1St Birthday Party Ideas "Help!"

We did a small family only thing and it was really nice, because neither child got overwhelmed. For one of the birthdays we did gooey brownies. A huge hit as they are fun to squish in the fingers, especially with frosting. End with a fun bath and a nap and the baby has a great time with lots of special attention, but no overload.

It's very easy to get going and to put on a "wow" party....birthdaypartyideas.com.
There are some whacko moms out there that go way over the top but you can use their ideas and simplify, etc to come up w/ a great party!

It's a first birthday, keep is simple. It's really all about the cake (LOL). Here is a great site for ideas -- some are over the top but it will give you lots of ideas.
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/

I've been thinking about that too. I was kind of thinking of going with some kind of animal theme. Maybe zoo animals or farm animals. They make really cute animal shaped plates now. And it would be easy to find favors like board books about animals or animal crackers for the older guests. It seems like it would be a theme that would leave lots of room for creativity on your part but also give you a starting point.

For both of my daughters I kept it simple. I went with a non specific theme (no Elmo or Dora), just brightly colored flowers. I did just cake and ice cream (made the cake myself...a one year old doesn't care if the cake isn't fancy). If you are inviting other small children, keep any games simple...I did musical balloons last time (like musical chairs but use balloons). I just suggest not over doing it, it will only stress you out and your 1 year doesn't really care.

Hi,
The railroad parks are great. McCormick stillman in Scottsdale or Desert Breeze in Chandler. There is also a great park in Gilbert, Freestone. Good luck and have fun

We did ladybugs for our girls first birthday. A few red and black balloons and red plates. Easy Easy Easy.

Who says we have to have a theme? Especially at one. If you are creative go for it. Balloons and a cake with one candle is just as festive as a "Dora" or "princess" party. Besides, who will remember what the theme was 10 years from now. We'll just have the cute photos of our kids with all the cake on their face. Don't sweat it, just have fun.

Hi J. S.

A while back, one of the moms on a live chat where I was the "speaker" asked a similar question so I put a page on my web site that includes ideas for a one-year old teddy bear birthday party. You can find it at: http://www.winmarkcom.com/birthdayparties.htm If that doesn't suit your needs, get back to me, I've got plenty of other ideas. These are ideas that are not expensive and are easy to do.

A little about me: K., mother of 3 grown children, grandmother of 7, author/illustrator/publisher of books about kids and family activities, "The Mother of Family Ideas"

Hello J.,

I am a grandmother of a 8 year old boy and my Daughter is a single mom so, from help from the grandparents we had a BBQ and asked that everyone bring their own meat and we had the salads and drinks. This party is really for you and your husband. Your child will not remember this so you really don't need a theme yet. You do need a cake that your 1 yr old can tear into. Just take lots of pictures and have fun showing her off.

My favorite memory is of my daughter eating her own cake! Her face was a mess! And we took pictures and videos of her having a great time while we all laughed. Of course, you have to put her in her highchair on the patio or place drop-cloths on the floor! You can get a little personal sized cake to go along with the big one for the party-goers. I think some of the grocery store bakeries probably still do it.

Try familyfun.com It's a magazine put out by the Disney corp, but it's basically all crafts and fun for kids. They have a whole section on Birthday planning, even 1st birthdays. It covers all budgets and most of it is do it yourself.

I am not sure if this will help since my daughters birthday is in July and therefore our parties have been outside.

For her first birthday we did a Luau Girl theme. She also didn't have any characters that she liked at that time so it was perfect. Also, at this age she didn't have a lot of friends that were her age so the theme appealed to our friends kids who varied in age. For food we had the usual cookies and cake and I also used monkey food picks (the long kind) and made fruit skewers and we served pineapple burgers. For games we had a sack race, water fight, and a ballon catch game. For decorations (along with ballons), I got grass skirts for the food tables, passed out Lai's, and used some tiki plastic staues. OrientalTrading.com has a very colorful pink party theme for Luau Girl that we used. For party favors we used small beach bags and filled them with beach balls, water guns, candy, etc.

For her second birthday we had a train theme. We rented a train and with a driver it was $125 an hour. We live on a lake so the train took the kids around the lake.

Here are a few other themes from birthday parties I've been to:
- At a farm where the kids could ride and pet the animals.
- At Bounce.
- A beauty party where the parents hired a company to come in and do the kids nails and hair (very girly though)

Hope this helps!!

We didn't do a theme for our daughters first or second birthday, like you said they don't really have an interest in characters yet.
However, target, wal mart and k mart are putting out their Easter things right now. Target especially has some really pretty pastel party supplies. They even have a heart shaped cake pan in the "one spot".
Good luck!

Hi J....

To start, how many will be celebrating? You can use the internet to invite people, that saves a bunch.
Safeway will give you a small cake for free for the baby.
Costco has the best deal on sheet cakes and they are yummy.
If you search party supplies on eBay, you can get some really inexpensive things.
My adult daughter and I have put some nice parties together by using these sources.
I chose a zoo theme...got 8 cups, 8 cake plates, a Happy Birthday banner, and a cake plate for around $20.00 on ebay. You can use toy animals (plush stuffed ones) in your decor. Add a few balloons and your done.

Hope this helps,
Happy Birthday in advance to the little one!

Cath

Hi J.

Keep in mind that 1st birthdays are for two reasons mostly: 1- the grown-ups, and 2- the pictures/videos. I can stress only one word, honey: simple simple simple. Babies LOVE bright colors, so do it up in your home (or relatives) with LOTS of bright balloons and crate paper. Keep it even more simple by having it at 10 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. That way, everyone has eaten. Provide chips, dips, drinks, snacky stuff like that with paper plates, etc... Have the cake in bright colors so that your baby can make a picture perfect mess of herself. These tips will help keep price down, too. Oh, some bakeries will provide a free 9"round "baby" cake for the baby when you order a quarter sheet or larger for the birthday, so call around if you aren't doing your own cake. The Wal*Mart and Scolari's Food does in my area.

Remember-- the pictures of your daughter with her family members and friends, the cake on the face, the laughter, will be all you need to make this a perfect birthday!

Also, Have Fun, Mom! Don't stress out. Take my word for it.. it's not worth it and will cloud your memories of this incredible day for you.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes!

L.

As a mom of three, I have to say they won't remember! You just want cute pictures of her digging into the cake.

If you must remeber that you can buy solid color plates cheap and you can just get the table decorations in the "theme" you choose. For one party for the bags to send goodies home we bought plain white lunch sacks and decorated them with stickers and stamps. It was cute!

With my first we had a party with over 40 people. It was fun but not neccessary! I have read that you should keep the partys guest (other kids) for birthday's equal to the number of years the child will be.

With my second I just bought a cake that was cute at the store and just did something with my family.

The third's birthday party was with our extended family because we happened to be out of town for a family emergency. We invited one other one year old that we knew and we just bought cute balloons and a fun cake.

Parties are fun. Don't go crazy now save it for later. When they can really enjoy it. We have had pirate parties, fireman parties, airplane parties, pink poodle parties, train parties, and this year for my 3 year old we are having a tea party and my 8 year old will be having a super spy party.

Well, for my son's first birthday, i was the same way. I didn't like any of the themed party sets. Not to mention, i was also on a tight budget back then. I found a cake mold online, and actually it was a teddy bear, but i took it to a bakery where they turned it into a frog, and that was his theme. So, I know you have a daughter, so anything you find in cake molds, or just look up something cute that you like online, and go with that theme for the cake. I'd just call around to some different bakeries and see who can do it cheapest. Myne was about $50., but then i just bought green cups and plates and put googly eyes from the craft store on them. It turned out really cute, and the best part i think is the cake because it will be in all the pictures for his first cake bite!! Dress her up really cute, and princess-like. (if you like that) I can't wait to do that with my daughter, and she turns 1 February 3rd!!!

Good luck to you!!

Okay take a breather....go to Party City and they have tons of ideas. Not sure if your having it at home or plan on having it elsewhere, which can get costly and so impersonal. You can also get great ideas on line. Google First Birthday Party Ideas and you should get tons. No need to purchase the kits. Good Luck.

Hi J.,
My daughter is turning one in march so I understand what you going through. I am planning on having just a big party for the first because we have so much family and its too hard to do every year. I think we have settled on peter piper. depending on what package you choose its between 5-9 dollars a person. that includes pizza ( 1 pizza per4 people) and soda, not to mention they have the party hats and stuff.. and.. free clean up.. ( my fav) the main difference with the packages is the amount of tokens and tickets they start out with. we are doing the smallest for obvious reasons. I hope that helps.

We were in a condo, between houses when Madison turned one. I made her my "theme" We went to Peter Piper Pizza, had TONS of people there, spent about $70 on pizza and soda. I bought some plates for the cake, a cake, a couple of balloon boquets to put on the tables and pink table cloths. Finally, I took 4X6 pictures of her from the last year and put them in 4x6 frames and put them all out on the table with a big 8x10 of her one year pictures on the "cake" table. Everyone loved the idea and you could see how much she had grown in one year. It was great too because I didn't have to deal with the clean up, and some of the older kids got to play in the arcade.

I just want to add, you don't have to get a package. We didn't because there were only like 3 kids there so I just bought them a handful of tokens and then if adults were interested, then they got their own ;)

Hi J.. I'm a mom with 3 daughters, ages 13, 11, and 11. You don't have to spend a bunch of money for a great birthday party. You're really doing a 1st birthday party for yourself, her dad, her grandparents, etc. Your daughter isn't even going to remember this day, nor will she care if you made her decorations. I've almost always made my kids birthday cakes, using favorite family recipes or even a box mix. Now my kids are at an age where they choose their type of cake and they ALWAYS choose their favorite cake that I make. If you start a tradition like this, you won't be shelling out $40 plus dollars just for cake. Inviting a bunch of 1 year olds is probably a bad idea since they can't really play together at this age. Have family and friends to honor your daughter's milestone and make the decorations, buy balloons, crepe paper, and other cheaper items at a paper factory type store. What will make the party a success is having fun and being together with people you love. One more note...now that my girls are older (plus all 3 have a birthday in July)...we do the "invite as many friends as you want" parties every other year and on the off years we have a smaller, intimate party with just family and maybe one friend. It makes those big party years more special.

J.,
You have had a lot of good responses. I am agreeing with the moms that have stated not to go "OVERBOARD" on the first birthday. I have four kids. I will tell you, they don't care at one, or even two what "type" of birthday you have for them. Each of my four for their first and second birthdays I made it real simple. I have one in October, January, February, and March, we had family over. For their thirds, and up, we had a theme birthday. In October, we went to Peter Piper Pizza. And for the two in January, and February, we are having a "shared" birthday at Peter Piper Pizza with family, and when the February one gets here, he is taking two friends with his dad to the movies. That is another idea, when she gets older. Have her invite two good friends, and have a "Girls" night out to the movies and dinner.

Hope you have fun at her first birthday party. There will more to come.

For my daughter's first birthday we did a monkey theme.

I used evite for the invitations with sayings like, hey party animals, hope you can swing on by, it will be a barrel of fun, etc.

I found cute monkey decorations and plates, etc. from Oriental Trading Comp.

We had banana splits (instead of cake). That was a hit! It was really fun because everyone could make their own. We got the banana split holders from Baskin Robbins (5 cents ea.).

It was a very successful party!

We did and indoor luau for my daughter's first birthday. It is in November so the park was out. We have about 35 people for he first birthday and I only spent about $125 on decor and food. She also wore a little bikini with a hula skirt and was adorable.

I agree that first birthday parties are really for the adults and a for a few cute pictures. For my daughter we had a pot luck brunch with family only (we have a large family so that was plenty!). I chose brunch because it's cheaper to feed a bunch a people that way and I happen to love breakfast foods so...:-)

For decor we only had a few mylar balloons in solid colors. This was her first experience with mylar balloons and she had a blast! I also made a video slide show of highlights from her first year that we played on the DVD player. I did this through the Walgreen's website and it was easy and a big hit.

Does she have a nickname? If so, you might work that into the theme too.

Here's a fun site that has lots of theme ideas, then if you click the links it gives invitation and decoration ideas as well as several activity ideas--most of them look pretty cheap and easy. I would think that many of them would be easy to modify to fit about any budget.

http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/party_bigbirthdaylist.htm

Here are some I thought were most applicable to "a girl's 1st birthday" but wanted to give you the whole list incase something else there sounded better or gave you another idea:

baby's 1st birthday (music)
lady bug
flower garden
mother goose
colors
ocean party
tea party
animals (jungle/safari/farm/zoo)

Good luck!

IMHO a first birthday party is for the parents to celebrate that you've made it through the first year and to thank your friends for being there for you (and to celebrate that it's all going to get easier). So, 3 things are needed -- balloons and a cake for photo opportunities, and a case of red wine for everyone else.

Just remember that your daughter is only one year old and the reason that she has not found any "characters" that interest her is that she doesn't care.

We just celebrated our daughters first birthday in November and after listening to other mom's complain about how much time and money went into their children’s first birthday's I am glad that we decided to make it a small family celebration.

If you want a big celebration choose something that will be meaningful to you and your husband since it is a really a party for you anyway. Your daughter won't remember her first birthday theme or party and right now all she wants is to hang out with the two of you anyway...mom and dad and family and friends are theme enough for her!

Good luck!

We had a Polka Dot Picnic for my daughter's first birthday. We did it in a park that only had one ramada and one playground to keep the feeling intimate. I bought light pink and white polka dot balloons and napkins online and used the dollar pack of pink styrofoam plates at the checkout at Walmart. I decorated with galvanized buckets with fake pink flowers and pink and white polka dot ribbon tied to the bucket and also put the forks and spoons in a galvanized bucket(they were under $3 each at World Market)We had a homemade taco bar and my mother-in-law bought rice and beans from a restaurant. I bought pink cupcakes from Walmart and arranged them like a flower. Everyone raved about the party, but including food it only cost under $200!

If you don't have the money then go simple. Steamers are cheap, also, go to the clearance aisles at local wal mart and target stores. I buy in advance while it is on clearnce. Also, the dollar store stocks lots of birthday stuff for $1. They will not remember, but the pictures will show that you cared. W.

J., it's the 1st birthday.
My suggestion, have a cake with your family and keep it very small. That way your daughter enjoys her cake, the singing and the candle.. that's all they really need at this age.

Hi,
My son is only 7 months old but as a social worker who has worked with children for over 10 years and from the parties I have attended it seems that the smaller and simplier the better. At ages 1-2 the parties are really for the parents not the kids. Too many people can be overwhelming and stressful for little ones. If you do have a party, limit it to close family and friends. Decorating her highchair with a cute "skirt" (you can make this using ribbon or fun fabric and sticky velcro), blowing bubbles (vs. balloons as they can be scary for kids if they pop) and making her or buy her her own small cake or cupcake she can dig into with her hands will be all the fun she can handle. Offer some snacks and drinks to guests and limit the party to 2 hours max, preferably after a good nap. If you get lots of presents consider opening them later after the party when things are less hectic. We know guests like seeing kids/parents open the presents but a good way to get around this is sending photographs to them along with thank you notes showing your child opening or playing with their gift. Enjoy!

You might want to check out the website www.birthdaypartyideas.com This site has ideas for hundreds of birthday parties. I know one really cute one for 1 year olds is a rubber ducky theme and this website has several entries from other moms. I hope this helps. T.

My daughter just turned one and since it was so close to Christmas, we had to save $$ also. I just did a cupcake theme, she is so young that a cartoon theme would mean nothing to her. I made a huge cupcake for her cake and then lots of small regular ones for the guest. I bought the mold on Surlatable.com, it is way cute and I used funfetti icing, then just bought colored napkins and such, hope that helps :)

I was the same way for my daughter's first birthday...
I didn't have a theme, didn't want a "character" party and I didn't like any of the kids party kit themes.
So I went to Party City and just made one up. I ended up with a garden theme...butterflies, flowers, dragonflies etc. I just went with colors I liked...pinks, yellows, greens and purples. I put the most money towards her dress and cake. We had the adult cake and then hers. In hindsight she would have been fine with a cupcake. For my baby shower I had a pink with black polka dots theme! So cute and easy! A friend of mine sells party kits (kinda expensive though) and she has a pink and black kit that I named "Pink is the new black" Plagerized from an Old Navy shirt! Or just pick a couple of colors and find a cute name to your theme and build around it. There are tons of plain colored invitations and with a pair of scizzors, some glue, ribbon and your imagination, you'll come up wit it! Good luck!