Child’s 1st Birthday Party
When it came to my first son’s first birthday party I was so stumped and when I look back was I really thinking of him or myself. Sure we all want to celebrate our childs birthday and we want to do it with a bang and at times I find myself thinking of how to “keep up with the Jones’ “. When our kids get invited to birthday parties some are extremely elaborate and catered, held at some all-in-one place with a themed party down to the games and activities. After having kids and having a few parties and observing at other parties what works and what doesn’t or what isn’t necessary from 1-6 yr olds I’ve learned and observed that less is so much more! And less makes for a happier more satisfied kid in most cases.
I think the most important thing to remember is the only way your child will even know about a party are the pictures and video you show them much later in life. I’m not saying it’s silly to have a party, on the contrary, I think some kind of party is very important. It’s a celebration of their life and gives them a special, all about them holiday. To have a happy toddler, happy parents and smooth party I do think there are certain guidelines to follow and you can tweak them to fit you and your child’s personality.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
The birthday time–Have the party after nap time when they are completely fresh and make sure you give them a small snack before the party starts. If you are hosting at home then naptime is the best time to get the house ready for the party.
The best times for a party are 1-2:30pm or 2-3:30 pm. It’s also best to keep the party short since too much activity for too long will overstimulate your child and they will become fussy which could result in the cake being missed by the birthday boy or girl as they will need another nap. The time frame that has worked best for my boys is 1-1/2 hours for the party even at the age of 6. We all need downtime, so do our kids no matter how much fun they seem to be having..as you know that can change in a second with a toddler. Another great reason for these times of day is that they are after a typical lunch time and before supper so you only need to worry about serving a small snack, cake and chips. This saves you tons of frustration, time and money!
How many to invite to the party: The childs age plus one more (so for a 1 yr old you’d invite 2 kids). Obviously that doesn’t seem like a lot but that will depend on what you think your child can handle. Think of it this way, 1 yr olds don’t actually play together yet, they usually play side by side and the more kids you have at that age the more likely you are to have kids fighting over new toys. If they are in daycare and you want to have some kids over and family then I’d suggest having 2 separate small gatherings, one for friends and one for family.
What to serve: If you have an off peak eating time party such as listed above it’s still good to have a few snacks sitting out. My personal favorite is fruit and chips/pretzels with dip. Both my boys, at a very young age, have loved french onion dip with chips and pretzels.
Don’t forget the cake! For the 1st birthday get 2 cakes. One to serve to everyone and one for the birthday boy or girl to have fun with, this makes for some of the best pictures and video. Oh, and don’t forget a change of clothes and an extra vinyl table cloth to put under the child’s chair so when they make a mess witht he cake you can clean the chair up, move it and ball up the trash in the table cloth and throw it away.
Party Favors: It’s hard to find something decent to send home with one year olds and most parents don’t want a cake filled child to be sent home with more sugar and candy or small toys that they can possibly choke on so here’s an alternative solution for a party favor that doubles as party decorations. Tie helium balloons to bottles of bubbles and place around the party area. You can even personalize the bubble bottles to the birthday theme with a bottle label. As guests leave the party have them take one balloon attached to bubbles for each child they have with them! You’ll save on those balloons weights and clean up because as guests leave they are taking a part of the deco that you’d be left with otherwise.
Other party ideas to save you time, money and frustration: Find a friend or relative that loves taking pictures and video to take the pictures at the party. That way you don’t miss a shot and you’ll also be in the pictures with your little one. You may even get some great candid family shots! Only video tape the birthday song, and candle blowing. I can’t tell you how much disk space has been wasted the first couple of years at our boy’s parties. When deciding on the party theme consider having only a few items in the actual theme such as the cake and then coordinate balloons, table clothes, plates, etc in solid colors. You can buy those in bulk saving you tons of money plus you won’t be wandering around town looking for everything in that theme saving you time.
Games: One year olds aren’t going to play games. My suggestion is to set up two areas of play such as a play table that plays songs or big soft blocks making sure to use age appropriate toys you already own. This will give kids several options to play while adults are socializing and getting ready for the cake and gifts.
When opening gifts it’s a good idea to find a volunteer in the group to get the new toys after they’ve been opened and take them out of the box, install batteries, put them together so they are ready to play with. The tools they’ll need will probably be 1 flat head screw driver, 1 phillips screwdriver, wire cutters for those dreaded twisty ties, AA batteries and AAA batteries. Toys are so hard to get into now, it seems to take 1o minutes just to get a small truck out of it’s package!
What things do you do at your child’s birthday party to make the party easier and smoother?
Posted in Birthday
