Activity Ideas for 3-Year-old's Birthday Party

I wouldn't worry about it too much. We also had my daughter's 3rd birthday at home. We had more kids (10 or so) and basically they just played together with her toys. Don't schedule too much, because (assuming a 2 hour party) about an hour of it will be spent snacking and eating cake and getting in and out the door.

We did have a small scavenger hunt that went really well. I went to iparty and bought a ton of small rubber ducks and hid them all over where the kids would be in the house. Each kid got a bag with their name and they went hunting. Then they got to keep the ducks they found. It was fun. It did go really fast though. Another option is freezedance. Very popular with the 3 year old set, doesn't require any set-up or clean-up, and can go as long as the kids are having fun.

But again, they basically just want to play together. I recommend warning your daughter a lot that when her friends come over they are all going to want to play with her toys (I don't know how she is about sharing). That way she doesn't melt down that other people are touching her stuff and she can have a good time.

Have fun!

Hi S.,
my friend had a great craft at her 3 year old twins birthday party - she got foam crowns and lots of foam pieces to stick on the corwns - "jewels", castles, pieces that say "Happy birthday" etc. It was fun and easy, and my daughter still likes to wear her crown. I don't remember which craft store she got it at, but if you are interested, let me know and I will ask her.

another thing she did which was fun (but her girls b'day was in July and they were able to be outside!) was to put down a large roll of paper (I dont know how big your space is or what constraints you have) and some paint, and lots of paint toys - i.e., rollers, foam shapes, brushes of different shapes and sizes, etc. That might be much too messy for indoors, but thought I would throw it out there for you! If you have tile floors and can put some paper down under the roll of paper to paint on, it might work! The kids loved it! She also put some paint at various places around the paper in small tin pans (like a small disposable pie plate) so the kids could dip the rollers in it.

I had 10 kids for my daughters party, and we also couldn't go outside, so I hired someone to come and play music with the kids - so I am not much help!

Good Luck!
Warmly,
E.

p.s. - I am expecting our second in May, too!

Hi S.,

The papersource in boston has goody bag kits that kids can decorate themselves. U can buy them online too or go to a craft store like michaels.

E.

If this party is before Valentines Day. You can always have them make Valentines cards for special friends and family members. You should be able to get a lot of ideas from AC Moore or Michael's.