Help! I Need Ideas on Planning My Son's 1St B'day

My bestfriend and I both did the same party favor for our 1 year olds (Feb. 08) and got tons of compliments. We bought the $1 kid pails (blue for boys and yellow/hot pink) from Target and filled them with bubbles, playdough, fruit snacks, other toys etc... We also wrote the kids names on the pails and drew some simple designs on them and then used clear cellophane to wrap them up and tied them with a cute bow (Costco). We tied balloons to the top and also used them as centerpieces at the tables. Also if you have older kids- I would recommend getting a bounce house. Also, if you can collect a few cars and a wagon those are fun to have a parties.

Hi A.,
My son (now 5) has no recollection of his first bday. Just be sure that the few decorations you use are in the pictures! We had a happy bday banner (near food -- hanging off table? -- so in pics) and a few Mylar balloons (next to where he sat for cake so in the pics). They make ones for first bdays, etc. Nature will provide the rest of the decorations. You can pick up inexpensive first birthday plates, napkins, cups and tablecloths at a party supply store or Target, etc. We had almost all adults at our son's party -- just family and a few close friends. The few kids we invited were 4-10 years old. I gave them bubbles, stickers/fun pencils or pens (depending on age), and a few pieces of candy (with parents' permission). You could always print out cute labels with your son's name and #1 for the bubbles. Children under 2 will not know to expect goodie bags. Quite frankly, I had enough to deal with. You'll probably find over the years that you will come to hate goodie bags. Your kids get all sorts of trinkets they play with for two days but still want to hold on to. Save the better goodie bag ideas (like small theme appropriate jigsaw puzzles) for when your son is older. Remember that the day is about celebrating your amazing child coming into the world, and as long as people have something to eat and drink (hello, Costco platters!) everyone will have a good time oohing and aahing over your baby!
K.

Hi A.,

For my son's first birthday, I used the theme from his nursery. We decorated in primary colors and vehicles (boats, planes, trains, cars). Then for the party. I made a race track with cones (orange construction paper cones) and stop signs and pit stops and my son's big tonka trucks and riding toys. Then for the favor, because there were going to be a lot of cousins and friends with kids, I had a pit stop with some wood placks (Michaels) for the kids to decorate and take home. We used glitter glue, glow in the dark glue, colored markers and stickers. I had kid friendly food and a car cake. No goodie bags, no candy, and all the decorations were disposable after.

I was pretty easy, but still colorful and fun for pictures and kids.

D.

This year we did a combo birthday for my 1 year old and 3 year old boys. I filled up our plastic sandbox with ball pit balls for the babies and that kept them quite entertained.

My two cents: keep it simple and try to ignore any feelings of having to make everything 'perfect'. Odds are that the more relaxed you are, the more your child will enjoy the party b/c kids can often sense when we're stressed and will get anxious along with us. Put up some balloons and bright colored table cloths. If there will be a lot of young children, let them be a part of 'decorating' by putting a long piece of butcher paper on one of the tables and let them at it with crayons or washable markers.

Favors: JMO but I don't like candy or cheesy plastic toys that'll just end up in a landfill in short order, so I tend to choose things like bubbles, crayons, stickers, little note pads or coloring books, etc. what age are the kids that will be attending?

I saw little pails with shovels on sale at Party America for .50 each.