1 Year Old Birthday Party

I had a face painter and a bounce house. Only 2 kids used the bounce house but almost everyone got their face painted. Even the adults. It was the hit of the party. My daughter got hers painted and I thought she wouldn't sit still long enough being only 1, but she did great. If your interested their web address is dallasfacepainters.com. Good luck

Dear E.,
I know how exciting it is to be celebrating your baby's first birthday.
I have found that most of your plans and preparations will go right over your 1 year olds' head and that's OK. It is his birthday! I suggest making a game of opening the presents, letting the older children take turns helping and showing him how. He won't care if they open them for him. He probably just wants to play with the wrapping paper! Spread out the gift opening in some fun way involving the older children and maybe the grandparents. This helps keep the children from getting bored and also gives your baby the opportunity to play with his new toys before he has to open another. I have actually seen little ones cry because Mommy took the new toy and shoved another package in front of him!! Then Mommy cries when she realizes what she has done!!
If you can have the party in your backyard the children can run and play as they please. Young children aren't too interested in organized activities. If you have to stay indoors offer new puzzles or such for each child and have toys available. Party bags with favors or much in use now, but don;t load your little guests down with a bagful of ticky-tacky junk! The new puzzle (above) should be given as party starts. Or new coloring books, if you are very brave.
Keep it simple so you, your husband and son can enjoy the party!
D.

My daughter was born May 31st the weekend AFTER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND! All our family lives out of town and they always have plans the weekend before...so we did her first birthday at the lake where they live. I just ordered birtday supplies from Celebrate Express (birthday in a box) and everyone was able to enjoy the day at the lake.

This year I am doing something different...we are doing a Gymboree Birthday Party. It is costly but considering what we were going to do in our home it is about the same. As a member $250 for non members $275. They provide and hour and a half of play and an instructor to make the day fun. They provide decorations, tshirt for the birthday child, plates/napkins/forks, invites for 20 kids and bags for goodies. If you want them to fill the bags it is extra. You can choose from several themes...we are doing Princess.

Happy Birtday!

How fun!! For me I did it age appropriate. It was DD's birthday, not the other kids. And she was only gonna be 1. We blew up literally 50 balloons and had them all over the living area...then hung up some too. The balloons had long strings to play with. It was a huge hit! The older kids (which at the time were 7 and under) really liked it. A 2 hour birthday party goes by quick! We ordered 5 pizzas from a local place. So we had pizza and veggies with dip. Then when everyone seemed pretty much done. We did the pinata. Super cute seeing DD trying to hit it! :) We started from youngest to oldest. And I packed it TOO good. Then DH had to break it open. It was fun for everyone to watch and grab all the candy and toys. We hung outside for a little bit. Then we went inside and sang happy birthday and had cake. Then opened presents. The older kids played with her and her toys as she opened them. So it took a little while to open. It all worked out pretty well. Our theme for her was 1st Year Butterfly and Flowers theme from birthdayexpress.com! We still get go to them for birthday stuff! And they have some ideas too there. It was a super fun day! So make it a fun day for your son!

I kept my daughter's first b-day very simple. We had a BBQ for the adults. We invited family and only 1 or 2 really close friends. My DD pretty much slept through a good portion of the whole thing and I think I ended up waking her up for presents and cake. I think the key is to definitely celebrate the fact that all of you have made it through the first year and to have fun. Just try to keep in mind that little ones get really overstimulated and overwhelmed and can then turn into cranky birthday boys and girls. if you are interested in a birthday cake please take a look at my website. www.freewebs.com/sweettemptationbakery Congrats on your little one's upcoming first birthday!!

Too many one year old in a party scene is not great!! I would only invite 1 or 2 little ones for pics, and for memory photo's. It will be much more fun with friends when the child is older. Many parents just have a simple cake with the three of them (mon, dad and little one) and take pics. They will not remember this birthday, so images on video or pictures of the baby grabbing handfulls of cake is adorable. Make it simple, and save your stress for more important things. Good Luck!!

We're in the same boat with our son's first birthday party coming at the end of May. Everyone says to keep it simple, and I vow to, but I want fun things for the kiddos to do. I'm putting out a sand box, shallow rubbermaid bins with bubbles (the best bubble concoction is 1 gallon bubbles plus 1 cup of Dawn dish soap), and a kiddy pool with some ball pit balls in it. We're grilling out hot dogs and I'm serving some mini cupcakes to the kids. As for favors, I get tired of party favors that just have "junk" so I'm making cookies to send home with the kids in a little sandwich bag with ribbon attached. A suggestion someone made, too, was an electric plugin bubble machine (I think you get them on line for about $30). Might not be a bad idea to turn one of the rooms in your house into a makeshift playroom with a lot of toys for kids that want to stay inside.

Good luck!