Can fluther give me some good party ideas?

She’s only a 1 year old. She isn’t going to care where you are.. so long as she can get a face full of cake. In this case you are planning more for the adults who will be attending and not your little 1 year old.

I wish I had 400 dollars to burn for a 1 year old’s birthday party!

@NaturalMineralWater I actually didn’t want to throw her a first birthday party, but now that I see how well she interacts with other children and she’s been walking and running around I know she will very much enjoy being around people. Its actually not for the adults at all she has a bunch of little cousins. Well, the adults play some what of a roll but thats because our family hasn’t seen her in months and I know they miss her very much and fitting all of them into our tight schedule would be hard so a birthday party would be perfect.

Just get creative, for her and the other kids sake, have games n stuff, and yes LOTS of cake and ice-cream!! I think 400.00$ for a 1st birthday is a bit extravagant but hey, there only 1, one time :)

For a one year old’s b-day, you should plan with many cautions in mind. One year old may wake up that AM with a cold or the flu (mine did). One year old may not want to be social on that particular day. One year old may be teething that day, etc.

For our son’s we invited just family. That way if he wasn’t social (which he wasn’t as he woke up the ill-est he’d ever been) family would be understanding and be able to be entertained by a simple backyard family-style get-together.

My suggestion for your particular situation is to plan a simple luncheon or dinner for your closest family and friends to attend. This is not the time to create the social event of the year. A backyard or a nearby restaurant would serve you and your guests nicely.

As for the kids in attendance, why not just make the celebration cousin friendly by serving foods they like (pizza-etc) and giving them some favor bags that have bubbles, crayons, a coloring book to have fun with.

I feel it necessary to stress this point: One year olds are highly unpredictable.

My son is social, but his b-day would’ve been a disaster if we’d planned it as an event away from our home. He got the worst cold at the beginning of July——completely unexpected!
He was only able to come out for cake & presents, as he was too congested and grumpy to be around people.

Wait until she’s 3 or 4 and go all out with a theme party for whatever she’s into at the time.

for my one year old I spent about £150 and went really extravagant on home-made canapés and fancy food for the adults that I invited (just family and close friends), had balloons and cake and it was fabulous…no he will not remember it…but I will and it was a very memorable day

Party on!

The baby may very well need a nap at some point during the festivities, so I highly recommend you have it at your home, if possible. Since the one year old will be unable to participate in many party activities, gear it towards the main age group of the cousins. Trust me when I say that your little one will be thrilled with the balloons, wrapping paper, and people. Here are some of the ideas I’ve used over the years with my 3 children (almost all of which were very inexpensive, and held at home):

Garden party: Held in the backyard. Kids wore swimsuits, lots of water play (squirt bottles, sprinklers), “Pin the bee on the flower” game, decorate small plant pots w/ markers & plant a flower in them as a craft activity/take home favor.

Luau: Again, swimsuits & water play. Homemade ‘grass’ skirts, made out of raffia. Limbo game. Hula dancing (well, not really… just fun pretending!). Sand art crafting.

Puppy party: We made ears out of pipe cleaners (for a headband) and craft felt. I made collars out of a pretty ribbon, with a dog or cat button sewn on the front. “Pin the tail on the puppy” game. Face painting to make the kiddies look like puppies or kittens (their choice). Warning: Be prepared for a lot of barking and meowing, along with some chasing. They had a blast, though, and the pictures are priceless!

Under the Sea: Using various shades of blue crepe paper and balloons, decorate the room(s) to give an underwater feel. Have The Little Mermaid playing in the background, and favors that reflect the theme… seashells, sunken treasure, marine animals, etc. “Pin the tail on the mermaid” game.

One that works well with a variety of ages, and fits your time frame is the
Winter Wonderland: White, silver and blue decorations… balloons, snowflakes, crepe paper, etc. For this one, I always try to plan a craft activity that could double as a holiday gift for the child to give a parent or teacher, but many choose to keep it for themselves. Last year, the kids made a brown sugar body scrub, and decorated the containers it was packaged in with stickers, raffia bows, and hangtags giving directions for its use.

We usually time the parties between lunch and dinner times, and just serve drinks, snacks, cake and ice cream. That saves a lot of money! Take tons of pictures, be flexible, relax and have fun. :D

*Note: None of the “Pin the _______ on the _______ ” games mentioned above are commercially available. I just made them out of poster board & double stick tape.

@augustlan It’s for one year olds…. I know! Put a bunch of big pillows and soft stuff on the floor and let them roll around! Sprinkle cheerios on the pillows and let them roll around and discover Cheerios to eat!

1st birthday parties are usually about entertaining the adults just as much as the children, going somewhere that has a soft play area and a good cafe inside is often good, as the chidlren can play and have fun whilst the adults sit around and have a good chin wag!!! We ahve lots of thse kind of places in the uk we are very lucky (balls pits, big slides, adventure play areas etc..)

Failing that just hire a big room with a big dance floor, fill it with lots of toys for the chidlren to play with and hve it like a big parent meeting with food and drinks for all :)

ps make sure you play pass the parcel!!

Ecstasy, Vick’s Vapor Rub, a sub-woofer, 3 feathers, a bowl of condoms and some weed for when everyone starts to crash. I guess you could get a cake for the kid too if you like.

Make things as easy on yourself as possible. This is key. You want to relax and enjoy it. She will not remember the event, and when she’s old enough, she’ll appreciate any effort you will have made for her.

Do it at your house, or a relative’s house. Somewhere that she’s familiar with would probably do her good- especially if she would need a nap or a break. A few balloons, maybe a banner or streamers for decoration would be festive without overkill.

For food, get a party tray, pizza or get deli meats and cheeses to make sandwiches for guests; sides can be chips, fruit, veggies.

For activities, you could make different play areas. At our son’s first, we had bubbles outside, crayons and paper on the picnic table, and big Legos inside. That occupied the kids until cake time. The parents were very appreciative of this.

Delegate tasks beforehand. Get grandma to take pictures, get dad to help open gifts, and ask one friend to help keep an eye on clean-up.

Happy birthday to the little princess!

@drClaw : LOL

I’m pretty sure my folks forgot my first birthday. I never heard anything about it, anyways!

Oh! Get a bubble machine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Val123 I know the birthday girl is only one, but am assuming the assorted cousins are at least a little older. :)

@augustlan Ah!