When it comes time to plan your child's birthday party, you are probably already being given all of the birthday party ideas you can handle—from your child! Kids are never scared of sharing their ideas, especially when it comes to their birthday parties—and how they want their birthday party to measure up to the parties of their peers. Of course, not all of the grandiose ideas supplied by your child can be carried out the exact way your son or daughter wants. A full sized circus in a small backyard, for example, might be a tad bit hard to accomplish.

Of course, if you get creative, there are ways to keep your son or daughter happy and provide him or her with a birthday party that will have them the talk of the school yard. Here are a few birthday party ideas that won't cost you a few months worth of salary but still add fun and festiveness to your child's birthday party.

• 1. Let your son or daughter choose the theme of his or her own birthday party and then run with it—no matter how outrageous it may seem. With some creativity even "let's go to outer space!" can happen in someone's back yard or living room.
• 2. Work with your son our daughter to plan the food and then find a way to make the food fit the theme of the party. Let's say your daughter wants an outer space theme for her party but also wants the main food to be pizza. Opt for calzone (basically a piece of pizza that is folded to have the crust on the outside). The crust of the calzone can be the surface of the distant planet Molzac and the inside can represent the various creatures and elements of the planet itself.
• 3. Whenever possible, keep the food at a young child's birthday party to food that can be eaten with your hands. The less potential weaponry around (and remember how creative children can be), the calmer your nerves will be.
• 4. Use every day household materials to do as much of the decorating as possible. Line the room in which most of the party will take place with tin foil and call it the space probe—it is the device in which the kids will ride safely as they travel through the universe. Then use various other areas of your home as different planets.
• 5. When planning games (you want as much structured activity as possible) work the theme into every game. Even a simple relay race can be worked to fit the theme of the game. Using our outer space theme as an example, the kids can do a relay race wherein they transfer "moon rocks" (hard boiled eggs painted gray and black) on spoons. Pin the antennae on the space alien is another game that can be made to fit the theme.

These are just five hints to help you develop your own birthday party ideas. With some creativity and research you can come up with plenty more on your own!