When planning a birthday party for a 2-year-old boy, you have a number of ideas to consider. By age 2, most boys will display clear preferences for their likes and dislikes. Fortunately, most boys tend to share similar interests, so chances are, if your son likes something, his friends will, too. Incorporating the things that 2-year-old boys like into your son’s party will help ensure that he enjoys his party and that it is an overall success.
Construction Theme
A construction-themed birthday party is sure to be a hit among 2-year-old boys. As each child arrives at the party, give him a plastic construction hat to wear. Use yellow and black caution tape for decoration and to block off any doorways or areas of the home that you don’t want the children to enter. If the weather is nice, consider purchasing a few bags of sandbox sand to dump in a pile outside. Put out an assortment of trucks for the children to play with in the sand. You can even use orange cones to set up pathways for the children to navigate their trucks through. For games, play Red Light, Green Light, and have races pushing toy trucks. Top your child’s birthday cake with small plastic trucks and road signs, or serve cupcakes frosted with brown icing and topped with crushed chocolate chip cookies to resemble dirt piles.
Fire Truck Theme
If your 2-year-old loves fire trucks, consider having a fire truck-themed party. Purchase red plastic hats for each child, and have an assortment of fire fighter dress-up clothes available for play. In the backyard, make small piles of sticks. Allow the children to use the garden hose to put out pretend fires. You may wish to consider scheduling a tour of the local fire station during your child’s birthday. With advance notice, most local fire stations will allow groups of children to explore the station and trucks.
Train Theme
Two-year-old boys seem to love anything that moves and makes noise, so it’s no surprise that trains are popular with this age group, especially Thomas the Tank Engine. Present each guest with his own train engineer hat and a whistle. If you have a driveway, consider drawing train tracks with chalk and having the children follow the tracks around and around. For games, instead of Simon Says, play The Train Conductor Says. You can also have train races by splitting the children into groups and having them hold onto each other’s waist, like a human train. If you have a wooden train railway system, have it out for the children to play with during the party. If you live near a train station, you may even wish to consider riding the train one stop and back for fun.
Sports Theme
Many 2-year-old boys already root loud and proud for their favorite sports team. If your son’s favorite team is a football team, consider having a football-themed party. If it’s a baseball team, have a baseball-themed party. On your invitation, be sure to ask guests to wear their favorite sports jersey. With any sports birthday party theme, it’s important to provide an opportunity to play. For baseball-themed parties, purchase oversized plastic bats and balls, and have a game of baseball. For football-themed parties, purchase soft footballs. While 2-year-olds may not be able to play an actual game, throwing, hitting and doing something with any type of ball will be fun. For food, serve stadium food like pretzels, hot dogs (sliced lengthwise and across) and ice cream. For the cake, have it decorated to reflect the sport your theme is centered around. For party favors, consider giving away reusable sports bottles filled with ice cold water.
Dinosaur Theme
Dinosaurs are popular among the 2-year-old boy crowd. As guests arrive to your dinosaur themed party, have the walkway lined with dinosaur footprints. You can draw the footprints with chalk if the walkway is brick or concrete, or use paper cut outs if it’s grass. You also may wish to send your guests on a hunt for dinosaur bones at the party. Purchase small plastic bones from your local party store. Hide them in the backyard or in the house. If you can’t find bones, use plastic eggs to resemble dinosaur eggs. Give each child a bucket to collect their bones or eggs in. Get creative with the food you serve at the party. For example, serve pretzels as dinosaur bones and hard boiled eggs as dinosaur eggs. Dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets are also available in many grocery stores.
Photo Credit
- birthday boy image by Maria Bell from Fotolia.com
