Baby's 1st Birthday Party Favor Ideas

Assemble favors to thank your guests for sharing your baby’s first birthday with your family. Favors can be simple or lavish, depending on the time, budget and creativity you want to put into them. The favors can be related to your party theme for a seamless look, or directly related to your baby and her preferences to let your guests know even more about the special little person they are there to celebrate.

For Babies

Have age-appropriate favors on-hand, if there will be other babies at the party. Some common favors aren’t appropriate for toddlers due to choking hazards, so give the babies something they can use, such as picture books or finger puppets. Give the other babies stuffed animals if the party has an animal theme. Simple snacks, such as bite-sized crackers or cereal, can be presented in a decorative bag, cup or cleaned-out baby food jar. The other babies at the party will have no use for keepsakes or other profound favors, but they will probably enjoy a special treat. Bubbles are also age-appropriate as most 1-year-olds enjoy blowing bubbles.

For Older Children

Older children, such as siblings or cousins, will likely enjoy small goody bags filled with simple toys, stickers, pencils, coloring books and candy. For example, hand out eye patches and gold foil-covered chocolates if your baby’s birthday party has a pirate theme. Candy necklaces or large ring candy would be fitting for a princess-themed birthday party. Small activity books can keep the children occupied.

For Adults

Some adults, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, might appreciate a more personal and meaningful favor. Put together a small keepsake photo album of some of your baby’s firsts or a picture for each of his 12 months of life. Write a note detailing his age, what he was doing or something special about the pictures. If your party is smaller, you could make each guest a small tile with your baby’s hand print and the words “Thank you for coming to my very first birthday party!”

Personalized Favors

Choose party favors that are appropriate for all ages if it’s too much work trying to pick a different favor for each age group. Custom cookies in the shape of the number “1” or decorated with an edible picture of the baby would likely be enjoyed by all of your guests. Chocolate bars with custom wrappers depicting your child’s photo, name and birthday message would probably be well-received as well.

Considerations

Keep the favors in a secure place where little ones won’t be likely to accidentally happen upon them, or you may find yourself short a few favors. Hand out the favors as your guests are leaving if you are passing out favors according to age to prevent an older child from accidentally leaving out a hazardous toy that the babies can find or upset babies who want what the other kids have. Simple crafts, such as edible dough or finger painting projects, can also serve as party favors.