2 Year Old Bday Ideas!

Just one tip, I would wait until guests leave to open presents. Everything else you mentioned sounds like a good times. Nix any bright colored frosting unless you don't terribly mind getting stains on your carpet & furniture.

For 2 year olds you don't want too much structure. Sounds like you have a great party planned. When you mentioned Handy Manny I did think of one fun think we used to do with little ones - we would take styrofoam and hammer in golf tees with play hammers - the kids LOVED it! And once all the golf tees were in, we'd pull them out and let the kids start over. The bubble suggestion would also be a winner! I also agree with waiting to open the presents - at that age it's going to be difficult, but I'll warn you some parents get offended by that. We've gotten partly around it by taking pictures of our daughter opening each gift and sending it to the "giver" with the thank you note (which allows them to "see" her opening the present). Have a great party!

I agree that you don't want too many structured activities for that age, but when my son turned two he had a construction party and we played one game that the kids loved. We set up my son's big dump truck and the kids tried to toss "rocks" (beanbags or rolled up dark socks) into the truck. Have fun!

The sprinkler sounds like a great idea, as long as you don't have too many kids to change out of wet clothes and such, or a couple of handy helpers, at least. The trampoline would be a no-go, because of accidents. This age does not follow directions very well! One idea that I loved when my son was little: The Mothers' Almanac suggested that you get a cotton sheet (already hemmed) and bring it out yearly for birthdays, letting each guest(and mom/dad) color a picture and sign their name and date it, w/adult help:) After the party, seal the crayon pictures with waxed paper and a warm iron, then launder as usual. I did this for years, and it makes a good "as guests arrive" activity. I still have my son's sheet, and plan to give it to him when he becomes a daddy. It could also become a quilt topper someday, or a fun bedspread. It becomes a permanent memory of friends, family, and fun. (I drew a picture of the "Count (Seseme St.)Cake" that he couldn't keep his fingers out of..) As for games/activities: with 2 yr olds, simplicity is important--colored chalk, bubbles, supervision! Happy party day!

It sounds like you have plenty of things to do :) Another cheap idea that has always been a hit for us, is a bubble machine. You can get them at Target or Walmart for around $10. The little ones love it!! Have fun!!!

We just had a sprinkler party, but the biggest hit was that my husband put a $3 one-ring kiddie pool at the base of our slide and hooked up the hose so that water was flowing down the side. The water slide was a huge hit! If your kiddos are a bit young for the water going down the slide, they'd still enjoy sliding into the pool at the bottom. A separate child's pool might be fun as well. We had two pools (both borrowed), a sprinkler and the water slide, and the kids had a blast! Have fun!

I just had a 2 year old birthday last weekend. Let me tell you, don't do activities. The less scripted the better. All they want to do is run and play. We have one of the family play center pools from Target, and I filled it half full with water and they all played in that after an hour of running and playing with all my son's toys and such. We let them play in the water for about 30-40 minutes and then changed and had cake and presents. I had snacks that were sandwiches (pb&j,ham & cheese loaf), 2 kinds of chips (lays with ridges and fritos - less messy), dip, grapes and strawberries. Everyone loved the snacks and had juice boxes I bought at Sams. The one thing I did have since it was a summer party was balloons I had blown up that I bought at the dollar store. They have all different kinds, regular ballons and then long wavy balloons and we also got beachballs from the dollar store and blew those up and the kids loved the balls and the balloons the best! Then I gave each one a beach ball as they left. Because we surely don't need 9 more balls in the house. Especially beach ball size. It was fun and the kids absolutely had a blast for 2 hours. All the parents told me the next day, we are all at the same daycare, that the kids slept all night long! (We had it after nap time). Hope this helps. Just remember, the kids will have a great time just running and playing!

Limbo is always fun and cheap. At my school on play day, we get a big bucket of water at one end and an empty container of some sort on the other end. The object is to break into teams and dip the sponge into the water then have it relay down the line and the last person emptys the sponge into the container then runs to the beginning of the line. The team who fills the empty container with water first wins. I'm not sure how 2 year olds would do with this but it could be adjusted for age. For pary favors I would get some sort of cheap real tool. Good Luck!

Bubbles would be fun since it is outside. Walmart has these long stick bubbles for a $1. And you can get big packs of bubbles at the dollar store.

Have you considered bringing in entertainment for the kids? My husband and I are professional clowns living in Anna. We offer facepainting, balloon sculptures, friendship bracelets, magic, comedy along with fun interaction and games. We've entertained at birthday parties and large events like the Plano Balloon Festival.

We've found that little ones love our magic show.

Our prices are very reasonable (we have four great kids of our own so we know how expensive things can get)and we do our best to work within a person's buget.

Please feel free to take a look at our website at www.freewebs.com/bubblesandwowza for samples of our work.

Give us a call at ###-###-#### if you have any questions at all.

Hope to hear from you,

K. Schmidt
Bubbles the Clown
Bubbles and Wowza, LLC