The '$18 Kmart Challenge' is the latest kids' birthday trend to go viral

"One of the cheapest birthday parties we've done so far," one mum said of the scavenger-hunt game that saw her daughter follow clues to buy everything from hair accessories and perfume to clothes and snacks.

When your child’s birthday is coming up, they’ll always send you a list of a million ideas about the theme they want. 

Whether it’s a disco theme, a day-spa style soiree or the classic pyjama party, they’re usually exploding with plans (which will inevitably change 1000 times before the big day).

The stress of party planning aside, we all know kids’ birthday parties don’t come cheap either.

That’s why one savvy mum has shared an idea for a ‘Kmart Challenge’ that’s set to put an end to traditional parties and turn to the popular bargain store instead.

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Image: Facebook

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Clues, a strict budget and a time limit: How the Kmart challenge works

The idea sees your child and their friends go on a ‘scavenger hunt’ style adventure around Kmart, armed with a set amount of money and a bunch of clues to find specific items. 

Not only is a shopping spree every kid’s dream (especially tweens), but parents are also raving about it for being “the cheapest party” ever.

And there’s even the added bonus of teaching the little ones the value of money and budgeting!

The idea has been around for a while but has had a resurgence in popularity in the last few months in Facebook groups, perhaps due to the cost of living crisis. 

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Something to eat, something to wear...

This week, mum Sophie, took to the Kmart Hacks and Decor NZ Facebook page and wrote: “Hey, has anyone done the $20 Kmart Challenge for their kid's birthdays etc? Doing one for my daughter's birthday soon but turns out my son wants to do one as well. Just wondering what questions, you did for your kids, Cheers.”

She then shared a photo of a birthday invitation that she was taking inspiration from. 

“You only have $20 and not a cent more,” it began, but note that converting this to AUD means it’s about $18 bucks. 

“Don’t spend it all? The change becomes the property of the birthday girl.

“You must stay together at all times! There is plenty of time to shop and have fun, be creative.”

The invite then details the “challenge” aka the clues. 

“YOU MUST BUY THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

1. Something to eat and share together
2. Something to wear
3. A beauty product
4. An item for school
5. Something glittery or shiny”

“Before you head to the checkout, make sure you’ve spent as close to $20 as possible, you can not go over. You can not share money.”

“Everything you buy goes home with you.”

“Happy shopping and have fun!”

Group members shared the invitations they made. Image: Facebook

"Asking for a friend: is there an adult version?"

The post racked up nearly 700 likes and over 200 comments and left fellow Kmart fans in awe. 

“Great idea that’ll teach them something along with them having fun, nice thinking!” exclaimed one fan.

Another wrote, “I saw some kids doing this on the weekend and they looked like they were having a fantastic time.”

A third said: “I love this idea.”

Then many helped the mum out and shared their own spin on the game.

One mum suggested: “We looked at doing things like:

- pick a game you can play (many are $6 and under)

- pick something for the birthday boy that he can put in his keepsake box

- pick an animal toy to donate to the local animal charity

- pick a book to take home (good instead of party bags)

- find something that's a certain colour

- find a colouring book and something to colour in with.”

Then another said: “I did this with my nephews and niece, kept it fairly simple and open to creativity: something to eat, something to wear, something to read and something fun. They had a time limit too.”

And another added: “Find something with wheels

- Find something that makes a noise

- Find something that glows in the dark

- Find something with a dinosaur

- Find something you can squish.”

Someone also mentioned that you could also do it as a school holiday activity. 

And naturally, lots of people had this question: “Can we do this as adults?!!”

“I want to do this with my besties,” said someone else.

“Asking for a friend: is there an adult version of this?” joked another. 

More ideas. Image: Facebook

"$20 won't get you very far with tweens"

Not everyone was a fan of the idea, with some pointing out that that amount of money wouldn’t get you very far in this day and age.

“Such a cool idea but I feel with the prices going up it would be really hard to get everything on that list for $20 or less,” mentioned one.

“We did this for tweens but quickly realised that we needed to up the budget in order to make it work,” wrote another. 

Originally published as The '$18 Kmart Challenge' is the latest kids' birthday trend to go viral