1St Birthday Party - Hoffman Estates,IL

I think what you have planned is really all you need. For entertainment you could do something really simple, like some arts and crafts, or bubbles, or something of that nature. In my experience 1st birthdays aren't terribly long. By the time you eat cake, ice cream and open gifts the little one will be getting tired.

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Do you have an MP3 player? If so, you could set up a playlist in advance and hook it up to speakers at the party for background music, or, if your hubby is like mine, he could play DJ and take requests. For my son's birthday we played simple games with the older kids like bingo, limbo, pin the tail on the donkey, and hot potato. I had also planned a craft, but we didn't get to it (I had art supplies to make paper bag puppets). Your son is too little to really get involved in any of the games/crafts, so really it's up to you how far you want to go to entertain the other kids at the party. Heck, my son fell asleep before we even got to open the gifts!! Just make it fun and easy on yourself as possible.

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Keep it short and sweet, for a first birthday 2 hours is the ideal time and more than enough stimulation for your little one. If you plan too much, you will have a party that goes on for too long, cranky kids, and more stress than you really need to endure.

Where... is the party going to be held?
Outdoors? Indoors? Your home? A Park?

And ALWAYS designate the time of the party. ie: the start time AND end time. That way the party does NOT linger on and on and on. Parties for this age are usually only 2 hours long max..... and during NON-nap hours.

I agree with a 1st birthday to be simple. It would be a cute idea to do something that could be used as a keepsake for the child. Like a matted picture frame that can be drawn on. Or something to do with their handprints or footprints.

Good luck!