Cheap birthday party ideas. Anyone?

My PC's best friend E always has parties that seem to be a big hit with their crowd. She usually invites a mix of boys and girls, so the activities are neither too rough nor too girly. Here are a few examples of things they did:

Last summer's party:
They went to the beach and played picnic games: three-legged race, potato sack race, egg-and-spoon race, cartwheel contest, taking silly pictures of each other to e-mail out after the party.
Afterward, they all went to E's house for cake and crafts. The loot bags were made of felt and included markers, stickers, stencils and whatnot that they all used to customize and decorate the bags. The boys loved it.

This summer's party:
A round of mini-putt at the local driving range. Then back to E's house for cake and a water-balloon fight in the back yard.

Both parties were very simple and inexpensive (craft supplies etc. from the dollar store, and from things lying around E's parents' house), but they were a big hit and the children talked about them for weeks afterward.

Source: http://www.conductdisorders.com/forum/f10/cheap-birthday-party-ideas-anyone-50471/

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