1 Year Old Birthday Party Ideas

You want to make adults do playdough and fingerpainting? Um, no.

Don't get carried away with this first birthday party stuff. Your child is too young to notice or care what you do. If there were going to be lots of older kids -- ie. cousins -- then yes, it would be fun to have activities for them. If it's just adults, then make it a fun party for THEM. Which probably means good food and good drinks, and time to relax and talk.

Our sons first birthday parties were low-key affairs with a small number of relatives and friends. We got the obligatory pictures of the birthday boy with his first-ever piece of cake, but beyond that didn't plan much, and had a wonderful time anyway.

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Pin the tail on the donkey! And I'm sure the painting and baking will be fun. When I was a sub teacher, we had a teacher that instead of using paint, to finger paint, she used pudding!! It was a hoot! Easy clean up and the pics could be viewed for only a short day or two....but the kids loved it!! Good luck and have fun.....vanilla pudding with orange food coloring - who makes the best Elmo in the adult world!

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I agree with Megan Q, and even think that the first birthday is more for the parents to celebrate surviving their first year than for the child. From there on, it'll be all about him, so make this one something adults can enjoy. My son's first birthday was very big (more like a coming out party, introducing him to out of town family/friends): we rented the ampitheater at a local park so we had the stage area for the party (tables, chairs included), a pretty enclosed area for other children to play in, the playground nearby, and water fountains nearby. We made a jambalaya (how else to feed 40+ guests without breaking the bank?), white beans, french bread, vegetable/fruit trays, and cake. We set up a couple tables for food (buffet style), a gift table, and tables for guests to eat at. We had music and just visited, doted on the baby and passed him around, oooohed and aaahed over his learning to walk, but it was mostly adult conversation and lots of laughing. We had a pull-string pinata with a big #1, but his part of the party was mostly riding on grandparents shoulders, eating chocolate cake, that kind of thing. I had a friend be the designated photographer so we didn't have to worry about it, and had lots of pictures for the album. I agree that you can concentrate more on having some awesome keepsake(s) instead. I had different colored papers, cut cute, on a guest table with things written like "Meeting you for the first time was...." and "You make me laugh when you..." and "What I like best about you is..." (stuff like that). Guests could fill out whatever they wanted and slip it in a decorated shoebox (think Valentines Day in elementary school). I later put those papers, along with photos, into a first birthday scrapbook for my son. We bought him a plain white Tshirt his father's size, people signed it and dated it, and we took a picture of him wearing it. Every year we'll pull out the birthday shirt and take a picture of him wearing it, to see how much he's changed. Those are more the fun things to do with a 1 year old, I think. (Though there's nothing wrong with an Elmo cake and Elmo decorations!)

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Since you'll have mostly adults, I would make it more adult themed. For my kids' first birthday's we had family barbecues. The cake, dessert plates, etc. were themed, but otherwise, they were generic, solid color decorations.

I've found that a Sundae making station is ALWAYS a hit!

For games, what about Karaoke or Wii? Since it may be near St. Patrick's Day, perhaps you could have some sort of games, costumes, etc around that.

For party favors, I would either not worry about them or do something candy wise.
M.

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I think you are headed in the right direction!!! Everyone Loves to finger paint, decorate a cookie for them selves & play with play dough !!! Since your doing this at your home give thought to Bubbles, 1 yo's LOVE'EM!!! The Gymboree bubbles are great to do indoors they dont leave soap all over the place!!! Also maybe a baby pool with the little 1 year old ducks you can get from oriental trading for duck races??? They have a cute put the nose on Elmo game at party city AND they have a smallish inflatable Elmo for inside as well! it's super cute!!! There are so many directions you can go with this!!! you will have a very FUN party!!! After all it is not only celebrating the fact that your little one is 1 but that you made it threw the first year as well!!! :o)

Also since you have so many adults may I suggest a AWESOME Keepsake. My BFF did this at my baby shower and then I got one for my sons baptisim...they are by far my favorite keepsakes EVER!!! well next to my wedding album....LOL! http://www.guestbookstore.com/index.html

it is a binder, that you can add pages to that your guests fill out with sweet fun things like advice or best memory's from your child's first year. On friday I pulled both of my sons out and my husband and I laugh like heck to them both...ahhh the candid things people say...LOL you can design your own pages if any of the premade ones don't tickle your fancy...Like I said I did one for my sons baptism and I wanted a pic of him with each guest (for each persons thank you card too) so when I designed it I made sure to leave a spot for me too add a pictures and some people drew a pictures of them selves and my son oh man it is soooo funny to look back on....LOL!

ENJOY it!!!

M.

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My granddaughters first birthday was also Elmo. We had a few young cousins there that could do ring around the rosie or so but at 1 year old with all adults, just enjoy the day. When he gets older and has kids at the party then the activities would be great. My granddaughter's party consisted of the kids playing while adults visited (we had 25 people there) and I made a big pot of Spaghetti. Then we had cake and she opened her presents which was way to many to keep her interested. Mostly her aunt Cassie carried her around spoiling her with attention and cake... oh and letting her play with her cell phone. It was fun and everyone enjoyed it. I put pictures in a little book I found at walmart called "My first birthday" and my granddaughter still loves to look at it and she is 3.

I would NEVER have thought to have adults to kids activities at a kid's birthday party. If you have the kind of friends that would enjoy it, then go for it. It' s not something I would do, but it might actually be funny to have your friends do a pinata or pin the tail on the donkey. Don't forget to get baby his own cake to smash in his face...that would might be fun if you get each of the adults mini cakes too and served them whole on a plate (but probably best w/ a fork) OR have a cake eating contest for the adults...who could eat the mini cake first...with no hands, maybe even blindfolded!

We just had a BBQ , sat outside in the yard, chatted, and watcher our little guy open presents for his 1st birthday. Our daughter's 1st birthday is coming up and we're going to have all our son's friends (age 6) over so we'll be doing a bounce house, etc...even though she's only 1 and will never remember it!

I am with the others. There were no kids at my son's first birthday. The adults sat around and visited, then we watched my son smash cake in his face. He opened presents and the rest ate cake-Seems like maybe we barbqued as well for those who were there.

The birthday party is bound to be overwhelming for your one year old no matter what you do. The best advice I ever got was to keep it simple. They will be thrilled that all of "their people" are there.

Since your son will have no memory of the party, and will be happy just to be surrounded by happy grown ups who love him- I see no need to have "kid themed" activities at all. For all 3 of my children's first birthdays, we gethered family, had cake, ice cream, and coffee drinks available. We also offered cheese, crackers, grapes, and wine. It was a nice chance for the grown ups to get together, dote over a little one, but not have to act like a kid themselves. Has worked for us! After the 1 year birthday, we focus on "kidcentric" parties." But, really, the one year mark is a milestone only noted by the adults...not the child.

Keep in mind that your son isn't going to be able to easily participate in the activities and won't remember this birthday party. It's also easy for 1-year-olds to get overwhelmed by the people, noise, activities, etc. and have a meltdown, especially if the usual nap time is interrupted. I agree with those posters who suggested you keep it low key. For both of my sons' first birthday parties I did have a theme for the decorations and cake, but we just had the grandparents and godparents over for lunch, cake and presents. We have a small family so the aunts/uncles were also the godparents, otherwise I would've included aunts and uncles in the list of invitees also. I set out photos commemorating baby's first year and everyone was able to see how he had grown and developed. I've gotten older relatives to play (and enjoy) bingo and "pin the tail on _____" games for holidays, but that was once my children were older and they could all play together. Have a happy birthday celebration whatever you decide.

Well, everyone's family is different, but mine would freak out if asked to finger painting or play with play dough! I agree with the other responders to just have a low key adult time here, since your guests are adults!