A first birthday is a celebration looked forward to by parents everywhere. Turning one is a major milestone in a child's life and one that is fun to celebrate with friends and family. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind when looking for first birthday party ideas. First, the child is still very young - all the party fun is often more for the family than the child. This means keeping it simple. Plan for a time when your child will be well rested. Keep the party short. Don't expect a toddler to last through a three hour party. Keep the first birthday gift simple. Toddlers will enjoy the wrapping paper and boxes more than what is in them. Here are some fun party ideas for your child's first birthday party.
Favorite Character Party
If your child has a favorite cartoon character they enjoy consider going with this theme. This simplifies decorating and planning. Party supply stores, either local or online, usually have plates, cups and table decorations in popular characters. Baby's first birthday invitation cards can be found in almost any of the well known characters.
A Basic Learning Theme
Another fun idea is to have a simple learning theme for your child's party. Numbers, the alphabet or even colors make wonderful theme ideas for a first birthday party. Cut large letters and numbers from poster board and hang as decorations. Draw large simple shapes and color them in basic colors. Place these on the wall - you can use them later as well to teach colors and shapes. Decorate the table in bright primary colors - red, yellow, blue. Add some colorful streamers and you are all ready to go.
Animal or Zoo Theme
This is another popular theme with very young children. A zoo theme is easy to do and could be done at a local zoo or park with a picnic area of the child's birthday is during warm weather. If you go with a zoo theme animal cookies are the perfect snack. Decorate your child's cake with animal cookies and small plastic fencing (available at cake decorating stores.) Use stuffed animals as the decorations.
Time for Food
The food you plan if going to be mostly for the guests. Toddlers may or may not be able to eat what everyone else does. Cupcakes are a great idea for birthday parties for young children. They are easy to clean up and the birthday child can have his own little cake.
 | Baby's first birthday is definitely a big event, especially for their parents. In this first year, a child has not only grown to see their first year, but they have also reached a number of milestones, like laughing for the first time and walking. It's normal for a child's parents to want to throw a big celebration in honor of one of their child's major milestones. |
 | Baby's first birthday party is really a party for you; the baby is a special guest. Plus, the baby isn't going to remember the party afterward. So although the party is celebrating the baby's milestone birthday, do the planning around the guests and showing off all of the memories that you have already built with your little one. |
Here are some first birthday party ideas for birthday party activities with kids. Planning the kid's birthday party really means planning for entertaining the guests, at a time of day when your baby will be a happy birthday kid, too. |
First birthdays are memorable milestones so you'll want first birthday cakes that meet your needs, whether that's capturing your little one with messy hands and face or something that photographs well. |
When marking one of the first milestones in a child's life, consider fun first birthday ideas that create a relaxed atmosphere. The keys are to think about the baby, the guests and the memories you want to create. |
