1St Birthday Party - Mechanicsville,VA

April is a little bit iffy for outside activities. Not sure how the weather gets in VA but have you considered a Chuck E Cheese or inside pizza place? What I do so I wont have to reserve a spot and pay for everyone at Chuck E Cheese, I arrive early the day of the party and get a table and bring my own decorations and cake. The food is already there and the drinks. My son's bday is in Feb and he never has gotten a big party with a jumper or at a park because of the weather so I always have it at an inside pizza place. There is no mess to clean up and everyone enjoys themselves!

Good luck!

My son celebrated his 3 birthday at a wonderful park and playground. His birthday is in the summer and I have to say, I was very nervous about the weather. I actually sat and prayed that it did not rain! (The weather behaved but it was very hot and muggy). We almost ran out of drink because everyone was so thirsty.

I could not reserve a spot at the pavilion, so I had to arrive at the park a few hours early. At the time I arrived, there were 4 parties going on. At the time of my party, we were the ONLY ones there! All that stressing for nothing.

Make sure you have a plan B. If the weather was bad, I would have to direct everyone to my house. Make sure you have the phone numbers, emails, etc. for this.

April is a little iffy for outside activities. Good luck and I'll be praying for no rain!

Birthday parties held for children under 3 are expressly for others----commonsense will tell you this. As such, you need to decide how much to cater to these "others"---the children between 3-10, or their parents, or both? If all of them, then you are really holding a party for them and your child is incidental. April (also one of my son's b'day) has been a highly variable weather month here in the DC region. When he was younger I recall only 2-3 out of 12 years that were adequately warm or dry enough for wholly outside events. I would not consider this for a one year old! When our kids were 2-5 yrs old, I only invited their friends of the same age, and requested that one adult stay with each child during the party; it did not matter if this was an older sib, a nanny or actually a parent. In this way the parties could commence easily, stay under control and truly be young-child-centered. They were also short enough to be age-appropriate.....young kids do not last long in a structured mode! But my invitation preferences might have also have been because we had no relatives nearby to attend, and I chose to invite young children who interacted regularly with us or ours. This is obviously a personal matter. Have fun whatever you choose, and take LOTS of pictures. The first birthday is great to have captured on film for albums/video which children enjoy viewing decades later...even BOYS!

Don't worry too much! Do you remember your first birthday? She will have a blast no matter what the weather with ballons and friends around! Make or buy a cake and let her eat her own piece(a big one!)Let her help open her presents, and just have fun! It doesn't take much to amuse a 1 yr old!Having fun is the most important thing!As for food- don't knock yourself out- order pizza or have pbj's and veggies and dips! Just relish in the fact that you have a great kid who is turning 1!

Hi there...I am researching my son's 3rd birthday, and I have this great link: birthdaypartyideas.com MANY ideas!

Last year, we had people over to our house just for cake and present opening (maybe 45 min, started at 10:30am), but then went to tour the local fire station. All the kids (ages 1-10) had a fabulous time getting a tour, playing on the firetrucks, meeting the firemen. Best part? It's FREE, just arrange beforehand. I gave the firemen a few dozen homemade cookies, and they were very thankful. This limits the amount of time at your house, gets people out and doing something very memorable, and is inside in case the weather is poor.

If there are going to be a bunch of kids, you could hold it at one of the little gym or moon bounce places. They are indoors. They cost around $300.00, but the adults get to participate too.

If there is just a bunch of adults, you could reserve a room at a nice restaurant or buffet and pay for everyone. (drinks would be on them)

If you attend church, and your daughter's birthday is near Easter, you could arrange for all of the kids at church to get a special cookie in honor of your daughter's birthday.

Just some thoughts.

M.

Planning a children's party at the park is a GREAT idea - the only thing is, like you mentioned, the weather can be funny - especially in April! so...I'd say, plan for the park, but have a back-up plan - if that has to be your house, then so be it! But in regards to what you need to plan for...plan for the children! Don't set your guide to how you "do" this party around everyone (the adults are accessories - they are not the real "invited guests") - and remember you don't have to go overboard. You can go to a nice Dollar Tree & find all that you'd ever need for a children's b-day party - they have all your design & paper needs, balloons, "loot" bags (if you plan to do these), candy & snacks, get big bottles of juice & water to pour in cups rather than buying expensive juice boxes, etc. Make yourself a list of what you'd like to have/do at the party. Don't over do it for children's activities - especially if you'll be at the park, cuz they'll be playing there. But if it ends up being at your house, plan for coloring activities, musical chairs, maybe an easy do-it-yourself craft that they can take home with them. Again, balloons are ALWAYS a hit - can't have enough of them...they can make a game from who can pop the most...who can keep theirs from hitting the ground, etc. You can also find a HOST of ideas online and again, you don't have to spend a lot to make this a memorable occasion. Oh and on that note, your daughter probably won't remember any of it! So...just make sure to take lots of pics so that you can show her later on in life...she'll love to see how it was when she was a "baby". Good luck!

I had my son's 1st birthday at Patapsco Park, pavilion 300 and it was great, however the day did wind up being very chilly and windy. This was in May. We cooked out and were able to invite everyone we knew (we live in a small house so I didn't want to have so many people there). The pavilion we rented was covered, had a fireplace, and a grill/kitchen/counter to serve food. I am actually renting the same place this year, but will utilize the fire place if it is cold again, we didn't realize that was going to be an option the first year. I would recommend trying to get a covered pavilion and bring tarps and rope in case it is windy or rainy so you can tie them up around the pavilion to keep out the wind/rain. There were playgrounds close by for the kids to play. I also bought a blank canvas and paint and had all of the kids place their hand print on the canvas and everyone signed it. This was a really cool memorabilia item for his first birthday and was an extra activity to do with the kids. I marked his 1 yr. height on the side of the canvas as well. Everyone did thoroughly enjoy it, but make sure to dress warm if it is even a little chilly, cause if there is shade it will typically be cold. Also, some parks charge a small admission. You can pay for all of your guest ahead of time so they don't have to, or warn them that there will be a $3-$5 entrance fee, depending on the park you use. Good luck, I do highly recommend the park/pavilion idea, it was a lot of fun.