Any Ideas for a 2Yo Birthday Party?

J.,
My son just turned 2 and we kept his party very simple. I invited over a few friends and family and cooked hot dogs in the crock pot..I decorated the cake with John deer tractors. At this age it isn't about gifts or the party..It is about time spent..I do know that at AC moore they have cake pans in popular characters..and if you can easily find coupons for 30% nearly every week..(I do believe you can go to their website and print one out if you don't get the paper). My son had a great time..
Hope this helps
J.

My son will be turning 2 in a few months and I haven't really figured out what we are going to do either. But here are some ideas I've been playing with-Burgerking or McDonalds that has the play area. You don't have to book a party with them either. It's a nice place for the kids to eat and run for those that are old enough and everyone buys their own food or you could buy happy meals for for a few kids that you invite.

Or have it at a nice park with a playground in the afternoon and just serve up a few snacks and some juice boxes for the kids or let the cake be the snack.

Get some decorations in with his favorite thing on it (my son would be a toss up between truck and Mickey Mouse) and you've got a party. Oh, and if you make your own cake and want to get a cake topper like they use in the deli's, you can buy them for about 5 bucks. That's what I've always have done for my daughter's cakes and I let her help me decorate it. And let me tell you, she has designed some hedious looking cakes in the past but she has a blast doing it!!

Just remember, as long as your son and the kids have fun, that's all that matters. They won't care about anything else!!

S.

Hi, J.!

As a single mom, I totally empathize with what you are feeling!

Here's an article I ran across while also searching:

http://www.livingonadime.com/articles/kids-birthday-parti...

You can also go to Burger King or McDonald's. I heard it was FREE fun!

I was a single mom and was in the same situation as you when my daughter was turning 2. Actually, I never received help from anyone and she is almost 6 now. When she turned 2 we went with some friends to Scallinis on Cobb Parkway and celebrated. You eat for free if it is your birthday. It was small and everyone paid for their own dinner. Your friends will understand. Then we sang and opened presents. She actually loved it. Now, she doesn't remember it at all.
Freecycle.org and you can ask for things to decorate. It is a free site to either give things away or to get things for free. Don't stress the small stuff, save your strength for bigger things. Special things can be snuggling, laughing, spending time together. It is hard, but there is light at the end of every tunnel. Keep your chin up and look forward. Everyone has moments of being not very strong. You are not alone.
peace in your heart and love in your head,

Well good for you. It already sounds like you've made a memorable birthday. See if your daughter can pick a theme. My son went straight for Mickey Mouse. There are 2 sites I would recommend, Disney and PBS. They both have birthday party ideas where you print and make a lot of things on your own, which saves money. And if you want to print in color, the UPS store charges $0.49 for a cardstock color copy (I made my own invitations with 2 to a page and took them there to be printed. Then I used scrapbook scissors to give it a fancy edge).

For your cake, use a cake pan you already have. Find a relatively simple picture of the character(s) she wants. Print it out then draw it on a piece of wax paper. Flip the paper over and you can make characters out of frosting. Fill in the areas with the right frosting color, freeze it for a couple days, then gently peal it off and place it on your frosted cake. Then you don't have to buy new cake pans and you can still make a fancy cake. if you're really brave, you can ty to just make your character on the cake but I'm not that talented.

Also, mylar balloons are refillable so I recommend those over the laytex. I don't know if you have the storage but the helium tanks that you can buy everywhere are a good investment. We found out the balloon stores charge the most just for filling up the balloon. My boys love balloons and beacause the mylar ones are refillable (and last many days vs 1 day for latex) we reuse balloons a lot. In fact, we've reused the Mickey Mouse balloons from last years birthday many times through out the year.

Here are the sites for make your own birthdays.
http://tv.disney.go.com/playhouse/grown-ups/celebrationce...

http://www.pbs.org/parents/birthdays/dragontales/index.html

Kazoos make great favors and you can usually get a dozen for around $1 at party stores.

The other thing I do for my boys especially since they don't care about cards yet, is I get a card for them and then write them a letter in it. I write monthly up to 2 years just to tell them what they've been doing, etc and then quarterly for my 2 yr old and probably less and less unless they have a major milestone. It's so they can read about it later.

I wish you a wonderful birthday! I think you're courage, strength and determination are the best birthday present. Congratulations to you.

Dear J.-
It sounds like you have been through so much. I'll keep you and your daughter in my prayers.
For your daugher's birthday, just make the day about her. Maybe pack a picnic and go to the park and just play together. Bring sand toys if there is a sand area there. She's going to remember the time spent playing with you the most. Then maybe you could let her "help" you make her birthday cake or dessert - if you don't mind a mess! Some balloons to play with and toss around as a game, a tickle game, dance and sing silly songs would make her day memorable. Hope this helps and best of luck to you and your daughter. A.

Happy birthday to your little girl! We just celebrated our boy's 2nd birthday, so the advice I have is to just try and incorporate her favorite things into any celebration you have. For his birthday, our ds wanted a special hat and he wanted to eat cake. Not expensive, and he really enjoyed himself. Later, his grandpa took him to the airport to watch planes take off (he's really into airplanes right now.)

Balloons are inexpensive and fun to play with (just the regular kind, not helium). Maybe some of those and your daughter's favorite foods? Ask her what she'd like to have at a party - she may come up with something that will surprise you.

I took my son (21 months old) to a 2-year old birthday party for a little girl in his class this past Saturday. It was held at the Fun Zone in Irmo, and it was our first time there. It was awesome!! The kids jumped all over the inflatable jumpers and played with every single toy!! I did call them yesterday (they also have a location in Lexington, SC) to find out the info so that I could have my son's b-day party there too. They have something called a walk-in party for 10 children, and have an eat-in area for snacks & juice. It is at $115, which is a little high to me, but I spent that last year just on food & decorations for his 1-year b-day party. The party went at a great pace this past weekend. It was from 10-11:30am. The kids played their hearts out until 11, then we went to the eating area and sang happy birthday, cut the cake and all the kids had a juice box. Then they were back to playing for 30 more minutes, then we were off to home for lunch. No need to worry about decorations or the sort!! The kids were so happy and having so much fun that they didn't care about anything else!! The hosting parents did bring bottle water for the parents if they wanted. I was also thinking of doing cupcakes instead of a cake, which I would make myself. It would be worth checking out the place, I know my son was just in his element with having sooo much fun with the other kids. http://www.funzoneforkids.net/
And congratulations on being a strong woman and a strong mother! A child is the greatest gift a mother could ever receive.

Hi J.,

I think they would love a bubble machine. Something else they would love is painting with pudding where they can lick it off their fingers. As for goodie bags, how about some homemade playdough. Cheap to make and much softer for little hands. It's also used at school to develop their hand muscles. Have fun, they only turn 1 once!

I would definitely make cute cupcakes. Kids LOVE having their own little cake and you can really decorate them or just pile them high with icing without spending too much. I think she will be overjoyed just to have her own celebration!

oh my gosh!
there are a ton of things you can do that look great and "feel fun" without costing a lot of money....
i've done our daughter's last 3 birthdays on a budget and they've been really cool!
i can help you if you need any ideas for themes, ideas, colors, etc....my advice is to pick a theme and stick with that! call me if you would like, and i can discuss and help out....my name's S. and phone is : ###-###-####....
hang in there and remember, it's about the celebrating and enjoying the special moment!

J.,
God bless you. Being a mother is the hardest, most rewarding job on the planet. I'm proud of your decision to leave and make both of your lives better. When I had very little, we started Mia's birthday with breakfast of her choice and she helped make it. Then, she picked out her favorite birthday outfit to wear. To smell pretty, she picked one of my fragrances to wear for the day, and we went to a matinee. When we got home, my mom joined us for (homemade) cake with her favorite character on top and ice cream. After that, she went on a scavenger hunt around the house for four little toys (dollar tree style). The hunt was fun for her and the look on her face was priceless. So, with the matinee movie, the $5.00 in toys, and homemade cake it was a very affordable birthday. And, we still have our birthday movie now that she's past 18. Keep up the good work. It's very rewarding and you'll always be her best role model. Be blessed.

I previously told another Mom, don't drive yourself crazy over this one, as the child is not likely to remember it. Probably the thing that would give her the greatest joy would be a day of swimming or a trip to the zoo. At this age, they really do prefer activities that are simple. Too much razzle dazzle will only overwhelm her. One of the greatest joys for her will be that she is likely old enough to blow out her own candle and make a wish! (Don't forget to take lots of pictures!) If you have friends and family, you could invite them over for a pot luck supper (everyone brings a dish). And now is a good time to buy her one special gift, like a quality 15 inch doll that shares her features rather than a bunch of smaller gifts. A special doll or bear is a gift that keeps on giving. It can be her companion to tea parties, her snuggle buddy at night, etc. And as your daughter gets older, she can choose from an never ending supply of accessories for her little friend. Ah, but here I am making specific suggestions for a person I know nothing about. Just remember to keep it simple and fun for the both of you. Good luck!

I was a single mom for 10 years - with no help from her father. So, I can definitely relate to your situation.

I did a Barbie party for my daughter when she was 2 (she is now 13)- because she had an older cousin and knew what Barbie's were at that time and she LOVED Barbies. What is your child's favorite toy or character - plan a party around that.

There are tons of things you can do inexpensively and still make it a really nice party. If you give me some ideas about what she is in to...I can help you with some creative ideas, if you'd like. Oriental Trading (www.orientaltrading.com) has some awesome party stuff that is fairly inexpensive, and then there is always Dollar Tree.

Cake and Ice Cream. Go to Dollar Store for decoration.

J.,
sounds like the past year has been really difficult, and i commend you for doing what you think is right..i have three kids, 10.7.2...all i can remember about my oldest son'sbirthday party (at gymboree), is that after spending a small fortune on the bash, inviting 20 kids, (which wasn't easy at his age he didn't know that many kids but since we were paying for it, figured might as well get our money's worth) anyway, he cried the whole time. he was not a fussy kid...it was so overwhelming to be the center of attention, and have everyone he knew in one room, he hated it! don't underestimate a small family/friend gathering for a two year old. her favorite things, and people some decorations, you can go to a park and set up a picnic, or do it at your new home in the yard...she'll love that even more than a big party that she won't remember anyway. i did small things for my other two kids until after they were three, when they could really enjoy it, and the small parties were really special. good luck to you!

Try a Party in the park. It's fun but inexpensive.

My son just turned 2 less than a month ago and we had a nice, at home party. I baked him a Mickey Mouse cake, had his "bestest friends" from daycare over and a couple of family members. I bought some mylar balloons from the Dollar Tree and some Mickey Ears from Oriental trading. I didn't spend more than $20 on decorations/favors/snacks. It was small, intimate, and my son had a great time. Sometimes simpler is better! At this age, they can over-stimulate easily and we like to take it easy with him. Good luck & I hope you have fun!

Two year olds are very young and will enjoy activities. They're not yet anticipating gifts and a big hoopla. So some ideas I would offer if you don't have money to spend are a day at the park, maybe with a picnic. You can get take out pizza at some places for $5. We all know kids love pizza. May be you can feed ducks, if there's a pond at your park. I'd keep it simple. I doubt she'll know the difference if you spent a hundred or $10 bucks. You can get a balloon at the dollar store if she likes them. You can get a soccer ball at most places for $3. Kids tend to love kicking them around, so that would be fun to present to her at the park. Target has nice headbands with flowers and what not in the $1 bin. It can be her special tiara. Michael's Craft Store has coloring books for $1. And you can make cupcakes instead of a big cake. Decorating the cupcakes can be an activity. I'd just consider what you know you're daughter likes and your budget, and make it simple. If you are happy and excited, she will be too.
Depending where you live, a day at the zoo might be fun. They usually have $2 meals for kids, or you can pack a lunch/picnic to have.
If you're inviting people, don't feel the need to feed them. Let them know it's cake and beverage only. Let's face it, big parties are lost on little ones. Big parties are really for grown-ups.
If it's just a mommy & me date, you could take her to a build-a bear workshop and make a mini friend for $5 if she loves dolls.
I hope you have fun. Oh and Bubbles are cheap and seem to always wow them. You could have fun with bubbles at the park. Make sure to bring towels and bottle of water to wash off hands with.

Kids at that age just love to run and play. I think a playground would be awesome weather permitting. If not, a friend's house or your local church. Not much decoration would be required, but streamers are pretty cheap and maybe a balloon. Dollar stores sell ballons now for a dollar!

Art work is always fun and not too expensive. Finger paints would be fun, though messy and they can take it home with them instead of goody bags. You can get plain colored plates at a store for under a dollar and a cake that is decorated for maybe ten dollars. Kids don't really need huge cakes. There is always too much left over that goes to waste. She will love you regardless and enjoy playing more than anything. I would say you could get away with that for around twenty-five dollars not counting her gift.

$2.00 Streamers
$1.00 Balloon
$1.00 Plates
$1.00 Forks
$1.00 Cups

$2.00 Paper
$5.00 Couple of finger paints

$2.00 Juice
$10.00 Cake

I hope that helps a little.

I am a single parent of two and I understand. My son has not seen his father since he was 15 months. Good Luck!

For my son's second birthday we had a party with family and a few friends at our home. We did hotdogs and hamburgers and it was not too expensive. If you plan it for 3:00 in the afternoon you could get away with doing finger foods/snacks. We rented a "zooland" from SpaceWalk of Conyers and the kids loved it. It is age appropriate for 2-5 year olds. Don't worry with buying your daughter something over the top from yourself because she will be so wrapped up in the party and her guest that she will not know who gave her what and consider the party your gift to her. We had a Sponge Bob theme party because my son LOVES Sponge Bob and we did a pinata. All in all it was not overly expensive and he had a blast!