This month Zarek is turning one year old. For Zane I planned such a great birthday party. I wanted to make sure that Zarek’s birthday is just as grand as Zane’s was. I will be sharing with you my plan step by step to make the Perfect First Birthday Party.
Choose Your Theme
The first thing you need is the perfect theme. This can be the most fun part of the planning or the most frustrating, but it’s all in how you look at it. There are some great websites to give you ideas. One of my favorite’s is:
Think about some of your little one’s favorite things or your favorite things to do with your little one. Obviously a one year old doesn’t tell you in words what their favorite things are. But think about their favorite food? Do they have a favorite toy or stuffed animal? Do you always read the same book to them every night? Or you can do a theme around a color, the theme of their room, or just something fun.
Some Ideas For You
Some of my favorite themes:
- Balloons (Zane’s first birthday theme)
- Camouflage Green or Pink
- Bubbles
- Prince/Princesses
- Cupcakes
- Bugs
- ABCs
- Animal Crackers (do everything in animals)
- Fishy
- Butterfly
- Nursery Rhymes
- Circus
- Trucks/Construction
- Cowboy/girl
- Dinos
- Dr Suess
- On the Farm
- Winnie the Pooh
- Rainbow
- Rubber Ducky
- Stars and Moons
- Star Wars
- Sunshine
- Tea Party
- Train Party
- ABCs
- Robots
- Pirates
Be creative think outside the box.
Six Categories
Write down 3-5 of your ideas for themes on the top of a piece of paper. Write these six categories under each theme:
- Invitations
- Decorations
- Games/Entertainment/Craft*
- Cake
- Food
- Goodie Bags
*With a one year old you may not play games but you may want your guests write notes to your little one or have trivia about your little one or about the theme.
Brainstorming
Now it’s time for you to brainstorm for each theme you are considering. Write down quick ideas for each of these categories. Just write basic ideas down later on you will expand your ideas once you have chosen your theme. What you want to do is see if you can fill up each category and see which theme you start to get excited about, that sounds the most fun.
Zarek’s Example
Zarek is going to have a Cheerios themed birthday party. Here is a rough draft I created to plan his party.
- Invitations: Modify a picture of a cheerios box with the party details
- Decorations: Yellow: yellow balloons, streamers, plates, etc.
- Games/Entertainment/Craft: String Cheerios on a necklace, slide show of the year
- Cake: I’m thinking about making a round cake to look like a big cheerio
- Food: Cheerio Rice Crispy Treats, Donuts, Cheerio Chex Mix
- Goodie Bags: Single Servings of Cheerios, Cheerio Cereal bars, Spoon and bowl
This is all about having fun with your theme. Don’t feel like everything has to match. Your one year old will never know that they didn’t have all yellow balloons. Or that the cake wasn’t perfect. Take the stress out of the planning, just have fun!
Stay tuned for the next post in this series, all about party invitations and decorations.
You could also have a treasure hunt in a tub of cheerios. Hide a little gift in the cheerios for each of your guests and then have them use it as a lucky dip.