Daughter's Second Birthday Party

At that age the kids are more into playing with toys and one another. Something to keep the parents occupied would be a good idea though. Some sort of trivia game, for example, a list of movie quotes and they have to say what movie its from, or something like that.

A freind of mine did a silly clown that came to the home and made balloon animals and hats- lots of fun

Picking a theme always makes the planning easier. If your daughter likes Dora, then have a Dora the Explorer party, complete with scavenger hunt, Pin the tail on Swiper, make a craft, etc. Or, if she likes the Little Einsteins, then you can build around that by letting the children pretend they are visiting other cities. If she likes The Wiggles, go with a musical theme and do musical chairs.... The list goes on and on. A costume ball? Everyone comes in costume and your daughter could be a chef. You could even forgo a huge sheetcake and get a smaller one for her to blow out candle and have children decorate their own cupcakes. You would have baked them in advance, of course. One year, we gave my son a pirate party and he and guests searched for buried treasure and he wore a costume. The guests received scarves and patches as favors. You can buy items like that in bulk through the Oriental Trading Company.

You could expand on the flower theme and make it a garden party with picnic blankets, little mini hot dogs, mac and cheese, etc and then for dessert do a mud cake - some crushed oreos in there with gummy worms - fun! :) It could be messy, but with a plastic tablecloth in the floor, it makes for easy clean up and she would have a blast.

Hello, I'm a mom of 3 little girls and a party planner. At two, most children are fine with a morning party that's more like a play date with 2-3 other children. At home, you could create a birthday theme based on her favorite color or nursery rhyme or cartoon character. for example, for my 2 year's old party we did an Elmo theme - decorated with red, yellow and blue; activities included a cookie game, I Spy something RED (and so on), throwing balls into Oscar's trash can and a Journey to Ernie Scavenger Hunt; items from the hunt became the goodie bag. for simplicity, we served pizza. Other 2 year old parties have been included a 'puppy' party (with Snoopy, Clifford and Blue) and a dress-up party. Hope some of these ideas inspire you; if you need additionaly help, please contact me.

A. Dorfman, CSEP
posh parties, LLC
www.poshpartiesllc.com
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If your daughter likes flowers, that can be a wonderful theme. You can send home packets of flower seeds and a shovel in a small bucket. Also, you can pin the petal on the flower, and flowers are popular room decor, so you can find wall-clings to help decorate. I've also seen a lot of flower balloons and pinatas. You didn't say when it is, and that's more of a spring or summer theme-just because some things are easier to find then (the shovels, etc). You could also do a winter wonderland theme. The stores have a ton of christmas candles (including snow-flake chaped ones) on sale, and everyone could "make" snowflakes (put glitter on paper or card board snowflakes) to take home. You could use white balls of paper to have a snow-ball fight, etc. Good luck!

I recommend you check out www.familyfun.com. Go to the party section. There are lots of really cool creative ideas there for parties, invitations, decorations, and cakes. For example, I did a jungle theme for my son's second birthday. I made vines and leaves I decorated the house with, and I made a tiger and crocodile/alligator cake. The ideas incorporate things you have around the house, and the cakes are doable for almost anyone. (I am not really the baker type....but it turned out awesome.) For little girls, there are lots of party ideas and themes. Check it out.

If you'd like to have another party at home, you might consider having a fairy-themed event this year. The Party Fairy sells a complete party in a box that provides wands, wings, crowns, jewelry and more for the little partygoers. It also provides the tabletop decor, crafts and activities, suggestions for games, etc. To see more about the party in a box, please visit:
http://thepartyfairy.wordpress.com.

The Party Fairy's blog, at www.askthepartyfairy.com, is filled with free party planning tips and advice for staging any child's birthday party.

my boss did a lady bug party and she had bug cupcakes instead of a big cake and she did face painting to look like lady bugs. One activity was to make lady bug wings (she found instructions online, for the younger kids, they got to color/decorate ones together and the older kids put theirs together) another activity was she hid plastic bugs and they each got a bug finding kit as their goodie bag, and they all got to find the little bugs and take them home for more bug finding fun. Just a thought!!

For my daughters second birthday we put out some big sheets (cloth, not paper as it would rip) on the grass then we put out a lot of finger paints and let the kids have a blast finger and body painting. They then got to take the pictures home as a favor! We had a lot of baby wipes at the ready for the clean up and a big tub of water. A cheap, easy party and possibly one of the best we have done. Great for pictures!

Hi there,
Planning parties are such fun! How about a Mommy & Me Tea party? Since most parents will actually stay with their child, making it a group playdate with both child and parent could be both joyous and a lot less stressful. Moms and daughters can arrive in pretty dresses and hats :o)

Other creative themes are Flower Fairies with flower halos and winga, Mickey's or Minnie's Playhouse, Tickled Pink...where everything is pink, a stuffed animal party (children can make their own stuffed animal and have a little adoption ceremony), Barynard, and there's soooo many more.

I'm a party planner, so I would also like to suggest keepig things very simple. At age two, most children have a really short attention span. Many clients have chosen to provide one game and one activity, then just allow the kids free play...maybe a little bounce house.
Best Wishes!

Try gymboree or little gym a lot of fun.

I do really simple parties for my girls and the kids seem love them. For their 2nd I did Elmo for the oldest and Blue's Clues for the middle. We played no games just let them play and run around. For favors we got placemats & cups to use during the party than take home. I don't know when the big party idea got started but I like the home atmosphere with little planning. I have been to parties where it is so structured that no one has fun.