Questions About Having a Birthday Party for My 2 Year Old...

I am planning my son's 2nd bday party. We are doing an open house from 5 pm to 8 pm. We are having cold cuts, breads and a fruit tray plus Elmo cupcakes. We did an open house for his one year bday and it worked out really well. People came and went, a lot stayed for a while. We served meatballs (in a crockpot) and ravioli (in hot water) and had cake later in the evening around 7 pm.

My boy loved getting dirty when he was two. Luckily enough he has a summer birthday so we had a "messy party" with our friends from playgroup. (Family came later that day). The parents were instructed to dress their kids in something they did not mind getting dirty. I set up stations around the yard, most on cheap plastic shower curtains: flour, cornstarch and water, finger paints, slime, and a modge podge craft. At this age they love the tactile experience so the party went over well. My son did not leave the big pile of flour for two hours!! Be sure to have plenty of towels and the hose ready.

We did the same thing for all our kids for their 2nd birthday party... we invited 1 or 2 of their friends over (the moms stayed) to our house and had the party in our backyard (spring/summer birthdays). The kids LOVED having their friends over to share their special day and even though they don't remember the event now, they like looking at the pictures and seeing their friends there. My parents usually came, too, becasue they only live a couple hours away. We have huge families (between my husband and I we have 9 siblings and 16 neices/nephews) but they don't live nearby.

I think a child's birthday party is for them, not the parents -- so why have the parents' friends over? By the time my kids were close to their 2nd birthday, they were asking for their friends to come to their party. Just keep it small... they still get overwhelmed easily at that age. Our parties have always been just 3-4 friends starting at the 3rd birthday but last year our kindergartener wanted to invite all the boys in his class so we had about 10 boys come. That was the largest party we've had.

Our daughter turned 2 in Nov, We kept both her parties simple so she didn't get overwhelmed. Close family and friends. We had her 2nd birthday at Pump-It-Up. If you have one in your area check it out. We had so much fun. It is an inflatable party zone, where they have all kinds of inflatables to jump in/on. Our daughter loves to jump so we thought we would try it out. We had more fun than we ever imagined. The parents had just as much fun jumping as the kids. It was great. Check it out at pumpitupparty.com. Good luck!

You are doing exactly what I would do.
My rule of thumb is ....invite the same number of children (same age) as the number of the birthday.
This is the maximum and of course you do not have to invite that many.
we had 6 children and to avoid going crazy we had a kids party at the ages of 5 and 10 only.
Otherwise it was family only.
In between those kid parties we made it special too by taking the birthday child out to dinner or lunch with just us parents at some point near their birthday.
Have fun.

Hi A.,

We did what you are suggesting. We had the huge party for 1 and the second one was immediate family and godparents. We did personal character cookies (cute pictures with red and black Elmo icing everywhere) It was quiet, but fun.

Enjoy!

Sounds like you've gotten some good advice already. I agree with what everyone has said so far. The best thing to do is keep it simple at this age. Consider your budget and make plans around that. You don't have to spend a ton to make your little one feel special. Make sure you choose the best time in the day - if he's better in the mornings - invite your friends or family over for brunch. If he's best right after naptime -do it then.
My 2 yr. old's birthday is in October and this year we went on a hayride with grandma and grandpa and the aunt's and uncles at a local farm. We picked out pumpkins and carved them and had some pumpkin shaped cupcakes back at the house. It was really fun and not too overwhelming.

If you do opt to have a "friends" party, consider doing it more as a playdate during the week (if most of his friends aren't in daycare). I did this for my 4 year-old this year and it was great. She had her friends that she usually plays with over for a safari party. It was low key and really fun. You have to be extra-planned (I had a time schedule) and keep it right around two hours.

For some really fun birthday ideas, check out Family Fun Magazine's website. Their recipes are simple and their activities are inexpensive and easy to figure out. Our parties has really been enhanced by some of the ideas they suggest.

I would just keep it to family and friends again this year. I think I did just the family and friends thing until my kids were 4 and 5. At 2 years old it is too hard to have games and activities that will keep their attention for long. They will get worn out just visiting with family. I think you are definitely on the right track for this year's party. Good luck and most of all, enjoy the day with your little one!

Hi A.,

Don't cut your self short. Your idea is fine. I think that whatever works for you and your family is what you should do. I did the same thing with my kids when they were small. As they got older and had friends at school and such we invited little ones too. Anyhow, I did do the "theme" thing and that was fun. We also started, once they hit the teen years, only having the big party thing at mile markers like 13, 16 and so forth. That helped because the big kids can do a lot of damage to the home. LOL Well, good luck and have fun!

A Little about me:

I am an Environmental Health Specialists working full time. I have four children. One in college, a senior, an eight grader and a second grader. I have been married for 20 years.

Birthdays are all about friends and family. Two children at a two year old's party does fine. Invite family that you want to be there, but don't expect them to stay the entire time. Let the kids play and the adults visit. Once your son is older, he can have more themed parties with activities and more chidren attending. I have always scrapbooked my children's party photos and cards since many of those older folks may not be around foreever. Each year the theme can grow based upon their interests. (pin the tail on the mermaid, painting pottery, swim party (at hotel) seeing a new movie, sleepovers, etc.)

For my sons first birthday party we did a huge party. My dad's family is close, so the invite went to MY aunts and uncles and cousins, grandparents and great grandparents. It was catered and all. Since then (birthdays 2-now) we have cut it down to just his aunts, uncles, dad, dad's girlfriend (they would otherwise not do anything for him >:-$ )and great grandparents and grandparents (total of 10 people).
He's turning 6 this year, and we have our own house just the two of us, so he's making the invite list himself. It's the first year he will have some friends at the party, but not more than 6.
I think whatever you feel most comfortable with is what you should do.

We are currently planning our twins' third birthday, and had some of the same questions. Once we invite family only and two sets of friends and their kids, we are looking at 40 people... we decided to wait one more year to have a "friends" party, becuase we'd not only add about 6-8 kids from where they go to their sitter, we'd be adding their parents too becuase of the young age of the children. I think at this age, they won't play like 5 or 6 year olds to at a birtday party, and they are still learning what their birthday is (it only comes once a year...). So, we rented a hall (with that many people.... we can't do it in our house and obviously can't have a Feb. bday party outside), will have tinker bell theme along with a pinata and gift bags for the kids that will be there (all older than my girls). I think this will be plenty for our little girlies.

I'm in the process of planning my daughter's 2nd birthday. For her first, we did the same thing. We had a big party, invited all the aunts, uncles and cousins. This year, I'm keeping it more low key. I'm inviting immediate family and very close friends. I don't see the need to invite people that I don't talk to on a regular basis. I feel like it's kind of asking for a gift. That's just me though. If you are close to your extended family, then invite them all! If not, then I say keep it small. Grandparents, your and your husbands siblings and close friends.

I kept the parties small with just family and friends until they were 4. We did parties on the even years for our daughter and the odd years for our son. This way she got a big sweet sixteen and he had a big bash at 21.
The first parties for friends were at home with games and just a few friends the first two years. Then they got bigger with sleep overs etc., and finally skating parties, movie parties, etc.
I think prior to starting school (or pre-school) they aren't really into all of the party things. Play dates are as important if not more important than a big party.

hey A.

my name is S. and my lil one is truning 2 in may i plan on doing the same thing but i will have a bounce house my lil girl loves to do things like that and i feel that will get the lil ones alot of fun and my family can enjoy watching and have family time