Simple Party Ideas

When my daughter was that age, she LOVED Chuckie Cheese or a good McDonald's with an indoor playground (I think Chik-Fil-A has an indoor playground in Oak Ridge). Just buy all the kids nuggets, fries and a drink and bring a cake, sing happy birthday and let them play! (call the manager ahead of time to make arrangements) Events at Sherlake in Knoxville also specializes in parties...they have party rooms and huge blow-up slides, etc. that would be fun for that age but parents need to help them. Have fun!!!

Sounds to me like you really wanna do something nice have you thought about some place like chuckie cheese or something to the affect . aside from that you can decorate usuing one of his fav cartoon charters .. you can buy stuff for almost any charter online . hope his party goes well .

I feel your pain J.. My son is march 19th and my daughter is March 21st. (3 yrs. apart)

Try having a little party that they either decorate their own cookie or cupcake or mayby an ice cream sundae party. Make them feel like it is all their choice on how to decorate or top the ice cream. Kids love that.

Good luck. Oh yeah...make sure you have some help from another parent or friend.

Jen

try going to http://www.parents-kids.com/, they have a link for great birthday party ideas.

One way that I kept my older kids from feeling left out(I have 4 kids, ages 4,3,1, and 4 weeks) is to make sure the older one has some 'responsibility', like helping to pick the baby's clothes, or telling the older ones that they are helping to teach the baby to talk, or draw, etc. That way they older one feels responsible, and loves to spend time with the little onse b/c they are a teacher!

Don't forget Chuck-e-cheese! I am not a sponsor but I am grateful to have them available for a quick and fun birthday celebration. No work, no hastle, and especially no clean up! Super fun for the kids and they get to meet chucky!

Happy birthday to your son! And good luck with baby number 2!

J. -
I often have trouble with party ideas myself; so I thought I would share this with you. Check out this website. They give very simple ideas and suggestions.

http://www.birthdayswithoutpressure.org/

Good Luck to you.

I have a birthday party business that you may be interested in. I come to you and bring all the supplies!

Check out my website.

www.noahparty.com

L.

I have newborn twins, & just had a skating party for my girl turning 4. I also have a 2 year old, and 10 year old, and the skating was great for everybody. They keep the wheels tight on the little skates so they won't roll too fast. All I had to bring was the cake & ice cream, and I brought party favor bags. They supplied all the paper products & made pizza. If your hubby or someone could go along to help with the baby, you could skate with your 3 year old. We had a blast! It couldn't have been any easier.

Party City! I love them! They have tons of party packs with plates, decorations, and little gifts for the guests. If you ask them where the sale wall is, you will find amazing deals. I did Dora for my daughter last year, and paid 19.95 for two 19pc boxes with all those things in them. You should really check them out. Also, I thought I would tell you that all three of my girls are three years apart, and they are wonderful together! I made sure that I included them in every thing, from picking out the outfit for the baby, to getting a spoon at feeding time, and letting them play a lot together (of course supervised). I made sure that the girls were able to be the first to kiss the baby when she arrived, and they know that we love them so much, and make sure to spend individual time as well as a lot of all together time. Good luck. I think three is the perfect age for a new commer. Have fun!

You could reserve a picnic shelter near a park (usually free) and let the kids play, then have snacks and open presents in the shelter. Give bubbles, sidewalk chalk and other cheap outdoor toys as favors.

My 2nd daughter was born 1 month before my first daughter's second birthday. We had a party with family, cake & presents (no structured routine to it or organized games). During the party my husband & I handed the baby off to relatives, which were all too happy to help out, and put all of our focus on our oldest. She didn't even notice everybody oohing & aahhing over the baby (it helped that the other kids were playing with her). She had a blast and so did we! It wasn't a big effort on my part either. I think at this age, less is more. They seem just as happy with the little things as the all out parties some parents go to the trouble of.

go to a place like the Dollar Tree they have all kinds of party supplies cheap. I believe they have games too like pin the tail on the donkey and even little pinatas (sp?) its inexpensive and then just pick up a cake and your done. take him to let him pick out the cake, maybe if hubby can watch the new baby or something and just you and him go or something. picking out the cake and maybe even some of the decorations will give him the feeling of it is really all about him and if you can do it or at least some of the planning just you and him it will give him the big boy feeling. also during the party of course everyone will be wanting to see and hold the new baby, take advantage of it and spend the extra time with your son.

A friend of mine has twins one boy one girl and for there third birthday for her son she had someone dress up as spider man and surprise him and all of the boys were dressed up as their favorite super hero. For the girls she did the princess theme. She had a super hero cake and some fun treats for them.

I am all for the park! In fact, the last two parties we've been to (both for 3 year olds) was at the park. Kids love the park and they stay busy the entire time by themselves! Choose ONE place to get everything from - and that will keep the running around down to a minimum too! i.e. WalMart or Target or any good grocery store will have party supplies and a great bakery! Let the family help with the little one, so you can focus as much attention as you can on your oldest. My sister in law did a pirate theme for her 3 yr old at the park and she bought a trunk pinata from target, filled it with those big mixed bags of candy and the party favors for the kids were the bags of candy and some chocolate gold "coins" that they took home. She just hung it from a swing at the park and they did the whole thing right there. So, that way you have activities and party favors easily taken care of. If you do it at 1:30 - 3 or something like that, then all you need is cake and drinks! No other food required! Good luck! And don't forget to have a fun time!

If you're ok with taking baby #2 out, I would recommend having the party somewhere else. That way, you won't have to worry about cleaning the house and getting things ready.

Playworld Down Under does a good party and it is not too expensive for only 6 or 7 kids.

The Creative Discovery Museum does a great party but it is a little more pricey. However, the do provide cake (you get to pick the theme and they will decorate the cake accordingly), ice cream, paper products, drinks, and admission to the museum for up to 40 people (I think). They will even do the goody bags for an extra cost if you want. All you have to do is show up and have fun!

If you really want to have it at home, you could plan something around his favorite character. I had one friend who had a "drive in theatre" party for her 2 kids whose bdays were close together and in the fall. She showed the movie "Cars" on a sheet in the backyard and set up chairs and stuff for the kids to sit on. She rented a cotton candy machine and a popcorn machine for not much $.

Hello, my name is M. and I am a mother of 2 girls ages 4 and 7 years old. To make your son's 3rd birthday wonderful is just buy him his favorite toy, get him a cake (favorite character), couple of balloons (off course his favorite colors)and do a intimate party..just your closest family. When he gets bigger (or when the baby gets to be 1 or so) get a bigger party with his friends! Hope it works!!

HI.. Nothing could beat his favorite character cake. You can go to wwww.familyfun.com. They have alot of party ideas, games, decorate cake recipes. I love that site. You can throw him a splash ful party at home. Get him to play game with friends, maybe order a pizza for everyone. Let him enjoy his day. He will love this and you will enjoy watching him have blast day of his life. and Congraulation on your baby number 2..

We have kids play place close to us that is kinda like chuck E Cheese. One whole day of just run and play is all they want at that age. Sometimes it can be a little expensive but no clean up for you and no prep either. Just bring gifts and cake.

i too was in your situtaion a year ago. if you don't want him to feel left out let him help you with the baby by getting you diapers, wipes, bottles and anything else. order a cake from your local bakery, just throw a simple lil party at your house,invite family members, a like you said friends from church, play pin the tail on the donkey, that's what i did, we then took him to chuckie e cheese. he had a blast. hope this can help.

J.,
SInce due dates are very unreliable, you may find that you are unable to actually have a party....
One idea might be to pick a very special gift and have it be from the baby. Even if the baby has not yet been born, this acknowledgement to the new "Big Brother" may just make the impression you want.
L. G