Celebrate your baby girl’s first birthday with a party that’s all about her. Invite friends and family who will help you shower her with love during her milestone birthday. Include a theme, colors, toys or other elements that your daughter enjoys. Celebrate the growing person she is by honoring some of the preferences she has already made clear, such as including her favorite character or her favorite juice at the party.
Location
Choose a location that is familiar to your daughter, such as your home or the park where she typically plays; especially if she gets stressed out in new environments. Consider toddler playhouses or other baby-friendly venues if she has visited them before. Other venues, such as bounce houses, might be too much for her, especially if she does not have the greatest balance or confidence. The party should be somewhere that your baby girl will feel safe and does not pose any hazards.
Themes
Have fun planning the party around a theme or color scheme that interests your daughter. If she loves a particular character or doll, use that as the theme of the party. Use a farm animal or circus theme if she loves animals. Flowers, butterflies, ladybugs, bees and frogs can be used for a garden theme. Keep it simple with polka dots or the number 1 as your theme. Decorate the party area and your baby’s high chair with theme-related balloons, banners and other decorations.
Activities
Set up various stations if there will be a number of small children at the party. Include face painting, finger painting, edible dough mixtures or other hands-on activities. Simple, somewhat structured activities, such as dancing, a basket of toys in one corner or simple bean bag tosses work for a variety of ages. Get the adults involved by asking them to guess when certain milestones happened or to draw portraits of the baby. Give each guest a piece of paper and pencil and ask them to draw a picture of the baby. Ask guests to pass their drawings to their right after 30 seconds where the next person will have to continue the drawing. Continue passing the drawings until everyone has worked on each drawing or enough time has passed to complete the portraits.
The Menu
Consider a snacks-only party if you plan to keep it short. Finger foods, crackers, fruits and vegetables work well for toddlers and adults. Plan a traditional birthday meal, such as barbecued chicken, hot dogs or hamburgers or even spaghetti, if it’s your daughters favorite, and you have the time. Keep in mind, a full meal will require more preparation and likely increase your clean-up time. Cupcakes may be a better option than a cake because they are easier to serve and cleanup, as well as easier for little hands to handle. You can decorate cupcakes to look like a cake and prepare a separate “smash” cake for your daughter.
Keepsakes
Make or create something that will always remind you of your baby girl’s first birthday. Make molds of her hand and feet prints. Use a large block of clay if you have a small guest list so that each guest can include their hand print or “sign” their names as well. Plant a tree or plant and make a plaque for it so that you can recall this special day each year. Make a scrapbook or gather some of her favorite things to make a time capsule that you can share with her on her 18th birthday. Include birthday wishes from friends and family, pictures, a favorite toy, a lock of her hair or anything else that is of great importance in her life right now.
Photo Credit
- Birthday Baby eating her cake image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com
