First birthday party ideas

All the first birthday party ideas on this page are for an at-home birthday party, and as such I have preferred rather simple first birthday ideas.

I guess you already have some ideas about how your child's 1st birthday party should be. If not, now the time has come. Have fun planning a 1st birthday party for your kid, get into the spirit of the theme, but don’t try and outdo yourself with this first birthday party ideas.

Well, anyway you’ve come to the right page. This is where you can get some great ideas of what you can do for the party.

Please remember, though, that these birthday party ideas are just a bunch of tips and hints that you can run with to help make your child’s first birthday party as fun and relaxed as possible.

These ideas are not rules to swear by, but they can help make it easier for the guests and birthday child alike (and hopefully for you as well).

 But first, let's start with the beginning, the 1st birthday invitations:

Printable 1st birthday party invitations

When you are the parents of a 1 year old child, there are so many things you have to think about all the time, so I want to make it as easy as possible for you:

In this part of the page I will give you lots of templates of funny and cute and original first birthday invitations and premade printable 1st birthday invitations, ready to print. It can't be much easier.

First birthday invitation, boy with toys	1st birthday invitation, boy drummer
Birthday invitation with balloons and cake	1st birthday invitations girl rabbit card
Blue bird baby birthday invitation	Cheap 1st birthday invitation
Elephant birthday invitation 1st birthday	1st birthday invitations girl
Colorful cute 1st birthday invitation

You will find more free printable 1st birthday invitations below, but now let's look at

1st birthday party games

I suggest you make only a few and very simple birthday games, as unwrapping all the presents and having lots of guests around him/her is already a lot to take in for the only-1-year old birthday child. But I think these three birthday games will go well for everybody.

Baby Can… -- This is a fun game rather than one that has the objective of winning. Say, “Baby can…” along with another instruction (i.e.: touch their nose, clap their hands, show their teeth, growl like a tiger, etc.). If there are other babies to the party, see which babies can do as many things as possible, and hand out prizes of baby treats to all the babies that participate in the game.

Bubble Popping – Again, this game is more for the children to have fun rather than compete, but it is certainly one of the best kids birthday party games for the little ones. In this game, use a bubble machine to generate a steady stream of bubbles. The babies will all be amazed as they see the floating objects, and they will spend time trying to pop the bubbles. As long as the babies don’t use their mouths to pop the bubbles, there should be no problems with the bubbles. This game will usually entertain the kids for half an hour or so, though some may get bored before the others do. 

Dancing with the parents and older kids- Toddlers just love to dance together with their parents and family members, so they will just love to get a chance to do exactly that, with everybody else joining. Often the kids could go on and on, but keep it short if you don't want your adult guests to become too tired.

More free baby 1st birthday invitations

 

1st birthday invite	Printable 1st birthday invitations
1st birthday invitations girl	Baby 1st birthday invitations
1st birthday invitation girls	1st elephant birthday card

Great first birthday party ideas

Have the party on the weekend, as that is when all of the family can attend. Parents and adult guests have to work in the week, and all of the friends of the special birthday child are likely in daycare or with their parents. Weekends are great party opportunities.

Plan around the little one’s nap time, meaning that the party is either in the morning (before nap) or in the afternoon (after nap). Baby will be much more likely to be happier and less fussy, making it easier for you as the parent to have a fun party.
If some of the guests are bigger kids, then you can plan some activities for them when the birthday child is having a nap.

Don’t plan for the party to be too long, especially parties in the morning. Keep the party to an hour or three max, as it will give baby time to have fun, enjoy the cake, open presents, and take a nap (thus giving adults time to have fun after the babies are napping).

When planning the party food, make sure to find out if there are any allergies in the crowd. Pasta and pizza is always a popular choice. The idea is that the little ones can eat the food with their hands, so go nuts with the finger food and bite-sized desserts. Also buns and cocoa with whipped cream and maybe small marshmallows on the cream is a popular choice. You can make a smash cake for the birthday child, but why not make a lovely birthday cake for all the guests in stead?


A first birthday party only happens once per child, but you can get some great birthday party ideas and tips from other parents who have thrown parties for their children.
The unique birthday party ideas you can get from them will make it easier for you to plan your own party, and you can use them to help streamline the party and make it as problem-free as possible.

If you are puzzling over the guest invitation list, think about which relatives and friends the child likes most. There is always a favorite aunt, a close friend, the grandparents, and the one guy he or she always laughs at, and these are the people that you should invite to the party. You may want to trim down the guest list or invite the world, but make sure that the child’s favorite people are there on this special day.

Keep in mind how much space you have at home. While this is a party for Junior, you don’t want too many people cramming into your house for the party. Keep in mind how much space you have both inside and outside the house, and think about how many people you can realistically invite. Remember that you will not only have to entertain guests, but will also (quite literally) have your hands full of the little one the entire time as well.

Inviting other toddlers around the same age as your birthday child is one of the best 1st birthday party ideas, but keep the number to no more than five (two or three is best). The purpose of the party is for the parents to have fun as well, and too many small children to take care of makes this party more like work than fun.

Remember that your child’s first birthday has one unpredictable factor: the child himself or herself. There are likely to be tears, diaper changes, naps, and all the other fun baby issues that you may need to deal with, so don’t plan your party’s schedule too rigidly.

Make sure the area where the party is being held is as baby-proof as possible. If you can have your party outside with a special enclosed party areas where the babies cannot escape, all the better.

Always have enough toys on hand for the little ones that will be playing around. Toys helps babies and toddlers to stay occupied (parents'  code language for “out of trouble”), so make sure that you have a wide assortment of age-appropriate toys within easy grabbing distance, at least until the new gifts are unpacked.

Don’t automatically take care of the little one and the party yourself, as you are going to end up going crazy. Even if you can rope your husband/wife into helping you prepare the party, consider getting a close friend to watch the birthday boy or girl for you as you do all the setup, care for the guests, prepare the cake… (and on and on your list goes)

Make sure to spend some special time with the little one once the guests have left, if your baby is still awake. After all, it is about the little one and his or her loved ones, so get some special Mommy/Daddy/baby cuddle time to close the celebration.

1st birthday party themes:

Keep in mind that the 1st birthday party theme is usually dreamt up by parents who want to make their child’s first birthday party special, while the party ideas on your child’s mind are: nursing, cake, nap, toys!

That said:

That’s the best part of being a parent: you can have fun coming up with great 1st birthday party ideas and say they are for your kid (instead of for you, as they really are). Still, you get to have fun coming up with these party ideas, and the theme can definitely be one of the best parts.

I won't say much about themes here, but take a look at my page Kids birthday party ideas where you will find links to other pages here dedicated to different birthday themes for kids, such as the pirate theme, dinosaur theme, slumber party etc.

Other theme ideas:

• SpongeBob Squarepants

• Dora the Explorer

• Animals

• Blue's Clues

• Bob the Builder

• Yo Gabba Gabba

 Hannah Montana

• iCarly

• Power Rangers

• Pokemon

• Robots

• Sports

• Vehicles: trains and cars

1st birthday cards

 

Katmosaurus first birthday card	Happy birthday card toy train
Chinchilla birthday party greeting	1st birthday poem on a birthday card
Two cute kittens Happy Birthday card	Happy  birthday kitten in swing
"The big 1" birthday card	Cute printable kitten birthday card
Funny Giraffe birthday card

1st Birthday Cake Ideas

Don’t know what to do with the cake? Here are some great ideas for 1st birthday cake designs and recipes.

Some parents love the first birthday cake ideas that involve elaborate structures and shapes made out of birthday cakes, while others want to keep their children's birthday cakes simple.

The choice is yours -just remember that your child's 1st birthday shall be a happy day which means that you shall be relaxed and enjoying yourself too.
So if you don't have a lot of time and making a complicated cake will stress you, maybe it would be a good idea to either keep it simple or order a cake from a store.

If making a complex cake seems like a fun and challenging idea, go for it!

Don’t know what kind of cake to make? Below you will find a couple of the best kids birthday cake ideas.

1st Birthday Cakes:

The Classic 

The classic birthday cake is the vanilla or butter cake, and it is usually the easiest one to whip up in a hurry. If you only have a few hours before the party is starting, you can use the recipe below to help you prepare a quick cake that can be covered with the frosting of your choice:
Ingredients: 
2 sticks of regular butter
1 ½ cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 ½ cups of cake flour
A pinch of salt
1 ¾ cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 ¼ cup of milk
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract 

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Mix all of the dry ingredients in one bowl, with the wet ingredients mixed in another bowl. Use an egg beater to beat the sugar and the butter until it is fluffy, and stir in the eggs and milk.  Add the dry ingredients, and beat well until a thick cake batter.  Pour the batter into a greased baking tray, and place in the oven.
Let the cake cook until you can insert a knife in the middle of the cake and it comes out clean.  Let it cool, add frosting, and enjoy!

The best thing about this cake: it goes with pretty much any frosting or topping that you want. This is the simplest of the first birthday cakes, and it can be made with the recipe above in a matter of minutes.
And - you can bake a double in a big baking tray, so later you can cut the cake into different shapes and thus make a mermaid, a train, a car - I am sure you can make up an idea for exactly what your child would like to see.
The mermaid and Tinkerbell cakes were made by my daughter. Maybe not the most elegant birthday cakes, but the kids loved it.

Homemade mermaid birthday cake	Tinkerbell birthday layer cake

The Danish classic birthday cake

Actually the Tinkerbell birthday cake shown above was a layer cake, and layer cakes are the favorite birthday cakes in Denmark (where I live).

You can make all kinds of fancy birthday cakes, but you have to have a layer cake!

And, if you make a layer cake for your kids' first birthday, everybody will enjoy it, but especially the birthday kid and other toddlers can have a lot of fun eating it. You don't need a smash cake, with a piece of the layer cake you've already got it!

For making the layer cake, try this link, where you will also find a recipe for the red velvet cake. Of you don't like to try that red velvet cake, try this one:

The Delicious

There is something about red velvet cake that makes it stand out from the rest of the children's birthday cakes, and it is definitely a great choice if you want to impress the guests at your party. Few cakes are quite so elegant, but red velvet cake is actually a lot easier to make than you might have imagined. Check out the simple recipe below:

Red Velvet Cake

2 ½ cups of cake flour
A pinch of salt
1 ½ cups each of canola oil and sugar
2 eggs
¼ of a cup of food coloring (red)
¼ cup of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda
2 teaspoons of white vinegar


Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Mix sugar and oil together until well beaten, and add in the eggs. Drop in the vanilla and food coloring, and beat well.  Add the cake flour, cocoa powder, and salt, along with the buttermilk. In a bowl on the side, combine the vinegar and baking soda, and stir this mixture into the cake batter. Beat for up to 10 seconds.  Pour the cake into a tray, cook until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean, and remove from oven. 
Add white whipped cream as the frosting on your cake for optimum appeal.  Serve and enjoy.
As you can see, making this elegant cake is actually quite simple, but the cake that you get will be oh so tasty. Of all the first birthday cake ideas, Red Velvet Cake is one of the most popular among the parents.  You don’t even have to buy it at the store, but you can make it easily at home.

More 1st birthday invitations

 

Where would you like to go next?

 

Birthday Clip Art: All kinds of birthday graphics to use for your invitations and table cards.	Birthday Ideas: With an overview of all the birthday themed pages here. If you are in need of an idea for  arranging a birthday party, here is where you can find it.
Kids' birthday party ideas: This is the page where you find an overview of all the great pages here with kids' birthday themes, birthday cards, invitation and a lot more.	Birthday coloring pages: Here you find lots of funny and cute coloring pages with a birthday motive.
Pirate party ideas for kids: Lots of great ideas for arranging a pirate party	2nd birthday party ideas: Lots of ideas and cards for the second birthday party.