Daughter's Birthday Party

For one of my daughter's B-day parties we got a couple of bags of bird seed and put them in a blowup pool with sand toys. The kiddos played forever. We kept it around for months afterwards and the neighborhood sparrows would flock after each play session.

At that age for my daughters' parties we just pretty much let the kids play with all the toys at the house. You could set up a playdoh station, a coloring station, and then a free play station. The kids will entertain themselves for the most part.

I know it doesn't sound too different or creative, but my experience was that any of the formal activities I tried were "OK", but mostly the kids just played with whatever was available and had fun that way. I also had to deal with a range of ages like you, and 1-4 is actually quite an age range when you consider their abilitites at those ages. Finding an activity that they can all do together is challenging.

Maybe they could decorate their own cookies or cupcakes? Even the young ones could do that although the clean up would be more perhaps.

You can also check out orientaltradingcompany.com, they offer party supplies and craft stuff at pretty reasonable prices.

Have fun planning your party!

J.

We were going to do something like the birdseed but with corn or grain (ours is a farm/barn animal theme). We thought about either hiding little safe toys or candy in it for the kids to find. Another idea if the weather is nice is to fill one of those small pools with a bubble solution, joy+glycerin+gazillion bubbles and let sit over night then get some big wands or hula hoops to make giant bubbles. At that age they could do a picture card treasure hunt, one pic leads to the next place to the next to the final prize or party or each place could hold a piece of a prize or game and at the end the whole package made up something. Good luck!

When I had my first daughter's 2nd birthday party, I just had a table with playdough on it, and then we played pin the nose on Larry the cumcumber (it was a veggie tale theme) which is actually pretty funny to play with 2 yr. olds. And I think I had pizza for the parents. It was simple. When you have such young kids, it makes it hard to do a whole lot. Then again, if we still have some nice weather, you could always do it at a park and just let them play.

Oh, I love the birdseed idea mentioned below!

Our plan is to go to the nearby park, have some snacks and a cake at the picnic tables, and let the kids wear themselves out climbing, jumping, and running while the adults relax. I don't have to clean the house (or cook much), or pick up the place afterward. How's that for low-key!

We like doing in home parties. Last time we did Penny's Puppets (she used to perform at the Children's Museum and now does performances around town). She was great. Stories are very fun and she interacts a lot with the kids. We had crafts (make your own puppet project out of paper bags) before the show. And then playtime and cake afterwards. It was easy and everyone enjoyed it.
http://www.pennypuppets.com/

I love the birdseed idea!! We have always enjoyed doing little creative projects with the kids at their birthdays to keep things memorable and mostly the little ones entertained. One year it was a Cars theme and we bought little wooden cars for everyone to decorate and take home. Another year was trains and they got piggy banks to paint and take home. We also always do a take home birthday coloring book. Basically I go online print off 25-30 pages of Thomas, or Cars, or Sesame Street (basically whatever the theme is) and bind them into a book with the front titled Happy ?rd Birthday, ____! The kids love it! And it isn't one of those useless party favors that get thrown out as a choking hazard or it breaking.

We also did wooden letters in each of the children's names glued to a larger shape. Again color, glitter, paint, and take home. Another idea we were considering is one of the pottery places, they have pretty good birthday packages, and even the parents could get involved.

Good Luck!

Have you been to JJ Jump? It's pretty awesome for the little ones and parents can "jump" too. ;) The price is reasonable and they provide you with a party room after jumping, all you need to bring is cake. They've got everything else.

Good luck! 2 is a fun age.