3 Year Old Birthday Party ideas(Inexpensive)

Depending on which side of town you are on, the Warren Community Center has a pool and they have many parties there.

There is also Castaway Cafe in Howell and here is a link to their website: http://castawayplay.com/?=
If you have never heard of this place, it is awesome ~ a two-story play structure for kids (and adults) to burn off a lot of energy. They have big comfy chairs right near the playstructure so you can watch the kids. They have enclosed rooms for parties. Their food is reasonably priced and healthy and very good tasting. Their security is unbelievable and they mark everyone's hands with the black light ink, so no one can get out without the correct parent.

Garden City has their Community Center off of Merriman Road and from I have heard, they offer a pretty good package for birthdays.

You might want to find out if someone in the family is a Member of the Knights of Columbus or another organization because you can rent their hall. I know that the VFW Hall on Joy Road and Middlebelt will allow you to bring in your own food (had my wedding reception there) and they also have many numbers to different caterers. Than you can go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of inexpensive games and goodies for the kids to play with. You can also purchase a couple of decks of cards for ALL the adults.

Good Luck and remember at the age of 3 your daughter won't remember this, so you are really having the party for the adults.

If all of Hubby's family wants to be invited maybe you can have all of them bring a dish to pass...

A friend in CA is doing this amazing party for her daughter's 4th b-day that I totally plan to use when my daughter gets a little older. She arranged for a tour of the fire station and then is having cupcakes at a nearby park. That way it's inexpensive (almost free except the cupcakes and the goodie bags) and it's totally fun for boys and girls. She invited the kids and their siblings and asked the parents to join them. Hope this helps!

My son will be 3 on Nov. 2nd, so I kinda know what you're going through. What I've done for my son's past birthday parties is this: invited my parents, brother (and his gf), my grandmother (because she used to live with us to babysit and now lives with my parents) and my cousin Misty and her kids (because she usually makes the cake) then I invite my husband's parents, grandparents, sister and brother in law and his cousin's family. Then, I invite one or two of our friends because they are pretty close and they're like surrogate aunts and uncles to my son. I have no more than 25 people because my apartment is pretty small. I have other family members on my side (my aunts) that get ticked because I didn't invite them, and I just shrug them off because they're not good relatives if you know what I mean. As for invitations and stuff, here's a website where you can create your own and print them out for FREE! http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/birthday/invitations.html Good luck!

And as for renting a hall, if you live in Ann Arbor, Glencoe Hills rents out something near their leasing office. mckinley.com