Birthday for 3 Year Old

I think that is great! I am a Financial Advisor and am constantly advising parents and grandparents to get on the college funding bandwagon! I would just say "(Daughter) has more material things than needed. No gifts are necessary, but donations to her college fund are appreciated."--OR something like that. I hope that you have the college fund set up in a 529 plan. That is the best way to go. Tax Free growth for college!
Great work on the planning. I hope you get a positive response. More parents should think like you!!!!

LEt them know the situation. When people ask what she wants, tell them that she has plenty of toys and clothes. Maybe ask for clothes in bigger sizes (so you won't have to buy them later) or savings bonds. The only problem with the bonds is that they will need her ssn, which might be a bad idea for friends. But if they know your family, I think they will be receptive to the money for college. YOu might also think about donating some of her toys, so she can have brand new toys.

Usually I have a lot of family ask for suggestions, and you could just say something small, or a donation as mentioned. The more realistic thing would be to go in her room & pack up a lot of what she doesn't need or play with much (when she isn't around of course) and donate that, making room for the new stuff. My son doesn't even notice stuff is gone, he has so much overflow.

But it's her party & she's at the age where she knows about birthday presents. People don't have to buy in excess, but you would hate to spoil her fun.

Call me old-fashioned, but I just don't think you can request that friends give money to a preschooler in lieu of presents. What I DO think would be a wonderful idea is to ask them to donate food, gifts, whatever to be taken to a women's shelter or homeless shelter or disadvantaged preschool, etc. in lieu of presents to your daughter. Having just had a birthday party for a three-year-old, it might be very difficult to have her open presents and then give them up though...

As for where to have a party, go to a park! Kids love it and it's FREE!!

let's face it, it can be alot of fun to buy a 3 yr old gifts...don't know that you can get around that part, but you could put a note at the bottom of the invitations: "gift idea: small amt. for college fund"

I would suggest that Daddy start the college fund instead of buying all thru the year, and letting your friends and family bring gifts. If there are too many hand-me-downs, consider giving some to charities, a church, or Goodwill. ..write that off ar tax time and put that money into a college fund. You could ask close family for college fund gifts, but I don't think it would go over well with friends and parents of young children that want to Pick out a gift to bring.

In m personal experience, you simply can't win that battle to tell people not to bring gifts. Somebody is ALWAYS going to bring something. I think the best bet is to do a massive cleanout of clothes and toys prior to her birthday and donate, donate, donate, or sell to a second-hand store like Kid to Kid.

My daughters' birthdays are less than two weeks apart (though one is two years older!), so when they were younger, we had one birthday party for them together. WE invited EVERYONE -- school friends, the Girl Scout troups, the neighbors, the soccer teams, etc. The invitations stated, "In lieu of birthday presents, please bring items to be donated to the Keller Community Storehouse." We did two like this -- one at our neighborhood pool/park and another at a local roller skating rink (which was SO fun -- even the adults skated and had a blast!). We got carfuls of donations -- which my kids then donated to those less fortunate, which was a good lesson for them -- and eliminated the problem of too much stuff. These parties were also the easiest to plan -- chips, dips, veggie tray, juice boxes, and a cake from Sweet Memories and I was done!

hi there! i completely understand about not needing any toys, clothes, etc, but requesting money or any other specific gift idea would be sooooooo tacky!!! wouldn't do that if i were you...more than likely people would definitely be 'turned off' by the idea.

Dear S.,

Try having your child's birthday at one of the parks in Keller. Bear Creek is one of the prettiest I have seen. Here is a link to their park website:
http://www.kellerparksandrec.org/parks.htm
There are pavilions you can rent next to playgrounds for only $25.00. If you would like to reserve a pavilion don't wait until the last minute. These things book up in advance.

Take some simple foods to the park for everyone to enjoy - maybe cook out hot dogs and have chips, cake, and punch. Let the kids play on the playground then organize a few kid games for the party - nothing fancy. Birthdays can get very pricey. Save your money for when she is old enough (4 and over) for when she will start remembering her birthday parties.

In terms of asking for money instead of gifts for the birthday, this might be a little sticky. It is easier to tell close friends and relatives not to bring a gift and instead contribute to the college fund. You may wish to ask everyone else to bring something small - like instead of gifts bring a small bag of candy to help stuff a pinata for example. Or, bring something the children can play with like a game. Or, just tell them not to bring gifts at all. My experience is that whenever you tell people NOT to bring gifts someone will still bring a gift anyway. It makes it awkward for those that followed the rules and did not bring a gift.

I am not familiar with the Keller area so I could not help you with a location, however I think that what you could do as far as gifts is write a little note saying something to the effect of "Sarah (add her name of course) is so lucky to have everything she needs or wants so we are asking that in lieu of toys or clothing you give a savings bond towards her college education", you could even just say "No gifts are necessary but if you would like to get her something a savings bond towards her college education would be appreciated but not necessary." Maybe you could even ask people to donate to a children's charity in her name or donate the toy they would have bought to Cook Children's Hospital. HTH and Happy Birthday to your little girl!

You can probably do that with family but not with any friends that come. I know I would feel comfortable saying that to my side of the family but I would feel weird about saying that to my husband's side. You might soften it and instead of saying money, suggest savings bonds. That way you aren't asking for actual cash.

My kids get lots of presents that they don't need. I just take them back. Most people provide gift receipts so just take the presents back to get something your daughter actually does need.

If I were you, I would only ask family to make a college fund donation. I would ask friends not to bring gifts. And don't be surprised if neither do as you ask...

Have you considered Bear Creek Park? Keller has so many great parks. The one on Keller-Smithfield road just South of Keller Parkway has a gazebo, great playgounds and lots of trees for shade. I've seen people even set up a bounce house there! It's super nice. Hope that helps.

HI, S., I had to do an inexpensive birthday party for my little girl this year too, she turned 4. We had it last weekend at the park behind Harvest Church on Denton hwy 377. It was soooo great! No one was using the pavillion so we did the party in there. I did call the city the day before to make sure it wasn't reserved, bc it does cost to rent it. but I got out of that! hah Anyway, I set up a bubbles station, a sidewalke chalk station (which we washed off with water when we left), we flyed kites, and I brought bread for everyone to feed the ducks. We went to Little Ceasars and bought $5 pizzas for everyone and did cake. Oh yeah, we did a pinata too! We had 45 people there, and everyone had a blast! After the party was over I handed out party favors, then everyone went and played at the park. It was sooo great! And the pics turned out great too bc the pond was in the background!

As far as the gifts part, I know for me that would be weird to not get a child a gift and give money for their college fund. The big part of a party is opening gifts and getting new toys! Is there anyway you can go through her toys and get rid of what she doesn't play with? Does this when she is not around, its much easier! With her turning 3, she is not going to understand getting money from people for a college fund. This is just my opinion. My little girl has alot of toys too, so I downsized and got rid of some of her old ones to make room for the new ones. She's in heaven with all her new toys and doens't have anything to do with the old.

I think asking for money for the college fund would be ok with grandparents, but not with friends. This could be the perfect opportunity to teach your child about giving to others less fortunate. You could donate her used toys and clothes to make room for the new, or have everyone bring a new gift to donate. Or, my friend had everyone bring a gift to exchange, so each child went home with one gift, and her son got one gift (friend party was separate from family party, so family could all still give gifts). The ages ranged from 1-8 yrs, and it worked out really well.