Isabella's First Birthday

How exciting!! I remember my daughter's first birthday, luckily she was the youngest one there.Have you ever heard of a crawling racet:Each baby at the same end of a blanket and the first one to the finish line gets a cute age appropriate prizes.And just have plenty of toys out and maybe a popular dvd or video playing (if indoor party) after the race because dealing with that age some little ones may want to sleep or shy.I think one keep sake
Some examples are: rubber duckies, teething rings,stuffed toys, disposable sippy cups.
As far as foods :I suggest finger foods like foldfish, anything on the baby aisle.

How fun!! Turning one!!

For my daughters 1st birthday...I tried to keep things simple.
-I did a nugget tray from chick-fil-a
-My mother-in-law made some homemade dips and
I had diff. chips out. (corn chips for the kids some even liked the dip by itself)
-fruit tray
-cheese tray

My daughter had her on small cake...
Then I had cupcakes made and put them in a shape of a number "1" (I covered a piece of cardboard with some paper that went with the theme of the party and put the cupcakes on it)

I didn't plan any games for the kids b/c once everyone got there we ate and then cake and cupcake time...then right after all that my daughter opened gifts. (that was about 2 1/2 hours) We did have her party outside so the kids did play with the outside toys. I also bought the big balls you can get at target or wal-mart for the kids to play with and they loved them as well as the adults. Also, a bubble machine..you know kids love bubble's... It went with the theme as well..polka-dots and bubble's

-I did buy some bubbles for the kids and made labels for them that said I hope you had a "Bubbly good time" and gave out ballons.

Everyone had a great time! Good luck..have fun!! and remember don't stress it's all about Isabella!!

You will realize that until about 3-4yrs, you'll be putting a LOT of time and energy into planning a party that will turn out NOTHING like you planned. I have yet to have or go to a party where activities go over well at all until about 3yrs or older. The best 1 yr old party is just cake, food if you want but you don't have to do food, and presents. It'll take a 1yr old 30min to an hour just to open presents! :) You can do a little goody bag or favor gift if you want, but you definitely don't have to, especially for a 1yr old's party. I do, but most that I've been to don't. You can have music going and pull out a bunch of your toys for the little ones to play on the floor with, and really that's all you need for a birthday party for that age. Trust me, I finally learned my lesson after trying one last time to have a "real" party with my 3rd's 1st birthday.

I forgot, but my 1st sons' b-day party actually turned out o.k. aside from the fact that 90% of the people that were coming were ALL extremely ill or in the hospital and my son had Roseola, so I had to tell the kids under 2 not to come. We did an Elmo's world theme. I covered the table with white butcher paper and set out a lot of crayons for the kids to color all over the table with. The kids invited to our party were 1-3yrs, so it was age appropriate. I made and decorated an Elmo face cake (an all red icing cake, btw, is TERRIBLE for a 1yr old! It stains like crazy!). For the party favor for the guests, we went to our local aquatic pet store and bought a bunch of "Dorothy's" (cheapest goldfish we could find) and put one in a bag for each guest. The kids and parents both loved the goldfish.

Happy Birthday Mom ! You made it! I did this kind of party for my son and my daughter. Mine were in the summer so we were able to go outside and I had pools set up, but we also set up an area for a crawling race, I put strips of plastic table cover in a row and had a really cool toy at the end of the race. One person held the baby and got them ready to go, and another person stayed at the end encouraging them to come and play with the toy. It was really cute. I had 1 of those plastic tunnels and I set up an obstacle course starting in the living room and it led around to the kitchen and back to the living room. I stacked throw pillows from around the house at the end of the tunnel, babies love to crawl up and over....I had a small tent that they had to crawl through and I put a few toys in there, and at the very end I put a small thin sheet covering the end of the tunnel, when they crawled out, all the parents clapped and cheered, they loved it. You could give them fruity cheerios, they have new "mini" teddy grahams, cereal puffs, and go to the dollar store and get some cheap sippy cups (spill proof) even for the younger ones and serve juice, and let them take their cups home. You would be suprised how many moms will say they don't use them yet and by the end of the party all the babies are at least trying to figure it out.
Hope this helps....most importantly....have fun with your baby !!!this will only happen once.

Hi, for my son's first birthday, as for as the goodies, i went to Dollar Tree and purchased a few packs of sippy cups. These are sippy cups you get maybe 4 or 5 to a pack for $1. I put suckers and soft candy in each of them. I placed a cute designable label, that I created on my personal computer, and placed them on the cup. I think this will be a great idea. I also had goodie bags. But I had also created a candy bag topper. The front of the topper had a cute design and "Happy 1st Birthday" and on the back I had "Nutrient Facts" the facts consisted of 1 loving lil son Tons of sugar for all of the love from friends and family and etc. It had the layout as if you eould read the nutrient facts of a can or bag of something.

Just keep the menu small, have finger foods, like crackers, chips and dip. The children under one probably will not eat anything. Most of the food will be for the adults and the older children. One thing I would suggest would be to have a seperate small cake for your daughter. I did that for both of my daughters and it was wonderful. It will give you some great pictures as she digs into the cake.

Don't worry about doing goody bags. I have seen that trend taking a backseat during the past year or two and my girlfriends have agreed it's a good idea. This party is all about your daughter. For those ages, all they will remember is playing in the wrapping paper and eating the cake. Let them play and have fun. Too much organization for the 1st birthday party, makes things nuts. Just enjoy the day with her and sing loud!

You've gotten some great advice! For my daughter's first birthday last month, I had several kids from all age groups. I did give out goodie bags to the older ones and for the younger ones I bought a small box of organic teething biscuits and put them in a cute box. I also found this really neat poem that I attached to each gift.
"The party is over, I'm officially one,
thank you for coming I hope you had fun,
Here's some treats from me to you,
I'll see you next year when I turn two!"
Love, child's name!
I didn't do any games, I just had a cook out and put out a whole bunch of toys for the kids to play with! It was a hit!

hello to you ,congrat's on your newborn n bet she's a doll!!!!i would suggest''for parent']]maybe simple a veggie tray n dip [[for the children ''why not fix up goodie bag's with treat's they can eat n 1 small toy'' such as teething biscuit's,parent's choice ''has little individule helping's of fruit snack's thing's such as that , maybe a small toy nothing they could get chocked on maybe as u said a rubber duckey!!!! n maybe cupcakes n ice cream//there parent would no if they could have the cup cakes but most all mom's will let them have ice cream [low in sugar or they will be bouncing off the wall n u will need the asprin for sure /ha .....thank's hope i helped ///lol/~~~~T. g p.s a sure hit is a non spill sippy cup may'be personlized!!!!

My advice for a 1 year old birthday party is . . .

Take the obligatory "baby eating cake" picture.

Put the kids to bed and break out the booze

The 1 year old party is an opportunity for you to look back at that 1st year and appreciate that it's finally over.

For my son's 1st birthday party we had a potluck dinner with cheese cake (plus a kids cake for the picture) and a few goodie bags for the other kids that showed up. We watched a disc of all his pictures from birth while we sipped wine and munched on candy and cake until 1 in the morning.

I'm saving the big "pony ride" parties for when he's old enough to care.

Congratulations, btw.

First birthdays are more for the adults than the kids. As far as the kids are concerned it's just one big play date. I have had two first birthday parties (one for each of my daughters). My family feels the need to throw a huge party for everything so I am no stranger to party planning. We have a big family so a huge party is pretty much unavoidable.

Depending on the time of day you are having your party and the amount of guests you will have the food can vary. The easiest things are pot luck type dishes. Pasta salad, potato salad, green beans, veggie trays, chips with dip, cracker and cheese platters etc etc. For ours we had an actual meal. But my family can get crazy when it comes to a party. We had the normal cheese and crackers, chips, and veggies but then we also made grilled chicken, pasta, green beans, salad, italian sausage w/peppers and onions, and dinner rolls. Then some people brought other things...my fave was the ramen noodle salad. I don't know what it's called but it's really good and most women love it because it's light. We then had an assortment of cookies, brownies and other deserts ON TOP OF the b-day cake.

Like I said...we throw big parties. We are crazy Italians so everything revolves around food! But I was fortunate enough to have a lot of wonderful aunts and cousins to help me.

I had a pinata but there were much older kids at my parties. A really fun idea is to get small pumpkins and acrylic paint and have the kids paint their own pumpkin. The little ones can have mommy and daddy help out. It's a cute fun craft and that can be their party favor. Something like that can get all of the kiddies involved at the same time.

If you decide on a gift bag keep it simple. It's really easy to go nuts when you aren't really sure what to give out. If you are going with a theme like disney for instance, you can give out disney coloring books and crayons to the older bunch and maybe a little disney ball for the younger kids (I found some at Walmart for around $1 last year). Seeing that the oldest will be about three you could probably get away with giving a ball to all of the kids. I gave out a ball and a rubber duckie to the little ones and did crayons and books for the next age up and for the oldest crowd (7-9) I gave out note books and fun pencils. Then I threw in some small goodies for the 5 and up crowd like rings, little cars and the such. That seemed to keep them all pretty happy for the rest of the day. I also had them do little scavenger hunt to find their bag.

There was a smash cake for the b-day girl which is always themain attraction and then I sat with her on a blanket to open gifts.

The most important thing to remember is to keep everything as easy as possible for yourself. If someone asks if you need help...PUT THEM TO WORK. If you would rather order a few pizzas and have a veggie tray DO IT!

This day is all about your pride and joy. You should enjoy it as much as she does...after all you are the one who will actually remember it.

So take lots of pictures and have lots of fun...you may want to designate a friend or relative to take pics for you.

Have fun and congratualtions mom!

Happy Birthday to Isabella! I have kept birthday parties for my 2 year old to just family. I think I will wait until her third to do a "Blowout" for her! We have just done pizza/chips/dips/2 liters and leamonade and juices for the last couple of years. I recommend only wrapping one or so of her presents....at 1 she won't quite get opening them. I wrapped on or two and arragnged the rest with the wrapped ones in front Remember anyone who brings presents will have them wrapped too. I think my daughter got frusterated at her first trying to unwrap and understand it!

Maybe you should have a game for the older kids planned to use if they need it, but the younger ones will be happy with toys on the floor! i also would plan to have the party for too long!

Good luck!
A.

for my sons 1st b-day we did elmo
so i gave
duckies (bought from ebay)
stickers (from ebay)
bubbles (w-mart)
and candy

i got some white boxes from a gas station (they use for chicken) and i let him stap his hand prints and it said thanks for comming to my first birthday party

they were real cute

Good activities for 2 and 3 year old are art projects that ARE NOT MESSY. You can go to craft stores and buy foam like paper, door hangers, and other shapes and buy foam sticky shapes, colors etc. It is really fun for kids to use the stickers but there is no mess or sticky left over on hands. For 6-8 month olds, just have some toys they can play with and hopefully moms can relax. I would focus more on foods to eat quickly and without utensils since there will be lots of kids running around. At my daughters 1st bday party, I tried to have food and things were really messy and hard to eat with small children trying to feed them and yourself. Just remember that the 1st birthday party is more for the parents and photo opporturnities. Just enjoy yourself and don't overdo it.

I agree with Kristi. For a 1 year old, you really don't have to do much. At my daughter's 1st party, we rented a meeting room at a park (our house was too small haha) for a couple hours.

We had a cake, plus a "smash" cake for the birthday girl. We also had snack foods such as chips & a veggie tray, plus toddler friendly foods like goldfish and teddy grahams. We decorated with a few Elmo things (plates, cups, napkins, party hats) and matching colored table cloths. Elmo was the only character she could recognize at the time haha.

The age range of kids at our party was greater than yours, so I bought small, inexpensive things at the dollar store. Most were individually picked for specific kids. One hit with the goodies was a sippy cup. We had bought those The First Years Take N Toss sippy cups and gave one to each child. My cousin actually recently gave out the same cups at her 3 year old's birthday party b/c they had liked the idea. The kids loved the cups!

And remember, at that age, they don't know what's going on. The crowd and a few toys should be enough entertainment for them!