What Kinds of Things Have You Done for Your Preschool Aged Kids?

I highly suggest ToysRUs- You pay a set price per kid. It includes everyhting,even entertaining the kids. Pick out a theme and they provide everything. Even cleanup! If you have any questions I will be here!

K.

I just gave my 3-year-old daughter a Tinkerbell party, and I let her dress up in a fairy costume so she would feel special. She had a ball! There were 9 kids - ages 2-6 - and after lunch (we had a cookout) they made foam bookmarks. It was a simple & inexpensive craft and it gave me time to get the cake & ice cream ready. All I did was go to Micheal's & buy foam bookmarks & stickers. They decorated them however they wanted, and they got a keepsake to take home with them. I was amazed at how excited they were about such a simple thing!

I think simple is just fine. If kids have their friends over and have some cake and balloons, they are usually happy. Last year I had my daughter's birthday party at a kids' play space at the mall. It was free and the kids had a great time. We ate lunch and cake at the food court; we brought our own food and just used the tables. I have also heard that fire stations will sometimes let you have a birthday party there and will give the kids a tour of the station and the fire trucks. If you want to do a themed party, take your child to a place like Party City a few weeks before the party and let him choose what kind of plates and decorations he wants. Sometimes I think parents feel like they have to throw a big or very creative party, when all the child really wants is to have some fun with his friends.

Although I have a 10 year old...she is not my biological daughter and her 10th birthday was the 1st kids party I had ever hosted. I had a lot of success simply going to Google and doing a search by typing in "10 year old girl's birthday party". So obviously, in your case, simply type in "3 year old boy's birthday party". I know it sounds too simple, but hey...I got a lot of great ideas. We ended up having 2 parties. 1 in her hometown where she grew up and one in her new city. The 1st one ended up being an Ice-Skating party (her plus 5 of her friends from her hometown) and an overnight party in a hotel with a swimming pool (her plus 7 new friends in her new city). I was specifically looking to have a party in each area that would create an intimate setting for her to have an opportunity to bond with with the girls in each of these localities. It turned out really well. All I did was take ideas from pieces and parts of what I read from the Google search. Good luck. You'll do a great job. Besides, he is 3 years old and anything special mama does for him, he will be thrilled with, especially when all the attention is on him and he is opening all those wonderful presents, and all the colorful balloons are everywhere. Just be careful not to overwhelm him if he has a lot of gifts. Open them at HIS pace. If he starts losing interest...come back and open more a little later. I saw this with our daughter when she was with her biological mom at your son's age. Have fun and do not forget to enjoy the party with your son!!!

Check out this website... http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html. They have literally hundreds of party ideas. The ideas are submitted by parents who have thrown parties for their kids, and then they describe what they did on this site. They are categorized by topic, and they list the age of the child, too. I checked it out and didn't see anything listed about "Cars", but you may get some neat ideas from here that you can incorporate into your party, and then you can be the first to submit a "Cars" themed party to the site!

My cousin's little girl's 2nd birthday party theme was Dora the Explorer (use your son's favorite show/character I guess haha). The little girl's favorite part though was painting shirts. My cousin had gotten T2 size white T-shirts, one for each kid they had invited, and she put each kid's name on the front of it. Then at the party she had some fabric paint and little sponges cut out in different shapes (bear, fish, heart, balloon, etc) for the kids to decorate their shirts with. She had so much fun just playing in the paint! haha she made such a mess, had it ALL over her arms from her hands to her elbows! and her shirt was a mess, front AND back! haha She had a great time tho (and not every kid made such a mess :))

I've yet to decide what to do for my daughter's first birthday in February! It's so hard when they aren't big enough for all the fun stuff! haha

Hello P.

Have you ever thought of having a Stuff-A-Friends party for your son? A friend of mine does this. I am including her website for you to get more information: http://www.stuffafriend.biz/members/Yvee80. Good Luck!

I'm sure that even if you just have cake, ice cream and presents at your house, your son will love it. Here are some things I have done though.
Rent a shelter at a park with a playground. (Maybe too cold in Jan) we had a pinata and water guns. All the kids were encouraged to dress up like superheroes. So cute!
We rented a place called fit for fun, they did all of the activities for me. Expensive but easy.
One year we had a party at home and rented a bouncer (giant air mattress type thing) for the day (the guy ended up letting us have it for the entire weekend)
I have also had cookouts at home for the younger parties. I provide a little beer for the parents, and everyone has fun just hanging out.
My son has told me that loved two of his friends parties. One was at the park (which was why he wanted to do his there) and the other was at the little girl's house with a splash pool with a slide and a slip-slide.
Just make sure you have something fun for the kids to do and you will be fine.

P., my children are now teenagers but I work with children at my church and I babysit a lot, therefore I am constantly searching for new ideas. I love the Family Fun Magazine! It has all sorts of activities and ideas for your children. Their party ideas are great! I have used them for my own children. Plus they sort them by age groups which helps alot. By the way they have awesome costume ideas to make at home for little cost. You can veiw their website at www.familyfun.com I hope this helps.

Hi my son will be 4 next month. Last year we had a farm party. We had a fire that we roasted marshmellows and hotdogs. We had pony rides and a hayride also. It was great and the kids loved it. This year we are doing a pool party. I love to do things that not every child is doing and who has pool parties in Nov. The pool party is about $30 plus snacks and the farm cost $50 plus snacks.
I will think more tonight and let you know if I think of anything else. What is he in to? (my son is really in to Thomas the Train right now)
Hope it helps
M.

For my sons second birthday I rented a moonwalk. It was $110 for 4 hours and they come set it up free. We had a tigger bouncing party. The kids of all ages loved it. (Even some grown ups)

My son turned 3 in July and my daughter turned 1 then too. We did one big party for them both and we had a Stuff-N-Snuggle party. I'm a rep for them and they are the cutest things around. We did a cowboy/cowgirl themed party with stuffable cows and horses. Each guest got an animal and a cowboy or cowgirl outfit :)
Everyone had a great time, it was worth it!

Hey P.,

I had a Thomas the Train party for my little girl's 3rd B'day. We rented a train that ranges in price depending on the person you rent from. Then I ordered things from Oriental Trading company such as the conductor's hats red bandanna's train whistles things related like that. I didn't purchase Thomas the Tank things for the goody bags except for some stickers. It was fun. I love having Birthday party and thinking of ideals for them. Let me know if you need any help I will be glad to share some ideals if he's not into Thomas.

we have been to a couple parties at the bounce house

I have two girls so since he's a boy a Thomas the Train party would be cool or we did a Little People party for my girls, the have this Little People cake at Publix and it's adorable! Just go with what he likes. What does he like? They have cars and trucks parties and race car parties, you could just go to partycity and look around. They have all kinds of things. If he likes the Little People you can go to fisher-price.com and click on Little People and they have suggestions and cake designs that you can print up to show the baker and all kinds of things. I did that it was great! Thomas the train is another great party, if he likes trains. Just look around and I'm sure you'll find something. Just do things hes interested in and I'm sure it will be a great party.

Hi P.,

My name is L.. My son turned 3 Aug 30th and we had his party at the Jumpin Monkey in the Lynnhaven area of Virginia beach. Mine was costly but you can reduce the cost by bringing all of your own goodie bags and refreshments. My son and his guests enjoyed themselves to the max. They get 1 hour to jump and then 30 minutes to cut cake, open gifts and sing. At that age I felt it was just enough time because their attention span is short. They have bubbles going the entire party and kid friendly music in the background. I hope this helps.

My only other suggestion is maybe the Virginia Marine Science Museum. I have not had a party there but my children and I were there last weekend and saw another small child who was having their party there. Good Luck!

L.

I had a rented a space bounce and bought hotdogs in bulk from Sams or Southeastern meats and let them have most of the afternoon to play and eat. You can rent a space bounce fairly in expensive and the kids love it. Also they can come set it up for you or you can set it up yourself and save even more.

There is a place in Greenville called Pump It Up. It is an indoor inflatable play area. They have a 2 story slide, and different bouncing equipment. You get 1-1/2 hours in the play room and then 1/2 hour in the party room. They do everything for you, they set up and clean up. you do need to bring a cake. you can do it fairly cheap, under 200 depending on what size party and what type of refreshments you would like to do. I know they book up early so if you are interested, they have a website.

I just had an amazing Curious George themed birthday party for my 2 year old twin boys. I think that whatever your child is into a couple of months before the big day, like a movie or certain character, or maybe he just loves balls or crayons, it always goes over well. I found some ideas for our party at this site-- http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html --there are so many to choose from.
Your son may be old enough to help in the decision, good luck and have fun!!

I just came from a "Cookie Party" with my 3 year old little girl. My friend ordered the crayola colored cookie dough (red,yellow,green and blue) and she brough a set of animal shaped cookie cutters. She let the kids decorate aprons and chef hats. Then they rolled out the dough and cut them into fun shapes. The cookies then baked and when they were done the kids decorated them. During bake time the kids watched parts of a movie. My daughter loved it. There was about 5 kids and all were between the ages of 2 and 4. It was fun and cheap.