'Fiver' Parties Are the Newest Children’s Birthday Trend that Parents Love

There’s a certain point in parenting when your weekends are consumed by birthday parties. These parties aren’t fabulous dinner soirees with interesting adult conversation – no, these parties are much different. They are your kid’s friends’ and classmates’ birthday parties and they consist of too much sugar, pizza and goodie bags you would rather ditch before the contents spill in your car.

If you are attending, you are burdened with figuring out what an age-appropriate gift is for the birthday boy or girl, and if you are hosting you have to figure out where you are going to stash that huge pile of toys your kid will receive.

Enter the ‘Fiver Party,’ the possible solution to both problems.

When it comes time for gifts, parents who are hosting a ‘Fiver Party’ ask guests to simply bring a $5 gift card instead of a toy. When the party is over, the birthday boy or girl can take the money and buy one large gift of their choosing. So the child gets a gift that they really want and their parents don’t have to deal with a bundle of toys that will just clutter their house.

‘Fiver Parties’ also help guests save money because there is no need to grab a $15 or $20 present plus a gift bag or wrapping paper — just put $5 on a card and call it a day.

Honestly, this is genius and we want to lay the groundwork now for our kids to go with the ‘Fiver’ option during their next birthday party. Not sure how this conversation will go, but it’s worth a shot.

While this party trend is catching on fast, some parents don’t love the idea. After all, gift giving should be from the heart and kids really do enjoy choosing a gift for their friends and honestly, when you're a kid, is there anything more exciting than seeing a huge pile of gifts at your party and knowing that they are all yours? Even if your kid tears through all of the presents in just a few minutes, it’s exciting for them to have that part of their birthday celebration.

However, with parents trying to cut down on clutter in their homes and everyone looking to save some money, I suspect the ‘Fiver Party’ trend is going to stay popular on the kid’s party circuit.