How much do you spend on kids birthday parties? We have three three weekends in a row (it’s a small close class and they’re all good friends of my kid who is in pre-k). If it came out $50 a kid for the parents to pay, should I expect to pay 50-70 per birthday?

We generally stick to $20-$30 for my son’s pre-k classmates. We only go higher for close friends.

It doesn’t matter how much the parents paid. I usually get a $10 gift for pre school age kids.

I give a 40 gc but I live in the Bay Area. I say 25-40 is good.

I usually do $15-30. Kids already have so many toys and you can get some cool fun kid toys for cheap. Why drop dime just to do it?

If it's a family member or close friend that I want to splurge on, I'll buy an experience like a membership.

$20-$40

It’s not a wedding .. give what you can afford

Agreed, I do under $35 for not close friends, $50+ for close friends. If I can, I try to get something that the kids won’t throw away next week.

I spend $10-20 max for birthday gifts. A drop more for close friends if their kid is into something specific. I’ve never heard of giving a gift that equates to what the parent spent — that’s the norm for weddings, not kids birthday parties.
The kids truly don’t care how much you spent on the gift. A small LEGO set, an extra cute stuffed animal, a game of spot it or monopoly junior — they’re all under $20 and the kid is thrilled

the cost of the party shouldn't determine the size of the gift. Are you trying to make a kid happy or help the parents find the party? Both are perfectly fine, but suppose the parents didn't pay for the party how much would you spend on the gift in that case?

One thing I always did when my kiddo was Pre-K, was when I RSVPd I would ask the parent(s) for a list of acceptable toys, and also what the child needed (with sizes) and then if it wasn't a family friend id stay away from buying what the child needed and get something from the acceptable toys that was the most likely a one time use thing or something that would grow with them, like a "build your own." But never money or a gift card because that gives the parent total control on what they really get to spend it on and that's no fun.

Plus take into account these first birthdays set the stage for every birthday after that, and if they're going to possibly grow up together there's many many birthdays to come.
elementary age is either educational gifts, books, puzzles, arts and crafts, or a homemade gift baskets with some candy, a movie ticket, fun little trinkets and things.

middle school is when I started monetary gifting and I'd just gift the dollar amount of their age. Especially if it's a group of friends, because they'll all get the same amount depending on age so there's no claims of picking favorites. They know what to expect every year and it's all good.

And high school is gift cards only if my child brings it up or I offer to take them somewhere to spend the day and I cover everything.

Thank you guys!! Obviously completely clueless here and was getting stressed with the number of parties 😅

$20-25 for classmates. Also, we just hosted a class party for my 8 year old and that seemed to be about the average all around.

$20-$25 for day care birthdays. Range goes up to but doesn’t exceed $30 for classmates in early elementary. More for close friends / family friends but there are so many parties where the entire class is invited when they’re younger. Once we got a $40 gift card from a classmate and I remember feeling uncomfortable. Please don’t do this.