Anyone have some 1st birthday ideas?

Question

My sons first birthday is coming up! What are some ideas for a first birthday?

Answer 1

my sons party is next saturday. i plan to do a water thing we have alot of baby friends with bigger brother and sisters so i thought while the big ones play with the water the little ones can play with the toys my son has. and i plan to make his cake and then one for every one else. for the kids i am putting them in muffien cup so it is small and no cutting. and i plan to do the same with the icecream the night before take a scoop and put it in a cup and put them back in the ice box so that a way u just have to hand then out at the party. and i plan to use bowl so nothing falls off of plates. if it rains i plan to just have it in side and i dont know what i will do with the big kids give them a game to do or something. the party shouldnt be more then an hour babys cant last that long. and make sure they have room to get down and run around. we have alot of room here so that will be easy for us. at home we are army so we got two families. in MO i plan to take boxes and make a maze out of them in my moms back yard my son loves boxes him and our cat fight over who gets to sit in the box and he loves to go though it. and i know the big kids will think it is cool that they get to help the babies out. and i will do the same there with the cake i will have more help there. oh and have a friend that will do the gift list then another to take pictures if they can. and make a list of what u need help with and ask them before the party if they dont mind. get every thing ready the night before and i plan to do mind at 3 cause mosty babies are up from nap then so they arent tired. i might have a light meal like sandwitches for the kids so not all sugar. i would love to make homemade juice or something better then a sugary drink. well i hope i helped a little. good luck and dont stress out he wont remember it. just take it easy. if u have a good time so will he.

Answer 2

I did a Elmo theme with my son.  I envited both sides of the famliy.  We had hot dogs and hamburgers.  I bought a raquetball set for the older kids in the family.  It was so much fun and everyone got to see how much my son had grown.  I had some of his old toys for the younger kids and everyone (adult and kids) just played all day.  We had the best time.

Answer 3

We had both of my sons' first parties in our backyard with hotdogs and hamburgers and all the trimmings. We let the children play on the swings and sandbox, but also had traditional birthday games and a pinata for the older ones.  

Answer 4

I first wrote a letter to all the guests like it was from my daughter thanking them for coming and describing all my daughters accomplishments the first year.  I wrote just one letter and put it in a frame next to the cake. I also put together a small photo album next to the letter of pictures of her through out her first year, they change so much from newborn to a 1 year old.  Try to include pic's that have your baby being held or played with by the guests that are coming to the party.  I made an adult meal that included all her favorite baby foods.    There are many birthday websites that have matching everything. (sorry its been 4 years so I can't remember the exact one, just google birthday party decorations you will find many)  I found one that even had decorations for the high chair.  Have fun with it and make the theme his favorite character be it Elmo, Diego, Brainy baby etc.  Also decorate the day of his birthday so after his nap he can have a great surprise by waking up to balloons and his favorite pal like Elmo on everything.  

Answer 5

My son had his first birthday back in March. We did a train theme for his. What I did was cup cakes in the shape of train cars and did a smaller cake behind it decorated like a depot.  I got the train car pan through Williams and Sonoma ($35).  I also bought some Happy Birthday generic type mylar balloons in fun colors and one in a train theme (not cartoon though).  I took in my own blue and yellow balloons that were helium able and the store blew them up for me for about .25 each.  Walmart and alot of grocery stores with a floral area will do this for you if the balloons are helium ready.

We did burgers on the grill which were super easy.  I just had to set out condiments (tomato slices, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, buns, cheese slices, lettuce, etc..) and some bowls of chips.  I also made a fruit salad which was easy to do.

For party favors I found really cute caboose shaped boxes and engine wooden whistles that we put our sons name and the date on with a bandana in each.  

I didn't do games because at 1 he wouldn't have really understood the concept. What I did do was set out some colorful blank index cards and theme stickers with a basket of fun colorful pens.  Everyone used them to create a birthday message for my son to put in his first birthday scrapbook.  I also did a simple DVD on the computer of his best first year pictures and played them on the TV as a slide show through the party in the background.  He had fun with just running outside and playing with his swing, sandbox and cousin who is close in age.  I did buy some balloon punch balls for the kids to play with outside and they loved those.

The party was 2 hours long from 11-1 so it was over lunch and after morning nap so it avoided the meltdowns. I also kept the guest list small so he wasn't overwhelmed- grandparents, his aunt and uncle, us.  About 12 people tops.  It was fun, relaxed and inexpensive.  

For his second birthday we're doing a jack in the box theme.

Other themes for first birthdays:

Teddy bears

the royal prince

rocking horse

bugs

puppy dog

a color party (such as a red theme, or blue theme or yellow theme etc.. around a single color)