First birthday parties celebrate the monumental first year of life. From a wiggly little infant to an independent little toddler, your son or daughter has come a long way. Even if your party is low key or casual, a few games will entertain infants and adults alike and will memorialize this monumental day.
Trivia
In such a short time, many things have changed. Less than two years ago, you found out you were pregnant. Now you have a 1-year-old. Remember all those moments with a trivia game for the adults. Write questions about your pregnancy, the birth date and your child’s firsts.
Plan the Future
If you and your child have a group of friends around the same age, it can be fun to dream about the future together. Although they may be a little young for tarot cards or other prediction games, you can set up a series of games to guess their futures. Set out some toys to represent future careers. Let the kids walk or crawl toward the toys. Try to guess which one each will take. Write down the choices, and see if you are right two decades from now.
Prizes
Instead of handing out favors, let children play a little game to distribute toys or snacks. Fill a basket with toys or drop them down into a pile on a basket. Allow each child to crawl to the toys and choose one. If you are ready for a stampede, you can let them all go at once. It is sort of like a piñata without all the hitting and swinging.
Place Your Bets
If you are feeling the need to gamble, you can pit the children against each other. Set up obstacle courses with play tunnels, balls, ramps and other obstacles. See who can get through the course the quickest. You can encourage the kids to race toward toys or snacks. This will probably only work once or twice before your distracted kids will be bored and ready for something else.
Focus On Fun
The most important thing to remember when planning a party for 1-year-olds is fun. Most toddlers don’t have a competitive nature and can’t remember rules long enough to play many games. Although it may be a cute idea, you might save yourself some frustration by just letting kids play with a box of favorite toys rather than setting up structured activities.
Photo Credit
- First steps image by Alexander Oshvintsev from Fotolia.com
