Babys 1St Brithday

If weather permits and there's older kids a small scale bouncy house or blow up slide does the trick. Worth the investment down the road for other events! If you're indoors and you've got a mixed bag of children....an area where they can go to with popcorn and a seasonal video might give you peace. The babies and adults can be elsewhere celebrating the little one. I know that doesnt sound creative, but honestly a one year old's party is sort of for the parents and adults. You'll have years ahead to entertain the little bit bigger ones!

Musical Chairs / Simon Says / make head band with paper,stickers,stapler or tape it is quick easy and clean and the children love to wear them.

I am opening an Indoor Park in Salem, OR Aug 3rd, 2007 Ulitmate indoor park www.nwkidsclub.net 7,000 sq ft of fun for children 7 yrs and Under.
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Kids all love magic. Hello my name is F.. My husband has entertained children for years and it is amazing how they love it. Clowns work as well. the cheap way would be to find a freind willing to help and either rent or buy a used clown suit. Just the other day at Goodwill on Burnside and 22nd street nw I say a clown suit. good luck.

The funnest (for everybody) party I ever did was a dinosaur themed, I had a dinosaur poster/prop that all of the kids had a picture taken in front of on arrival and a designated picture developer that was in charge of getting the pictures (either printed on your computer or take to a 30 or 60 minute developer). Then I had picture frame cards and craft supplies (glitter, buttons, stickers etc) and let each child (with help from the parents, kept them busy and entertained too)decorate their own frame (while the pictures were being developed and sent each child home with the photo of them at the party as a keepsake. We did decorate your own cupcakes and I buried "dino bones" (plaster of paris with little dinosaur toys inside) for them to hunt, as well as a "pinata" that I made into the shape of a dinosaur egg with paper mache and had them kick like a soccer ball (good for younger kids) until it broke rather than hanging. It was my son's 3rd birthday and EVERYONE in my family still comments about how fun it was for all, and the "party favors" (photos) are still cherished!! It was a lot of work but not too expensive and everyone from 2 to 70 had a great time! One table with inexpensive disposable table cloth kept all of the craft and decorating supplies in check, just switch table cloths between activities!

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html

This website is amazing. it has so many different themes & ideas. I usually read through all the posts & chose different ideas to run with.

good luck! :)

your son is turning 1, are all the other kids that age or are they older? older ones can play pin the tail on the donkey and who ever is closest give them a prize.there are a lot of games for kids of different ages. you should be able to find a web site for games for kids to play and they probably would specify the age ranges for each game.

We had my son's 1st at Gymboree and it was so easy! They entertain the kids in their mat/play room with a parachute, songs and bubbles. There is a separate room for food. You can bring your own cake, etc. They provide the goody bags and clean up the mess! By far it was the best idea.
For his 2nd bday I had it at home and it was hectic. I too had 12 kids and panicked. I rented a 6 foot long little table w/chairs from Parties to Go and covered with a Thomas the Train plastic tablecloth. For a craft, we did a little put together foam sticker kit for candy corns that we pasted on paper gift bags (I got at the craft store or Target). I think the best thing was the "decorate your own cupcake". Frost the cupcakes but have licorice strings, gummy worms, m&m's, etc. for decor. The kids loved it. I also had a little tunnel and a playhouse/tent with balls in it. Between those and the balloons, they entertained themselves. It is important to have a set time (2 hours) so that if people drop off their child, they come back and if neighbor kids come, they go home. Everyone was out of there in 2 hours... thank goodness!
Good luck-
D'arcy

Visit
www.dltk-kids.com
For great craft ideas,Coloring pages
Also try bingo, ring or bean bag toss
silly things you might find at a school carnival
(Face painting anyone!!)

hi... i had a jumper at my daughter's first bday... it was great... i thought it would be too much... she was only one... but more than half of the other kids that came were all older... she went into it too... but it entertained the other kids for hours... they had blast in it... i just designated someone as keeper of the gate to monitor everyone... who wasn't afraid to jump around with the kids inside too... while i was running around taking care of everything else... thank goodness the first bday has come and gone... that must have been the most stressful planning... good luck!

My favorite activity was when I made cupcakes and they all decorate their own cake. Just set out frostings, decorations etc. Messy but fun! I've also done mini fruit pizzas with slice and bake sugar cookies, strawberry cream cheese and assorted fruit slices. Let me know if you want the recipes!

M.

I brought my daughter to chuck e cheese for he 1st and my son's we just stay'd home for a family party. I read somwhere that alot of kids is too much on the little ones and that one friend for each year of life is more than enough. but if your child attends day care with alot of other children. he might have a blast with duck duck goose.

I have always found crafts to be a great activity at parties. Why not have the kids make something for halloween like a mask or decoration garlans of little ghost.

I also love the idea of collages and playdo. There is a playdo like molding that can be bake so kids can make things like key change a ring holder for mom.
Have fun and don't forget the ice cream with the cake!!!!!!!!!!!

I have found that kids like to hunt for things. I usually do a sort of easter egg hunt idea except with birthday themed things. Last year my son had a dinosaur and I hid several little dinosaurs and other treats around the house for them to find.

I know alot of people would say it is a no-no but blow up balloons and let them play with them like balls. If there are different ages then you can have games (like how many marshmallows can you shove in your mouth at once and still say happy birthday (your child's name)), or relay races, or potato sack races. Set up an obstacle course for them to run through, your little guy can even do that one. Have fun and happy birthday

Hi R.!

I usually like to have games plannned out and everything planned out as far as keeping the kids occupied. If you don't have structure it usually ends up with chaos. I like having a craft, a couple of games, and then cake time. I find lots of good ideas on FamilyFun.com. They give you game and treat ideas that go along with your birthday theme. Hope you have a great birthday party and enjoy those kiddos!

I found with my children that the first birthday is really more for family than the child. Most babies sleep through the majority of the day so you are really haveing a party for your friends and families. I too had a lot of children come to the party and so we planned alot of small activities. I went to the dollar store and bought play doh ( usually can find 10 packs for !$ as well as crayons ( Our local dollar tree has 4 packs of 8 crayons for 1$). I also went online and downloaded coloring books. Google free coloring pages and you will get thousands of choses. I also bought mini loaf pans and baked the cake in those then only decorated one small cake ahead of time for the birthday boy and put out small containers of frosting and cake decorations and let each guest frost and decorate their own cake. Pinatas are also a fun activity and you can get a pull string pinata for younger kids and eliminate the possible injuries of a bat and blinddfold, just let each child pick a string and pull. Just don't over plan it but be sure you have activities aimed more for the age of your guests children then your child.
Good luck! and Happy Birthday to you rlittle one.

We did bubbles and fun dance kid music at my son's 1st birthday. It was a hit with the kids. Of course this might work better for younger kids. Maybe this option for the younger, and some of the previous posters idea's for the older :). Good luck!! first b-days are so hectic, but a blast.

-- S.