First Birthday Celebrations Suggestions / Ideas

My son's birthday is also in October. He had 6 cousins that were elementary aged at that time so we ended up doing a party where they could wear their Halloween costumes and did Halloween cookie coloring (edible markers) and a pinata.

It seemed to be enough for what a 1 yr old could handle time wise and activity wise.

AE

For my daughters' first birthdays, we had family over for a bbq and the birthday girl got her very own cake. It was huge fun watching those little hands attack an entire cake, and my girls still love watching the videos. My oldest daughter received a coupon from Jewel for a free 1st birthday cake, but they must've stopped doing that because 2 years later my second daughter did not get the coupon; so I just made her cake. It's a great memory that you can capture wherever you hold the party.

For ideas on where to hold the party outside of your home, check out the Birthday Party Guide on www.kidwinks.com. It lists over 225 places in the Chicago area to hold a birthday party. If you become a member of kidwinks, which is free, you can sort the list by distance from your house. Here's a link to the Guide: http://www.kidwinks.com/ForKids/6/KidsBirthdayPartyPlaces...

Happy birthday to your little one!

I agree with the others...keep it simple at home. We had my oldest's at home, my second's at a park under the pavillion, and my third's in our church basement (it was March). For all, we just had family and a few friends with a simple homemade meal and cake.

My LO turns one in August and we are not going to huge trouble for it. He will barely know what the deal is anyway :). We are just having friends over to our place for an open house style party in the afternoon (since many friends have LO's with different nap schedules, this will allow them the freedom to pop over once their child is awake).

We'll do a birthday cake - I'm against processed sugar for my baby, but I'll let him have some cake that day, and then not again for a long time :).

It'll be low-key. I think it's more for adults than kids at this point.

For a first birthday for both of my children we just had a party with friends and family at home. I think it was overwhelming enough for them having all these people watching them and talking to them, trying to hold them and snapping pictures. I wouldn't suggest doing a party somewhere like chuck e cheese or mcdonalds because they wont remember that anyway and its not worth spending so much money. Keep it calmer and smaller so your daughter can enjoy her day. Order pizza, get a cake and have a good time. Keep it kid friendly, and appropriate for her. Thats just my opinion. Good luck hope this helps.

We did our son's 1st birthday at home - he was also an October baby. It ended up being a beautiful, unseasonably warm fall day so it worked out great. But we would have just had everyone inside if the weather had been bad. We ended up grilling out and I made some side dishes and a salad and bought things like good sausage, cheeses, olives, smoked salmon, etc. for appetizers. A 1-year-old's party is really an adult party in my experience. Your daughter likely isn't going to remember it, and she's going to be happy as long as you're happy. We just invited family and close friends, and we had a blast. I did have some other kids there, our nieces and a couple of friends' kids - I didn't feel obligated to have games for them or anything. I just bought a couple dozen yummy sprinkle cookies at the bakery where I got his cake and put those out for the kids. And they helped him open his presents, which they all loved (because a 1-year old can't really open presents yet without some help).

Chuck E. Cheese - yeah obnoxious place. Dark, loud, constant dinging bells from the ski ball machines, and 11 year-old boys running around like crazy hopped up on soda. Not a solid choice for a little one's birthday.

my son's 1st b-day is this weekend and we are having the party at our house. we are keeping it simple by ordering jimmy john's for the adults/older kids and i'm making a pasta salad for the babies/toddlers that can eat that type of food. we will also do a pasta salad for the adults/older kids and chips. i'm ordering regular size and mini cupcakes from target and making my own truck shaped smash cake. i did foam door hangers for the favors and will be making rice krispie treats on a stick for the older kids/adults. we are renting a sno cone machine - because i love sno cones :) this is a party for my son of course but also my husband and i for making thru the 1st year of parenthood :) i'm making a photo dvd with music thru microsoft photo story (i'll have this playing on our tv while our friends and family are here). have fun planning!!! :)

We also had a party at home for first birthdays. If you don't have the space at home see if there is a room you can rent inexpensively at a nearby park district, YMCA, college, etc. We have done parties (or gone to others' parties) at: Chicago Childrens Museum, children's theater production, Chuck E Cheese, movie theater, Shedd Aquarium, Museum of science and Industry, Pump It Up, swimming, restaurants. Some of these are not that expensive, especially if you don't do food (just snacks and beverages). Most importantly, enjoy the day and try not to stress out. That's one nice thing about having parties outside your home; often the staff at the party location does the work. Whatever you do will be fine.

Chuck E. Cheese for a 1 year old? Hmmmmm. I think you are missing the point of this celebration. At age one, the party is more for you than it is for your child. There is no chance that your baby will ever remember this birthday, aside from pictures and videos that you show her later in life, so why torment yourself (and frankly anyone else who attends, like grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) with a kids' pizza place? You have plenty of time for those parties in a few years, when your child has friends who will celebrate her birthday with her. And besides, your child is way too young to enjoy what Chuck E. Cheese is all about - other kids and games!

For the big 0-1, stick with the basics. There will be plenty of memories built right in because it is her first. Get a great cake (it will be her first bite afterall!), a gift that will last with her forever (we gave both of our daughters Tiffany baby combs engraved with their names and birthdays when they turned one - they're only one, they don't know the difference when it comes to gifts, but this is something they can cherish as they age and even pass down) and gear your party toward the adults who will be coming. My guess is that it is you and your family who will want to celebrate this milestone most, not a bunch of kids, so cater your party accordingly. And don't be afraid to have it at home. As I said, there is plenty of time down the road for big kid venues. Plus at home, you can put your child down for her nap whenever she needs it, then return to visit with your guests for as long as you'd like. At a restaurant, you'll be fighting against the clock and worrying more about avoiding a meltdown than about relaxing and celebrating.

Take this milestone and celebrate it for what it is, and do it in an intimate setting surrounded by the people who love you and your child most in this world. Nothing will ever top that - for you or for your baby.

Hope this helps! Have fun planning and congrats on making it through the first year!

Depending on where you live and if the weather is nice enough, we have parties at the forest perserve or at one of the park districts parks. I know renting one of the shelters can sometimes be on the cheaper side. If the party has to be indoors, maybe something simple at your home like cake and ice creams and little games or maybe McDonalds.

We offer full service fun filled birthday parties here at M. in W.! We will plan your entire party for you according to the age of your child and the party guests with energy packed games, puppet shows, and a special birthday parade for your child! We also offer three different levels of packages according to your needs! We do lots of one year old parties and make sure your child is the center of attention! Please give us a call to check dates and availability at ###-###-#### or contact us at www.mygym.com, choose the W. location. Let us know you heard about us from this website! Looking forward to hearing from you!

We had our son's in the backyard, but we had 80 people! You could check into your local park district. Good luck!

I agree - the 1st birthday is really more for you. Our son's birthday is in January and we invited a lot of people so we ended up doing a bowling party which was a lot of fun! Gave people something to do and we ordered pizzas and had cake, etc.

I agree with most of the posts....Have a party at home for a 1st birthday...

Rainforest Cafe! It's a feast for the senses! (Just gotta make it through that darned gift shop!)

I just had people over to the house adn we hung out, bbq-ed, and ate. The big thing I did for the day was make a huge cupcake for my little girl that she got to sit on the floor (under a trashbag for the mess) and distroy. IMO they are so young and really wont remeber anything so why spend a huge amount of money or do something they might not even enjoy. We had a great time and it was great watching her make a mess. We got some great pictures which was all I really wantd :) Hope this helps.

Depending on the number of guest and ages of kids invited it can pose a problem. For our son's bday is in Aug so we had tons of appetizers, bevs and 2 huge cakes... The next yr bbq/pool party & cupcakes w/ do it yourself decorations for the kids, bowls w/ different sprinkles, etc.

Maybe for your little one you could do some fall activities? Pumpkin painting, kid fort made with bails of straw... depending on proximity to Halloween, let the kids wear costumes & get 2nd use of the things.

The kids really won't care much what or where, they'll have fun w/ just about anything you do! Good luck

How many people? Adults and children? Age range?

Johanson's Farms (Bolingbrook - on Boughton Road) would be nice for a birthday party. Everyone will get admission into the farm and you get the party barn for 1 hour, each person gets 1 pizza and a can of pop and we brought in cupcakes from Sams Club. Once we finished, everyone walked around, rode the ponies, and the older kids went down the huge inflatable slides. As for the goodie bags, you can give everyone a taffy apple.