We have rented time and space at skating rinks, restaurants, entertainment venues like those with a huge room full of gigantic blow up balloons, go-cart racing tracks, and bowling alleys. All of those places were a lot of fun and my kids made lots of lifelong memories with their friends, but you don't need to do that every year. Save those experiences for milestone birthday years, but for all the other years, host the party in your own home. Middle school kids love food, games and movies and they are pretty good at entertaining themselves. Serve them food, provide a few game choices, and then allow them lounge all over your living room while they enjoy a good, family film. This year, we hosted my daughter's 14th birthday party at home. We saved a lot of money and the kids had a great time.

Last year, we borrowed a film projector from a relative and showed a family film on the back of our house while the kids bundled up in blankets around a two bond fires. We also set the system up so that we could stream shows from Netflix. After the movie, the kids watched Sponge Bob cartoons while they roasted marshmallows. My older daughter and her friends loved the experience so much that they begged to do it more often throughout the year. The problem is the expense of the projectors. The least expensive good quality projectors costs about $1200.00 and the average rental is about $800.00 for a few hours. When my youngest daughter wanted to do this with her friends, I hesitated to ask to borrow one again because I didn't want to take advantage of my family member who had loaned his the year before. I had to come up with another plan. However, if you know someone who owns a projector and doesn't mind you borrowing it, this is an inexpensive, fun way to entertain a group of teenagers.

My youngest daughter didn't mind having her party at home, but she wanted to do something special with her friends. She wanted to do the outdoor movie this year, like her sister the year before, but I knew we couldn't afford it and I didn't want to borrow one again. We decided on a scavenger hunt.

The day before the party, I made a trip to the mall and made a few quick photographs of some "checkpoints." I went the day before the party to ensure the checkpoints would still be there at the time of the scavenger hunt. If I had gone too early, mall personnel may have changed things around or moved things entirely, making my chosen checkpoints invalid. I made sure all my checkpoints were inside the center of the mall so that the kids would not need to enter any retail stores. Then, I went home and typed up the instructions. I began with a list of strict guidelines. I would be taking a good sized group of middle school kids and I wanted them to be well behaved. Then, I listed ten checkpoints. Some of the listed checkpoints consisted of the actual image while others consisted of a riddle. Before leaving for the mall, I gathered the kids together in my livingrooom and went over the guidelines with them. I made sure they understood the guidelines and they all agreed to follow them strictly so that everyone would have a great time. Then, with the help of my mother, my oldest daughter and my niece, we loaded up the kids and went to the mall. We began at the mall water fountain for a group photo. Then, the kids left in two groups chaperoned by my oldest daughter and my niece. I gave them one hour to find the checkpoints, take a quick photo of the checkpoint with a cell phone camera or an iPod, and then report back to me with the photos.

The kids enjoyed the scavenger hunt. They said it was one of the most enjoyable things they have ever done and it didn't cost me a dime.

Both groups were awarded a small bag of inexpensive candies, but the winning group members received and extra little bag of M&Ms. They all enjoyed their prizes and the winning group prize was enough to satisfy a win, but small enough so that the second place group didn't feel as if they were loosing anything. They all ended up sharing and trading candies anyway so they were all happy. I was delighted that they all had a great time making good memories with my daughter and my only expense was the candy.

Hint: It wasn't necessary in my particular case, but you might want to consider clearing your mall scavenger hunt with mall security ahead of time.

After the scavenger hunt, we came back home to enjoy birthday cake and pizza.

While I was busy at the mall with 13 middle school kids, I had my husband stop by Dominoes on the way home from work. He had several boxes of pizza waiting on us. We used several coupons so that we only had to pay for half the pizza purchased which saved us money. If you don't have coupons and you don't want to purchase food, make it yourself. You can make homemade pizza earlier in the day. Middle School kids like pizza served hot or cold so you can refrigerate your homemade pizza until you need it later. You can warm it up or serve it cold. If some kids prefer it warm, you can place a few slices in the microwave. Casseroles can be made a few days in advance. Bake a casserole in a dish that can go from the freezer to the oven. On the day of the party, take the casserole from the freezer. It is already made so all you have to do is heat if up. If you have a crock pot, you can put it to good use on party day. Go online to find crock pot recipes. Choose one to suit your group of middle school kids. You can prepare your party food in the crock pot all day if needed. Then, when it is time to serve, it's already done. Home cooked food is a great inexpensive way to feed a group of teenagers and it is healthier too.

When I was growing up, all my birthday parties - every year - consisted of good friends, cake, icecream, and old fashioned play time. I never once felt like I missed out on a great party. I'm not sure how or when we fell into the routine of thinking we have to host a big fancy party every year complete with professionally baked cakes, rented venues and expensive entertainment. All those things are nice but they are not necessary for providing your child with great lifelong birthday memories. When children become adults, they might look back on all the "bells and whistle" of great birthday parties with fond memories, but they will realize that what really made those times special were the people who were there.

You don't need all the "bells and whistles" to provide your child with a great birthday party. Simply provide them with the opportunity to have their friends in your home, serve them a birthday cake made by mom, and allow them to be kids and entertain themselves.

These days you can stream movies from Netflix through a Wii or Playstation Entertainment System. All you need to do is make sure they are watching appropriate material. If you don't have Netflix services or entertainment systems, just let them watch good old fashioned quality television. Better yet, send them outside. Let them play a game of Tag or Flag Football. Set up a Volley Ball net or Badminton Set. Let them use their imaginations to make up their own games.

This year, after my daughter and her friends enjoyed a free scavenger hunt, a cake made by mom, pizza purchased with "buy one get one free" coupons, and watched one movie streamed from Netflix, they went outside in the dark and played Flashlight Tag.

The entire party was a success. They had a great time, made lots of great memories, and the cost was minimal.