Planning a birthday party for a 1 year old

[wishfulthinking]

Need help. My brother is turning 1 in 2 weeks, and I've been put in charge. Frankly, I have no idea. What can kids do that age? Is it more the idea to keep the parents engaged? (If it isn't obvious, my older brother and I have no clue what to do with kids, so I'm throwing myself on your mercy)

So any ideas re food & cake, games & entertainment, music, etc is much apprec

 

[kitk@t]

Need help. My brother is turning 1 in 2 weeks, and I've been put in charge. Frankly, I have no idea. What can kids do that age? Is it more the idea to keep the parents engaged? (If it isn't obvious, my older brother and I have no clue what to do with kids, so I'm throwing myself on your mercy)

So any ideas re food & cake, games & entertainment, music, etc is much apprec

Hey well I must say kids that age can't do much you are really planning it for the parents and the older kids that may be attending the party I have a daughter about to turn 1 too and I'm in the same boat not to sure what I'm going to do just guessing and hoping for the best

 

[wishfulthinking]

just guessing and hoping for the best

I hear ya!

I'm wondering if there are any games the kids can play with the parents. Most if not all the kids will be around 1ish.

 

[kitk@t]

Well if you think about it most 1 year olds can stand with aide so maybe if you do like music games that they can sit in a circle and sing songs that use hand gestures like hokey pokey etc

 

[English Lady]

heythere Good luck with this wishful, I'd not want to be in charge of a party of 1 year olds *L*

Keep it simple, babies of that age foodwise will probably like fruit, jelly, ice cream, cake. Savoury wise, look at little sausages, sandwiches (nothing fancy*L*), sausage rolls (my daughter loved sausage rolls as a little kid) and just put out extra bits the adults might like.

Songs are a good idea, 1 year olds like music. I'd basically have out as many 1 year old pleasing toys as possible and let them get on with it, they'll not interact much as a whole group, so just leave toys out they can play with, and I think you'll be fine.


Erm, thats all the ideas i have..hope something proves useful!

 

[wishfulthinking]

fruit, jelly, ice cream, cake

Ice-cream & jelly - would never have thought of it!

I'm researching games:

Go Fishing:
Set up a "fish pond" behind a blanket and have the kiddies stand in front of the blanket. With the help of an adult, children drop their fishing lines (use sticks, rope and a clothespin for a hook) in to the lake or ocean. Another adult behind the blanket clips a prize to the "hook".

Bubble Chase
Ask the adults blow bubbles into the air and let the kids chase after and pop them.

 

[wishfulthinking]

Other things I'm discovering:

Keep the party short (1 hour) and plan for a time of day when your child is usually at his best. Morning parties work well for many young children.

More things:


Story time (read or tell a favorite story)
Show home video of 1st year (limit to 10 minutes!)
Ball rolls (have children sit in circle with legs apart and roll large ball to each other)
Wagon rides (decorate a wagon and pull children for rides)
Free play area (blocks, stacking toys, pull toys, and other young favorites)
Box yard (decorate several large cardboard boxes and allow children to climb in and through boxes)
Pull string pinata (even very young children can play)
Finger painting
Handprints in plaster or clay

Fun Party Favors for a 1st Birthday Party include:
beach balls
helium balloon
blowing bubbles
picture book
finger puppets

 

[SensualCealy]

A small baby pool with enough water to get their legs wet. Have lots of towels and swim diapers on hand.

Jello- have you ever watched a one yr old eat jello? they dont have teeth to hold it in place! lmao, fun to watch and get lots of pictures. Make jello gigglers so they can hang on to it. (Jello made with extra gelatin cut into squares or cookie cutter shapes)

Finger paint, poster paint with dishsoap added for easy clean up. Go to a local printer ask if they have any end runs of glossy paper, usually they give them away or charge about $2 a roll.

Baby fashion show, dress the little ones up in funny clothes and accessories from the $1 store, goofy glasses, visors, knee socks etc. Take lots of pictures!

Make a cupcake out of chocolate cake mix, use chocolate icing and of course chocolate ice cream. Each child can eat their own cupcake and make a delicious mess. Make a small cake for the adults!

Hope some of these ideas will help, its been along time since my kids were 1! (11 and 14!)

Cealy

 

[cloudy]

One side note: balloons can be really dangerous for kids that age. If they happen to pop one, and swallow a piece (or even a whole one), they can suffocate. I'd leave the balloons out, or at least fixed securely above the reach of little hands.

Definitely keep it short. At that age, the party is more for the adults than the kids, and too much stimulation can leave little ones VERY cranky.

 

[sophia jane]

Definitely keep it short. At that age, the party is more for the adults than the kids, and too much stimulation can leave little ones VERY cranky.

I was just about to point this out. Too much "fun" for one year olds is not so fun. They get overwhelmed very easily.

SJ

 

[Extreme Bohunk]

the horror, the horror

http://www.ntropie.de/archiv/kino_und_tv/mb_kurtz_tn.jpg

 

[Hulder]

Make sure the table cloth is extremely durable! Using a plastic table cloth might be a good idea. And you can put a white paper one over that again, and give each kid some crayons, that way they can dcorate their own table cloth during the party. Always a big hit.

Put plenty of frosting on everything. The kids will most likely lick off the frosting and leave the rest behind.

Have some "grown-up food" for the parents. Finger food, tapas, something that they can eat quickly if they manage to sneak away for a minute or two.

Give at least some of the parents disposable cameras, and ask them to go nuts. You can't be everywhere, and you're bound to miss out on some cute moments. If you want to put a little extra effort into it, you can develop the pictures later on and pick out a few selected ones and send around to all the people attending, as part of a "Thank you for coming, the gift was wonderful, see you next year"-greeting.


Ummm, that's all i can think of at the moment. Hope you have a great time!


Hugs!


PS: Save yourself a lot of grief and broken plates and glasses, use paper cups and plates! Less cleaning up too, which is always a good thing.

 

[BlackShanglan]

This may make me unpopular, but I've always found the year=# of child party guests a good one. At one, that would be one other infant. Going much over that number tends to lead to overstimulation and tears.

 

[sophia jane]

This may make me unpopular, but I've always found the year=# of child party guests a good one. At one, that would be one other infant. Going much over that number tends to lead to overstimulation and tears.

I agree. We've only had small family parties for our kids at that age. They don't understand all the activities anyway. They just like the cake and ripping papar off presents, but even after a few they get tired of that.

SJ

 

[Lisa Denton]

Jello is a good main course meal, and a different color can be served for dessert.

Kool-aid is great for the heavy drinkers but check to see if they are wobbly occasionally, drinkin and crawlin can be dangerous .......... to your carpet.

They don't wanna play any games or have any presents, but love to look at pretty colored wrapping paper.

 

[gauchecritic]

Kids at one year old don't understand anything at all. Games have rules, one year olds have no concept of rules.

Food: breast milk is good.

A one year old's party would be: each and every child (no kids admitted without at least one parent) given a box loosely covered in shiny wrapping paper. Tear off wrapping paper, play with wrapping paper, get bored with wrapping paper. Open box, play with box get bored with box. Nap time. Home time.

 

[Guest]

just think: sharp objects. running with scissors is a good one year old sport. that and tacks for pin the tail on the donkey...oh and they make fab treats too!

sorry, but this mental piccie has been in my head all day.

 

[matriarch]

1. Hire babysitter.

2. Feed 1 year old on cake and jello, bathe and put to bed.

3. Mum and Dad go out for wonderful, romantic dinner to celebrate survival of the last year as parents, and maybe return home to repeat of activities that resulted in said one year old.

DON'T DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!