Penny Pinchers' Party


What is Penny Pinchers' Party?

This is an event from ALA as part of Thinking Money for Kids. Kids get to plan a party with a budget of $100. They take turns to choose items from a party warehouse. 

Event description provided by ALA:

Ever dreamed of throwing the ultimate bash? Now’s your chance! Kids become party planners with a budget to create the most epic celebration. Choose decorations, snacks, and surprises from our party warehouse, then pitch your plan to your group. Will your party be the most fun, creative, and budget-friendly? Let’s find out—there might even be a Party Champion crowned at the end!

Kids will need to use their addition and subtraction skills to stay within budget and make smart party planning choices!


Advanced Planning

I stuck to the regular plan for this event. I did purchase individual bags of chips as a prize for them if they didn't go over budget. We had a few matching tablecloths we used last year that I snagged. I also made paper party hats with ribbon as the string.


Set Up


This is the front table that had items the kids could go and grab whenever they wanted. I put the party plan board on clipboards, so the kids didn't need a table to write on. There was upbeat music playing in the background too.




This is the party planning table that had the paper money and party items they could purchase. I had multiple copies of the items because I wanted each kid to have their own to look at when it was their team's turn. I only realized afterwards that I did not need any 1s or 5s since every item costs a multiple of 10 on the given sheet.




I had 8 kids sign up for this event. I set up some chairs in small groups so they could also practice working together. 


Takeaways
Even though 8 people signed up, only 2 kids showed up. However, they got a lot out of it! They practiced counting money, and we talked about real-world examples of budgets on top of the party planning. Together, they planned 3 birthday parties for different people, including a dog. They seemed to have a lot of fun. One of the parents told me that they would love to do this event again and anything else related to financial literacy. 

This event was practically free. Everything I needed was able to be printed out, and I added the tablecloths, hats, and chips on top of it. If you have party decorations lying around and a few snacks or candy, I would highly recommend doing this event. I plan on doing it again next year, but I will workshop a different name and description to see if I can make it clearer what's happening in the program. Most of my events are an hour long but this one did not need to be. I'm going to consider having it be 45 minutes next time. I want to make my own party item wearhouse where the cost of items in a bit more realistic and diverse in their pricing. 



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