1st Year Birthday Party Ideas

A Zoo Party

Potentially held at the nearest zoo, set the tone of a zoo party with jungle-themed invitations that include directions to the zoo as well as a meeting place and time. Arrive early to decorate a table or area with jungle-themed decorations. Payment for guests can be done before they arrive if you choose to pay for them. One adult should stay per child as a chaperone. Parents of the birthday baby can wear safari hats and give each child guest a cap with an animal and his name on it. Suggested activities include animal charades and making animal masks out of paper plates.

Decorate with "One is Fun" party supplies. Choose from many "1" party patterns to for your invitations and decorations. Party activities might include blowing bubbles (both adults and children); a puppet show (put on by adults or older children); a parade (where each child is given a baby instrument to use while marching around the room to baby music): and baby bottle bowling (filling 10 baby bottles with rice and setting them up like bowling pins. Knock down the "pins" with a rubber ball).

Hide farm animal toys around the room where the party is located, and decorate a box to make it look like a barn. When guests arrive, explain that Old MacDonald's animals have escaped from the barn. Guests search for the animals and place them in the "barn" when they've found one. Set the mood with farm animal invitations and decorations, which are easy to find in stores--or create your own. A stuffed farm animal with balloons tied to it makes a great centerpiece. Sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and show a toy animal or card for each animal in the song.

Bright, solid colors are the theme. A rainbow is a great representation of colors, and you can decorate with solid-colored items or rainbows. Ask guests to dress in solid colors to reinforce the theme. Pass out colored sidewalk chalk to decorate the driveway or other areas with rainbows or other colorful creations. Coloring books, especially rainbow ones, and crayons make fun party favors for the theme. Instead of cake, have different-colored ice cream cones with cupcakes inside as the ice cream. Play baby bowling with 10 baby bottles filled with different colors of water.