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Hey everyone! I'm planning my sons birthday party and i'm beginning to realize I have no clue what i'm doing! We've set the time frame for 1-3 and it'll be indoor/outdoor. As far as food, it's between meals so should I just serve finger foods( fruit, veggies, etc). Should I include sandwiches as well?
Okay, entertainment.. Bounce house? I feel silly getting a bounce house since there will only be 2 or 3 kids big enough to use it. Alternatives?
Keep the party small, your son isn't going to remember it and a big gathering could be overwhelming and scary to him. Save the bounce house idea for a couple of years until he's big enough to enjoy it.
Finger foods, juice boxes or capri sun for the kids, a cake of course and a little cake for your little guy to dig his hands into, while you take adorable photos.
Keep the party small, your son isn't going to remember it and a big gathering could be overwhelming and scary to him. Save the bounce house idea for a couple of years until he's big enough to enjoy it.
Finger foods, juice boxes or capri sun for the kids, a cake of course and a little cake for your little guy to dig his hands into, while you take adorable photos.
How small? I was thinking 8 kids max and their parents, of course.
It's mostly a party for you and your family and friends, since the baby doesn't know he has friends.
Eight is a lot of 1-year-olds, and definitely the max I would include.
We only had family at our boys' first birthdays. It is a lot of activity for kids that age, and mine always burst out crying when everyone stood around and sang Happy Birthday to them.
Seriously, I would limit it to just family, kids or not. This is an affair mainly for family.
A one year old has no interest in socializing with 8 other kids, it's way too overwhelming, as would be 8 kids plus 16 adults and you & hubby making it 18 adults. That's a mob scene for a one year old. He'll just wind up over tired, scared and screaming. You don't expect him to stay awake and participate for very long do you ?
Make it an age appropriate birthday party. You don't even need other kids there, just close family. Baby's first birthday is a party for mom, dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Keep active kids and running around and yelling to a minimum.
Take nice pictures, as your son will never remember it.
I think one is too little to have a party. He definitely is not going to enjoy or remember anything. We didn't have a party for our daughter's first birthday, it was just us and the grandparents having some cake. More than enough!
I was actually discussing this with one of my friends recently (who had a 1st birthday party for her twin boys). Although most of the guests were adult family members, there were also a number of babies from a playgroup she is involved in. She said that most of the babies gravitated straight toward the sandbox. I definitely don't think you need a bounce house at age 1, keep it small, keep it simple. Have fun!
If you have your heart set on a cute kid party with paper hats, then go for it. However, be aware that kids that age have no clue what is going on and no desire to have "friends" at a party. It would be only for you. Most first birthdays I know of, including my own kid's, are for friends and family. We invited a lot of people and just had a nice party that everyone enjoyed. No kids activities or any of that, since none of the kids will either enjoy it or cooperate with it.
My one other suggestion would be not to have people bring presents. This was a mistake I made. What ends up happening is that the child has a huge pile of presents that he has to open, but he has enough attention for only a couple of them. They'll want to play with the first thing they open, and often end up crying because mom won't let them until they open everything. It becomes a marathon present-opening session that the kid actually is not enjoying at all. What we do now is just ask people not to bring presents to the party. Family members will still give presents, and we buy a few, but we do that separately from the party. It's much less stressful and more fun for everyone.
Oh yeah - my friend got a bounce house for her kid's bday party, and it was pretty much empty the whole time.
I'm going to echo the sentiment that a first birthday party is really more for the parents and the scrapbook. Invite family and perhaps a few very close friends. I'd only include other kids if they happened to belong to the aforementioned invitees. Take lots of pictures and enjoy yourself. They'll be plenty of opportunity later for that bouncehouse and a house full of children on a sugar high.
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