Meal Ideas for 11 Year Old’s Birthday Party on a Budget

My son’s 11th birthday is coming up and I am thinking about inviting around 15-20 people including neighbors and his friends. I usually order Happy Meals from McDonald’s but this year, I have decided to cook at home to save some money. I am thinking of ham and cheese sandwiches and pudding for dessert. Do you have any other interesting suggestions?

What does your son like to eat and what is your budget? We’ve done fun finger foods like mac and cheese bites, (make a homemade mac/cheese in a loaf pan press it down and chill. Cut into cubes, dip in egg, roll in homemade bread crumbs and deep fry, serve with various sauces), oven baked fries, hot dogs cut into thirds and wrapped in homemade biscuit dough, fruit skewers, stuff like that. Cut fruit that browns like apples can be dipped in lemon juice to keep them from discoloring. If your son likes crunchy vegetables you could have small platter of those. Most kids won’t eat them in a party setting. Homemade cake and purchased ice cream. Drinks like homemade sweet tea or Koolaid. Still cheaper than soda. Paper products add up, but Dollar Tree is usually reasonable. They often carry bamboo skewers too.

2 Likes

Hi Olivia,
Thanks for the reply. I have set aside $150 for the whole thing but I would love to get it done in around $120-130 if possible. My son, unfortunately, has really bad eating habits. He loves junk food and abhors all kinds of vegetables (I am trying to fix that). The menu you put out sounds absolutely delicious and I will seriously consider the mac and cheese bites.

Here’s a suggestion that might make your son’s Birthday Party a bit easier ( and less expensive). Pick a theme your son is into and run with that.

For example if he likes baseball, make a cake and decorate it with miniature baseball items, the tablecloth, streamers, balloons could have his favorite team’s colors. Take a look at Pinterest for ideas of you need them, they have a wealth of inexpensive creative plans. Here’s the link:

https://www.pinterest.com/ptre…ball-themed-parties/

It has food and decorations that look really good and won’t break your budget! The dollar stores are a big help.

2 Likes

Eleven year old kids eat almost everything and tend to eat inexpensive food. If you do pizza, instead of ordering at an expensive pizza shop, have them make their own with bagels or English muffins. They can put their own toppings and it will double as an activity for the party.

4 Likes

Hi D boothe, What a great interactive idea, it gives them something to do and keeps them out of mischief!

2 Likes

redcatcec posted:

Here’s a suggestion that might make your son’s Birthday Party a bit easier ( and less expensive). Pick a theme your son is into and run with that.

For example if he likes baseball, make a cake and decorate it with miniature baseball items, the tablecloth, streamers, balloons could have his favorite team’s colors. Take a look at Pinterest for ideas of you need them, they have a wealth of inexpensive creative plans. Here’s the link:

https://www.pinterest.com/ptre…ball-themed-parties/

It has food and decorations that look really good and won’t break your budget! The dollar stores are a big help.

Interesting idea. My son is into superheroes so a Marvel theme will make his day. Maybe a Thor-style birthday cake is in order. Checking the link to see if I can get some inspiration.

dboothe posted:

Eleven year old kids eat almost everything and tend to eat inexpensive food. If you do pizza, instead of ordering at an expensive pizza shop, have them make their own with bagels or English muffins. They can put their own toppings and it will double as an activity for the party.

Kids’ putting their own topping as an activity is genius. If I know my son well, he will absolutely love this.

1 Like