If there’s one thing constant in kids’ birthday parties, it’s the fact that there’s always a defining trend every now and then. There’s the Disney princess trend, with Elsa and Anna being the latest craze. There’s the colour theme trend, the pastels and ombre as the most recent. Then there’s the trend of fun activities, with kids going to arcades, escape rooms, or scavenger hunts.
But perhaps the most popular today is the “fiver party” trend. It’s not so much about the theme or the motif of the celebration. It is more on teaching your child and their peers valuable life lessons. Here’s why you should throw a fiver party for your child:
It instils the value of “less is more”
A fiver party is simple. It has all the traditional details of the celebration. You can decorate with a theme, and you can set up a snack bar. You can even go online and design a cake. You let kids blow out the candles, and you give the goody bags as the guests leave. The only difference is that instead of having your child’s friends bring individual (often expensive) gifts, encourage them to bring only $5.
The idea is that your child either saves all that money or spends it for the one thing that they would love to have or experience. For instance, they want to buy their favourite doll at a toy store or visit Disneyland. It’s a sharp deviation from what has been becoming the norm in kids’ birthday parties: piles and piles of expensive gifts from the flashy, extravagant celebration. In a fiver party setup, you’re teaching kids simplicity. You’re shifting their focus from the abundance of stuff to the joy and contentment on one thing. As a result, it encourages gratefulness and prunes the little horns of self-entitlement. It also makes kids prefer simplicity early on.
It opens up money conversation
The fivers that your child gets will either be saved or spent. While the decision is up to them, it’s inevitable for them to go to you and consult. They would go: “Mom, is my money enough to buy the Barbie? Should I get the Barbie or the cute baby doll? What’s better: go to Disneyland or save it for now?”
These questions inevitably create opportunities to teach your child about money. You can tell them the benefits of delaying to buy now. You can discuss the price differences between the items they want. If the cash they have isn’t enough, you may talk to them about organizing a garage sale for the stuff they don’t use anymore. The bottom line is that you get to instil in them money management lessons that they should know early on.
It lifts a huge burden for guests
If you’ve been attending kids’ parties for a long time now, you know so well that gift shopping isn’t the most fun thing to do. You’re unsure what to give to the celebrant. You get anxious over the other parents’ more expensive presents. Sometimes, when the household budget is tight, you worry about the cost of the gift.
When you go for a fiver party, you’re taking away all these worries from your parent-guests. For the first time ever, perhaps they will finally be at ease at attending kids’ parties. This may even start a culture of fiver parties in your group, so next time, you won’t be burdened with gift giving, too. More importantly, though, your event may just give them the opportunity to teach their own kids the value of simplicity and importance of good money management. It’s a win-win situation.
Of all the celebration trends that you can jump into, a fiver party is the one worth considering. Go beyond the one-time big-time event. Teach them a valuable lesson or two as they remember their birthday.
