Daughters 1 Year Old B-bay Party

I'm not sure if you are in our travel area, but that's what we do! www.partiesbystacey.com/characters.html

S.
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Hi A.-

I wish you luck in planning your party. I do have one area where I could help. Not sure if you're in San Diego, but if you are I make children's birthday cakes, including Elmo. My website is www.sdcakelady.com.

As for entertaining the older kiddos, you could have them do some art projects. You could check KPBS.com to see if they have art project ideas. As well, pin the tail on the donkey is always good : )

Good luck!

Sincerely,
N.
The Cake Lady
www.sdcakelady.com

Being that she is only 1, i doubt if she really cares. What kind of gathering do you want for the adults? For all my kids we just had great BBQ's. If you do too big a deal for the one year party you may feel pressure each year to top it. Start small and work up to a big deal for her 5th birthday.

I personally don't think you need any games for a 1 year old birthday party. the kids will entertain themselves! I am not a big fan of gift bags. Last year I gave away a Disney memory game (got in on major sale) and the adults loved it because it was something their kids could use over and over again. You have a mix of age so you will have to keep that in mind, but you could do a book or a cheap game. Check out Big Lots or the $.99 store.

I did a brunch in between my son's two naps. Worked out perfectly. The kids who did come played together and made up their own games. The adults got to sit and have a nice meal. 2 hours later it was over. :) In fact, I did it this way twice since we have family in northern California and down here.

I wouldn't worry too much about entertaing the little ones. You'll have to judge the parents for this idea. Throw ping pong balls into glass jars/bowls filled each with a gold fish. The kids take the goldfish home for the favor whether they win or not. What's Elmo without Dorothy?
I think someelese posted a request similar a while back so research in the birthday catergory. I had lots of ideas then but all I remember now is the fish. Oh-decorate cookies for Elmo's friend Cookie Monster. This is a good ice breaker activity as guest come in-1 year olds could "help" do that.
Go to birthdayexpress.com. blick on the elmo or seseme street partyware. There should be a link for game, food and decorating ideas.
Be wary of an Elmo pinata-some little ones get upset seeing a beloved character's head fall off. go witha #1 if you have a pinata.

We just had our son's first party,"Wiggles" themed, it was fun, it depends on the age of the kids coming to the party. We did a pin the tail on Dorothy Dinosaur,Hot potato and played Wiggles music on the cd player. We got these big bubble wands from Wal Mart for a buck a piece and the kids loved that, we also printed up coloring sheets off the internet and bought some crayons, we bought colored pipe cleaners and googly eyes and the kids made animals out of them. Don't worry about keeping everyone entertained, the adults will be there to supervise their own kids, just have lots of food and drinks, (we orderd a bunch of $5 pizzas and dominoes delivered, we had fruit and pasta salad, veggie trays and chips,pretzels) and everyone will mingle and have fun!!! for treat bags,we used brown lunch bags, printed and pasted pics of wiggles on the front,cheap and cute! we put in little bottles of bubbles and fruit snacks, wiggly straws and gummy worms. Have fun and remember they only turn one once so enjoy your day!!! Take lots of pics!!!!

Hi A.,
We had simular circumstances for my son's first birthday. We bought little lunch sacks (that keep lunch cool) from Wal-Mart. They were just under $2.00 a piece. Inside we put a hot dog, a drink, a baggie of chips and a punching balloon. The kids got to keep the lunch cooler and play with the balloon. All ages loved it.
PLUS - when the adults came with the kids, they got to enjoy a hot lunch since the kids' lunch was ready to go.
We have also been to a party where they had a craft the kids could do, if they wanted. It was nice.
Hope that helps.
P.

Bubbles are always a big hit for kids of all ages. Also, there are some really fun stuff at Target in their $1 area. You can get coloring books for the older kids as that will be fun for them and keep them entertained. For my son's 1st bday we did bubbles, elmo figures (we did an elmo theme as well), little quirting toys and toy cars. All of which were pretty inexpensive and the kids loved them. We did a BBQ. It was fun & easy. We had potatoe salad, macaroni salad, mini burgers (huge hit with the kids and they were served on Hawaiian rolls - so yummy - costco has a great deal on them) hot dogs and a veggie tray. Also, I find that if you open the presents early on at the party there are new toys for the kids to play with. Have fun!!

A 1 year old is not going to be doing what the older kids are. Mostly, the "other" entertainment you have will be for the older kids. At 1 years old, they might even be afraid of a "clown"... which is what we got for my daughter for her 1st B-Day party.

Try going to: www.orientaltrading.com and they have TONS of things for all ages.... gift bags, craft kids, temporary tattoos, games, pinatas, etc. Something for every age, and at bulk prices.

Also have the adults help you...
Treasure hunts in the yard are also fun. Or face painting etc. ALSO, you have to be sure you don't mar/mark/damage anything in the club-house, or you will have to pay for it out of your deposit, right?

As for food, keep it to things that are easy to eat with hands. Finger foods, stuff from Costco in those food trays... pizza, mini hotdogs, water bottles, box juices, pre-made vegetable trays & dip, etc.

Oh, and get lots of disposable table cloths! which you can also use as drop cloths, if the kids are doing something messy.

All the best,
Susan

Hi, first party...fun! We just had one in January. I sorta had the same situation. Here are some ideas that we did (:
1. I did party bags for the older kids. Little trinkets and candy.
2. For the smaller guests, i bought those little plastic snack cups, called Take and Toss i think. You can get like 5 of them for 3-4 dollars at Wal Mart. I wrote thier names in puffy paint-so they had thier own little snack cups. And i put it in a corner that had all baby snacks (gerber). The parents could fill the cups with what they wanted. It was really cute and cheap!! Or you could do it with sippy cups, take and toss kind.
3. For games you can get a fun CD-party music. Play freeze dance, kids love that! And the one year olds will love to watch! Maybe get a CD that has LIMBO, or Hokey Pokey and do that as well. Cost effecient as well (:
Have a great party!!!

For our 1st birthday favors, we put board books in a bag with
other snacks. You can get Elmo themed board books at the Dollar store or 99 cents store usually. It's a good safe gift
for that age group.

Hi A.; I hope I can give you some ideas to help. For my little kids at the 1st BD. party, I tried a game called, "Pass the rubber duckie", so music and the person who holds the duck when the music stops, gets applauded, yae! Then on until the song is through. We picked a Rubber-Duckie song from Sesame Street. Then, we played, "Peek a Boo", the bigger kids broke a pinata I made, that would easily fall apart, with safe candies, toys and I made individual A B C blocks of cake for everyone. There was lots of filming and we had a story time. Balloons are fun to kick around, bubbles and bubble wands, use safe soap solution (Johnson's Baby Shampoo). Pin the tail game I made (Eeyores tail), your's could be a Sesame Street Pin the nose on Elmo, or something- you have to make it yourself with colored posterboard. If you can create a puppet show, little kids love that, or they could play with it, if you have puppets there. Those bouncers are for carnivals or school Fairs, and kids just get sick to their stomachs or headaches. You can have a treasure hunt too, "Where's Elmo?" Short game activities and a short party too, as far as the kids go, otherwise, everyone starts crying cause they are over stimulated and tired, especially the birthday child. Free play on the floor with safe toys while adults talk, as long as they keep eye on small children. Make sure your little child isn't demanded on too much, keep it simple, and make sure he/she got their sleep, and you've planned ahead, so there isn't as much stress on you. Ask another adult to help you too with the party, and/or helping the B.D. child with participation. No yelling. No competition, just simple and fun. Charge your camera, and video, remember matches, keep them near the cake, plan ahead.

These are just ideas of mine and I'm just one person, hehe:
Have a section of the room with a big soft comforter or blanket with some baby toys and books on it for the one yr olds that don't walk yet or even just so that there's a little play area for them no matter what's going on.
Have an Elmo coloring table where there's crayons and elmo coloring pages (free printed from internet, or buy a coloring book from $1 store and rip them all out)
Have a real or fake goldfish bowl (high enough so little ones can't reach) full of goldfish and all the older ones can guess "How many Dorothy's are in the Fish Bowl" and have a prize for the closest at the end of the party (they can put a guess with their name on it and fold and place in a decorated shoebox with a slit at the top). Have pin the nose on Elmo (You can create him with your printer and some cardboard from a box, hang it low on the wall and give each kid an orange oval from construction paper with a glue dot on it to stick) (I'd blindfold everyone but the 1 yr olds who parents can help do it). You can have Elmo Bingo for everyone who wants to and 1 yr olds can be playing with a big person or sitting with bigger ones and eating goldfish while they use the goldfish to cover the squares (you can make elmo bingo with your computer/printer). Hot Tomato Elmo is like Hot Potatoe, only the kids will pass him around till he stops shaking (or if you don't have a shaking elmo, use music and a regular elmo). You can even have a table for making elmo puppets out of lunch sacks and elmo faces and when I know I'm going to have older kids, I have mazes, word searches, sudoku and such (printed free from my computer) for them to do. It would be nice if you had a tv to play an elmo movie throughout and great for the 1 yr olds to watch. There are now sesame street juices and cookies and crackers and if you're not buying a cake, I have a recipe for an elmo head and for a box of crayons or you can make cupcakes and put an elmo cookie/cracker on top of each one. veggie platter and chips are great for older ones and gold fish and graham crackers for little ones and of course Pizza is Elmo's favorite food. I would have 1 yr old goodie bags and then a distinctly different looking older kid's bag for sure. Some ideas are: the $1 goldfish packs, lollipops, fruit snacks, bubbles (thank god only parents can open), sippy cups, sesame street books and little figurines (I've seen at the $1 store), elmo stickers, the ideas are endless and you can email me for more or help with any of these current ideas.
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At my daughter's first bday we had mixed ages at the party as well. I bought personalized m&ms that said her name on them and She's 1! and put them in clear plastic bags. We had a jumper but you could hire a bubble man. Just google it. I was going to do it for her 2nd bday. Good luck!

HI A.,

My daughter turned 1 in January and we had a very successful Elmo themed party, so here's what I did for the kids:

1. "kids table"- crayons, coloring books (Elmo & sesame st of course), construction paper, stickers, colored pencils, markers.

2. On the table, had a list of games the kids could play themselves without adult supervision.
Some of the games were:
a) design & create a bday card for the bday girl,
b) word scramble (all words related to Elmo's world),
c) find the goodie bags hidden all around the yard,
d) guess how many goldfish in the fishbowl (Dorothy)- I used goldfish crackers.

3. Gave small prizes to the kids who won. I got "temporary tattoos" at Target for girls and boys for like 2.99 each.

As far as food, I had corndogs (costco bought), grilled cheese cut in shapes (this took a little work), potato salad, chicken & beef skewers, chow mein, fried chicken. All of the food was either home made or store bought. I don't know what your budget is like, but this was very affordable for us.

For the adult entertainment, I was lucky enough to have a Wii, and two playstations.

Make sure you have a set time also. Our party was 12-4 because it was after the little one's naptime and it gave just enough time for people to get in and out. You'll see.. it will be fine and the day will go by.

In the end you'll be glad it's over :)

If you need any other ideas, let me know and I'll give you more. I see that you have a lot already!

Have fun!!