Lilo & Stitch

Rolie Polie Olie

Hello Kitty

Bob the Builder

Birthday Barney

LEGO®

Construction 1st Birthday

I am planning a party for my son when he turns one year old. The theme will be cookie monster for sesame street.  I have found a cake made by Albertson's grocery store chain, but could also be made by a crafty person.  It is just the head of cookie monster with three chocolate chip cookies stuffed in his mouth, it's adorable.  For the rest of the party , chocolate chips cookies will be around and served and used after bagged up with pretty blue ribbons tied on the bags as a prizes for all the children invited.  Decorations can be either images of cookie monster himself of chocolate chip cookies all over the room.  blue balloons, one since he is a boy , the other because that is cookie monster's color.

Lisa, Sebring FL

A sea party with games like fishing and bobbin for fish come as a sailor or a sea animal with a octopus cake and all the dressings you could buy all the things you need at party city.

Nicole, Lutz FL

My daughter went to a summer birthday party when she was 3 and they had all the kids wear swim suites and they played Hawaiian music and gave them all lays and. They had a bunch of kiddie pools some filled with sand others with water and lots of beach balls. They had a hula contest and gave out sea shells for prizes. They took individual Polaroid photos of them in grass skirts and had each child make a frame decorated with shells and sand, that was their favor along with the skirts and lays, which she still uses for dress up. The cake was a pineapple upside down cake and the balloons were decorated to look like coconuts and pineapples what fun it was.

Jean, W. Coxsakie NY

I think that a Pirate theme is really cute for kids Parties.  They all dress up as Pirates and then you can have a contest for the best Pirate hat.

Mary, Dunedin FL

My favorite party theme is dress up like your parents costume party!

Kimberly, Davison MI

Our July party, is also our youngest son's first b-day. The theme, is "fun in the sun"... we will have water games, a pinata, and I am making the cutest dessert/place holders... they are going to be small clear plastic cups, (about 6oz.), I will add Blue Jello, a gummy fish, and a gummy shark or octopus... On the outside of the cup will be the child's name.

Stacey, Cleveland OH

Dino Theme, We did this for our son's second B Day. We had printed out Dino coloring sheets and we had found some of the crayons that people use for Halloween trick or treat after Halloween for .50 a bag so we bought several bags. We mad a sand box for our son for one of his presents and we purchased all kinds of rubber bugs, Bracelets and other party goods. We buried them in the sandbox and for each child we had a pail, shovel and rake, all plastic. We put the Coloring book we had made and several pkgs of crayons in the buckets along with a few pieces of candy and the Shovels and rakes. The kids then went on a treasure hunt in the sand and had a blast digging and finding all the goodies!
We had a Dino cake and Chocolate chip Ice cream to finish it off.

Lisa, Sun Valley NV

Old McDonalds Farm....you can have games that revolve around animals...Duck Duck Goose etc. Animal pinata.

Sharla, Royse City TX

I enjoy a farm animal theme.  I have for both of my children's' 3rd birthday rented ponies.  The company I used also brought chicks and baby lambs.  The decorations were a combination of farm animal balloons, a piñata, and a pony shaped cake.  I also included farm songs (ie, Old MacDonald) and games (pin the tail on the pony). 

Stephanie, Unadilla NY

I think that a cool party theme is race cars. My friend just did her three year olds party in that with my help. There are banners that say happy b day and other decorations include black and white balloons as well as black and white streamers. Some ideas for games would be a race in age groups if there is more then one age group. also depending on your location and are funds. Cheap remote controlled race cars to race around a track for a prizes. prizes would include toy hot wheels cars or the remote controlled car itself.

Stephanie, Port Charlotte FL

FOR A SWEET LITTLE GIRL THE PARTY THEME WILL BE PRINCESS SHE WILL HAVE A COSTUME AND HER FRIENDS WILL ALSO BE WEARING CROWNS.

Dysia, Allentown PA

Sponge Bob Square Pants: There will be beach games and activities. Water games. Kids will wear bathing suits and shorts and sunglasses. Water guns, sand buckets and shovels.

Kimberly, Greensboro NC

I am going to do a hot wheels theme with a car cake. The goodie bags will have hotwheels fruit snacks, a toy car, candy, bubbles, car stickers and other car related things.

Carolyn, Erlanger KY

Barbie themes are good, have girls dress up as little princesses.

Sherell, Raleigh NC

Bubbles, all little ones are fascinated with bubbles. One thing you can do is get a plastic pool with very little soapy water in it. Have an adult stand in the center take a hula hoop and place in the water around your feet. Pull up and enclose yourself in a huge bubble. Little ones are amazed. Then let little ones try. Give the little ones a bottle of bubbles they can blow themselves.

Heather, Nowata OK

A great party theme for a 1st birthday is an animal safari. Children this young don't usually understand who Barney or Blue are but they love furry animals. and so will the other children at the party who might be older.  You could place stuffed animals all over the house or outdoors. crawl around with the kids to find the animals. When you find the animals ask what animal it is and what sound it makes.  Everyone of all ages will enjoy an animal safari. *SEE HER ANIMAL FAVOR IDEA BELOW!

Henrietta, Portland MA

Naming Games
During 1 year and up, babies can name all their body parts and enjoy traveling around their body playing. "Where's the nose?" and so on. the one with the most correct answers win. It is one of the best way to have fun and at the same time improving their skills and memory.

And during the first year, some babies will be less their appreciative of a room full of people whether they are friends or strangers. Make the party a family affair if you wish , with at most 5 playmates if your baby have one already. All you need to do is have safe toys for your baby and her/his guess!
good luck!

Annalyn, Cavite

Have a huge balloon party theme.  Balloons everywhere, balloon games, every child cannot resist.

Kris, Casey IL

A Teletubbies party theme, teletubby favors, plates, etc and have costumes for like 1 yr old.

Thomas, Ft. Worth TX

My son loves star wars so I thought I'd use that as the theme, and hang the lego "star ships","c3p0,etc. at different levels. Or make a small scene with the lego's with the action figures on his cake.

Jackie, Edmonds WA

A Rainbow Theme!
Just with tons of bright colors, balloons, streamers, and I thought a good idea would be to get an inflatable pool and put balls from a ball pit inside with lots of balloons so the kids could play in it. Also a rainbow cake. For plates, cups, napkins, just buy all different colors for each!

Nikki, Dyess AFB TX

You make the party a big Comic Strip.
Use Comic strip characters to decorate items.  Wrap the gifts in the Sunday Comics! (Or buy comic strip looking paper.) I even am having my daughter drawn in a comic strip, by a family member, to have it as part of the decoration.  Have comic strips on anything possible. Table clothes, hats, party bags, etc.  Make the party a Strip to remember.

Victoria, East Liverpool OH

Noah's ark theme ... with animal related games and foods.

Dorothy, Kirksville MO

I'm planning on a Big Bird party for my son on his 1st Birthday.  It started by finding a #1 Big Bird candle and since it is his favorite character I decided that was very appropriate.  I made up a little saying and made cameras decorated with Big Bird so I could have people take pictures of things I miss.  I made a "Pin the Beak on the Big Bird" game for the older kids invited to the party, with prizes!  I also made a collage of my son with a picture of each month and left the middle blank for his 1st year! 

Tracy, Webster Maine

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Party Games

A bean bag toss game.  You can usually find fabric to match your theme at your local fabric store and it really doesn't cost too much to make.  I did this game for my son's party that had various aged kids.  We had the party outside so I was able to use chalk to make the circles that the bags were tossed into.  If you have to have your party inside you could make some circles with some yarn.  For young kids you could line the circles up and have them toss into each one successively, or for older kids you could stagger the circles and require that they make a shot into each one.  This game is so versatile depending on the age/skill level of the party attendants.  You can adjust the rules it fit the situation.  You can even adjust the size of the circles. I always give a prize just for playing when dealing with young kids.

Erika, Seaside CA

Buy two-three little (toys) presents and wrap them up a good number of times. Also have music on hand. Then seat the kids in a circle and have them pass around the presents while the music's playing. When the music stops have that child rip open the present as much as he/she can before the music goes back on. Keep it going around the circle till the present is opened. Then whomever opens the present all the way gets that prise. It's really fun! It's nice when you have two presents going around at the same time. It's a little hard to explain but you get the picture. I know all the children I've played this game with love it and it's wonderful for b-day parties.

Amanda, Orlando FL

ABC'S
FIND THINGS THAT START WITH THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET.

FIND ME
HAVE THE CHILD OR CHILDREN FIND THINGS SUCH AS A TOY CAR OR ANIMAL.

Jamie, Howard SD

Barnyard Bingo.
Create cards yourself with different animals on them.  Once they get a line they should receive a prize- Prizes can be candy, little gifts.

Andrea, Ontario Canada

My daughter is turning 1 and we are going to have her party outside in the backyard. We are having a cookout and all the family plus some friends are invited. We are playing games for all ages. "The Great foot freeze" is one of them and you fill a plastic pool up with ice and everyone takes off their shoes and socks. You have a plastic cup for each person and they stick their feet in the pool and when you say go they try to get the most pieces of ice using only their feet. The person with the most ice wins when time is up. This is fun for all ages because adults have a more difficult time using their feet than the children. Also, the adults are more shocked at the coldness of the ice when they stick their feet in! 

Heather, Augusta GA

Musical Grab Bag! Almost identical to Musical Chairs, except that it's played in front of the party table.  One grab bag on the table, and whatever child ends up without a chair gets that grab bag. Prizes in bag get slightly nicer as game continues. But this way, everybody wins!

Melissa, Erie PA

Party Favors

Buy paper mache mailboxes for the kids to decorate and if you don't want to get paint for them to paint them with you could buy stickers with the theme of the child's party and let them use stickers.  Let them take them home with them.  (for a 3rd birthday)
I know that birthday party express sales the mailboxes but I am sure that craft stores would too.
I am going to do this probably and do it the last thing during the party for a good time to settle down.

Leslie, Camden AR

I did a bob the builder theme for my 3 yr old son. Instead of the ordinary party bags filled with goodies I did a goody bag with a different twist.  I found bob the builder helmets (the type the character wears in the cartoon.) I filled the helmet with goodies and put each kids name on the helmet with glitter glue.  I wrapped each helmet with cellophane wrap and ribbon.  It made a pretty presentation and the kids got to keep and wear the helmet.  I purchased all of the supplies at party city which is located nation wide.

Janis, Sherman Oaks CA

Put an unfrozen Flavor-Ice in your goody bag.  The kids love this and they can take it home, freeze it & enjoy later!

Teresa, Alexandria VA

My son's first birthday is in August. Those attending will be adult family members and friends. The only children attending will be one or under. As a favor I am using baby food jars, painting the lids, placing Hershey's hugs and Kisses chocolates in them, tie a ribbon around top and attach a note saying: Thank you for Sharing my special day. XOXO Tyler.  Along with his birthday on the back.

Stacey, Lebanon IL

For my son's next Birthday I am doing a Blue's Clues Theme!  I am going to make  blue balloon dogs from the long balloons for all the children for party favors. Also, I will use a red cup, White pipe cleaners, and construction paper to make shovel and pals full of goodies. Finally, then I'll hide paper paw prints with candy everywhere before the party and tell the children that Blue left paw prints for them.  

Amanda, Enterprise AL

We are having a flower party for our daughter and the kids will all take home a pot of pansies that they will get to plant themselves at the party.  This will be a fun party favor and a memory that will last a while for them.

Suzanne, Springfield MO

For Blue's Clues party favor I bought a red pail with a yellow shovel. On the pail, I drew a face on the front and on the back I personalized the pail for each child and drew blue paw prints for Blue's Clues. I also drew a face on the shovel. Inside the pails, I made Blue's Clues lollipops and personalized cups. The kids were thrilled going home with shovel and pail!

MaryBeth, Astoria NY

For an animal safari party send the kids home with stuffed animals, animal crackers, and an animal mask that was made at the party. *SEE HER ANIMAL PARTY THEME IDEA ABOVE!

Henrietta, Portland MA

Invitations

With the invites for the party you can make them yourself by printing the information on vellum then attaching them to a background paper with a small piece of ribbon on top.  Very quick and easy.  You can fit 4 invites on one sheet of vellum then cut the paper into quarters.

Brandy, Taylorsville UT

MY DAUGHTER'S FIRST BIRTHDAY THEME WAS A TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC. MY BELIEF IS TO TRY TO BE AS ORIGINAL AS POSSIBLE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO INVITATIONS. FOR HER INVITATIONS, I DRESSED HER UP WITH A RED MADRAS DRESS. THEN, I SAT HER DOWN IN HER LITTLE LOUNGE CHAIR. BESIDE HER, I PLACED A PICNIC BASKET FULL OF TEDDY BEARS HANGING OUT OF IT. ALSO, TEDDY BEARS ALL AROUND HER. THEN, IN THE BACKGROUND, I MADE A SIGN THAT READ "LOOK WHO'S TURNING ONE". THEN, I HAD HER HOLD UP A LITTLE SIGN THAT SAID "YOU'RE INVITED!"
I TOOK LOTS OF PICTURES AND MADE COLOR COPIES OF IT AND GLUED THEM TO A PLAIN CARD, WHICH I HAD CUT INTO THE SHAPE OF A TEDDY BEAR. EVERYBODY LOVED THE IDEA!

Brenda, San Juan TX