Creative Ideas for Son' First Birthday Party

You should check out Family Fun magazine and the Family Fun website, they have GREAT party ideas!

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I'm going to be in a similar place for my babies' first birthday party in January. I'm planning an at-home carnival theme and will be putting together homemade carnival games that vary so they should suit all ages from 2 - 10.

For older kids, basket toss, bottle toss, etc. For little ones, lollipop tree, duck pond, etc. For prizes, I've been saving up cheap cereal box toys, will probably buy a few things from Oriental Trading Company and have prize/treat bags kids can add their treasures to.

Also having face-painting, renting cotton candy or popcorn machine, lots of balloons & streamers. My only qualm is what to have for food since all carnival food is so greasy and junk! All-in-all, should end up being quite inexpensive and a lot of fun for all the guests.

Best wishes!

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Cookie decorating is fun for all ages. You can either make the cookies from scratch or buy the pillsbury sugar cookies from the store. Make circular cookies premade. Have icing and sprinkles, etc. for the kids to make. It's fun and fairly inexpensive. All the kids like to eat them afterwards! Even the adults will have fun with this one!

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try grannygracecares.com She is a granny clown that reads books, tells stories, does magic tricks. She has a DVD as well and anyone I give it to, just loves it. She teaches manners, and does silly things that children of all ages just love. With your variety of ages, they would all be pleased.

If you do contact her, tell her D. V mentioned her name.

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I don't know if they do this, but it's worth checking - have you checked into whether Gymboree will host a party? It's a great, fun, safe, entertaining space for kids between a few months all the way to five years old. And it's all padded, so less worry for the mothers.

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Several years ago I did a pumpkin themed party that went over well. We decorated pumpkin cookies, played pumpkin bowling, pin the face on the pumpkin, pumpkin hopscotch, and all kinds of things. Everyone had a great time.

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I suggest you set up a craft table for the older kids. Not all the kids will want to do this but I'll bet that there will be several that will spend the entire time doing crafts. You could do Thanksgiving and holiday type stuff.

For the 3-5 year old set I always did pin the tail and musical chairs. For pin the tail I made a poster that matched up with the party theme. So one year it was pin the tail on Scooby Doo etc. For musical chairs DON'T do the thing were there is one less chair than kid....that only results in tears and fights. They'll be happy just marching around and then scrambling for seats. Make up some reason to give each kid a prize. These two games can be played inside or outside. Just remember that all the games and activities will take up far less time than you think. Don't make the party too long!

One other thought: personally, I hate the pinatta (sp?). FIghting, cutting in line, accidents and hitting, and general chaos all standard procedure. Just say no....

have fun!

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Hi J.,

Our daughter-in-law had an original and wonderful birthday party for our grandson's first birthday. The theme was "goin' fishin' ". There were a lot of kids that came and all different ages. She made the cake to look like a fish--used those round wafer candies for the scales. She had a couple of games, including a fishing game of some type--stick a pole into or over a designated area where someone attaches a "prize". It can be something really inexpensive (Tootsie Roll) or whatever. She gave out goody bags--also with a fish theme) and everyone enjoyed themselves, including the adults.
Good luck to you. Let us know how the party turns out, please.

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The range of ages, I'm sure is a bit challenging for you. You can have a small party - cake and Ice cream w/ treat bags. Weather is such a variable for you. On a nice fall day, you can rent a fun hayrack ride (especially in your area - you might be able to find someone to do a hayrack ride cheap), have a caramel apple/ chocolate apple dip afterwards w/ hot apple cider or hot chocolate after. Also, making a small bond fire afterwards would be fun. You can always go to a Chuck E Cheese in that area, if you don't want to have one in your home. If it's at your home, scavenger hunts may be fun for the older kids - they would cruise the neighborhood for objects - winning team gets prize. I have a great list for a scavenger hunt if you are interested. Just personal message me if you want it. Hope this helps! Good luck!

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My suggestions are to keep the party short and unstructured! It is hard to choose activities to please all of those ages at the same time. For my son's 1st birthday in July we actually made it a big cookout to please adults (because there were several childless family members & friends coming), had plenty of toys out for the kids to play with, and gave out age-appropriate gift bags early on in the party. We didn't go on a strict schedule, just kind of went with the flow for cake & presents. I think everyone had a good time - I didn't get any complaints!

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This is something for the oder kids. You can tye dye t shirts. I did this last year for my sons 6 th birthday they loved it. I did it in the garage so there was no mess. My then 1 1/2 year old even did it, with help of course. ( she is now 2 1/2) I the tye dye stuff at michaels and I bought a package of hanes tshirts. ( but they were all teh same size) since you are having a big range you might want to get them seperate, they sell them at michaels too. get all the kids sizes. OR you can ask each family to bring a shirt for their kids to do a fun activity with. this way its not too expensive. You will also need ziplock bags, the bigger ones ( galon size)

It was really fun.

Let me know if you want more information
C.
____@____.com

PS there some one out there that comes to your house, I can find her information, but she was more money then doing it yourself

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Hi, J.! Planning a first birthday is exhausting, but I love at home parties. Do you know a friend or local teacher who you could hire inexpensively to do music games and singing with the kids? This is a huge hit. Spend money on paper goods and since one year olds won't know the difference, save money by not buying all the junk they put in CD's and make a CD of the music from the party for all the kids. They love it!

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a pinata!!! we had one last year for my son's bday party. It was a hit. we took turns youngest to oldest and everyone had at least 2 tries. the oldest was 11 and we really had to make ithard for him to hit. I think some other "classic" games like pin the tale on the donkey or hot potato. Maybe even hire a couple of teenagers to run the games or crafts. This would really help. good luck and have fun.

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Goebberts Farm. West on Higgins about 5 miles past Hoffman Estates. There's something for all ages, encluding the moms that will bring the kids. Spook house, petting zoo, hay rides,pumpkin picking, decoration buying, THE BEST APPLE CIDER i've ever tasted besides kid friendly foods; pizza, hot dogs, nachos, etc. They host parties, just call

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Hi J.,

I am having my son's first birthday party as well. It will be on Nov 8, but was born on the 9th.

Anyway, I have the same thing with age wise. I am doing color pages I printed off of a website. It is a packet with word searches, dot-to-dot, mazes, and color pictures. I picked up some cayrons from the dollor store. Also, I am making a slide show for the adults that live out of town that they can view while talking.

There will be a movie playing as well for anyone who wants to watch it. We are ordering Avantis for lunch, we will have some different food that everyone can eat.

I hope this helps.

L.

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