1St Birthday Games & Party Favors

hi S.,
ok . 1st birthday ...GO FOR IT ... however , do not make a habit like this ???????
-rule of thumb = age 1 total 1 other quest
age 2=2 other quests
and so on [ age = quest list stopping @ sweet 16 years ]

I was @ a 1st party [ giant crazy wild party for a 1 yr. old ] all the children [ boy/girl] under the age of
' kindergarden ' got a seasame street character t shirt
blue cookie monster, red elmo ...etc
the kids loved them .. they all wore them instantly !!!!!! it made for great pixs and child fun !!!!! [ buy xtra] you can do dora, disney etc ....

I am actually hosting my daughter's 1st birthday today. :) We have kids coming who range in age from 8 months to 10 years...for the bigger kids, they're getting candy and small toys in their favor bags...things that are safe for kids 3 and up. Pencils, erasers, stuff like that, too. For the babies, they each got a little toy (I found these cute chunky cars at Target, they weren't expensive), a small board book, and some biter biscuits. I found some of the goodies at Target (in the $1 section) or at Family Dollar. We're not doing games, just because the age range is so wide that it would be hard to find a game that was appropriate and fun for everyone to play...the kids will run around outside since it will be nice out. Good luck and have fun.

Wow alot of great responses... didn't get a chance to read them all but just wanted to share what I do for favors for kids (since we have kids that range from 1-15). We do Dunkin Donuts Gift Cards $2 each (we have tons of kids). If it was a smaller party we would do $3 each and attach a Person Thank you Note to it! Love the fact that it is simple for you and what kid doesn't like Donuts and juice!!!! Good Luck - If you do the gift card Idea let me know how your friends adn kiddies like it!!! Have fun!

Hi S.

For my daughter's 1st birthday last year in May, I got the plastic yard balls, one for each child as their take home- I found them at Giant I think for $.99 each! I don't like goodie bags since there is usually younger and older kids. The age range I deal with isn't as large as your though but I would stick to outdoor games like you seem to have already thought of. I don't know about everyone else, but I don't do a lot of "organized" activities. I just make sure there is stuff for the kids to play with and let the adults relax.

Hi S.,
You might want to try Ebay. I purchased my daughter's Wiggles party favors there. Some sellers offer party kits dependent on your theme. I know Amazon.com has a dept for children, I'm not sure if they have party favors. Snack baggies are always a hit. There are also pinatas that are pull string, so no one will get bopped!
Good luck and happy birthday to your daughter!
L.

For my daughter's first birthday we had a time capsule (a formula can wrapped and decorated in construction paper. Each guest could write or draw a special message for your daughter. It can then be opened when she is 18 years old.

I'm all about the Dollar Store. :)

i just had a 1st bday party this weekend...we didn't really play any games but we have a bouncehouse so that entertained the kids for a large part of the day. i highly recommend renting/buying one....we've had ours for several years and get a ton of use out of it-esp at parties. as for favors i did sunglasses (bought 6 paks at a party store for about $5 per pack), sidewalk chalk (target dollar bins), bubbles (3 pak at the dollar store), small board books ($1 at burlington), and paks of fruit snacks

Hi S.,
I'm not a fan of the "favor bags" for parties. I've opted in the past for these things over the past few years:
•Large Hershey Bar & I made a customized wrapper on my computer & put O. on each bar saying "Thanks for Coming to my Party", etc.
•My son had a birthday party at a farm, so I bought small velvet painting/marker sets with a farm theme for each kid.
•A treat bag with stuff for school (pencils, glue sticks & safety scissors and a small notebook.
AS for games, my son & his friends love the LIMBO, pin the whatever on the whatever, dig for treasure (prizes) in a big pile of sand.
Hope this helps. Have fun!

Get a big roll of paper and have the kids make a Happy Birthday Banner for your princess w/ crayons, stickers, etc.

Decorate a red wagon festively and add a little hay... The big kids can give the lil ones birthday hay rides!

Break out the radio and have the kids do 'freeze dancing' .. they have to freeze when the music stops.

Our guests are grandparents/aunts/uncles (that alone is almost 30, and we just don't have the budget to include my 24 neices/nephews and many others). So, I'm not sure if our favors/games will appeal to you, but they are:

Game: draw the best picture of DS (got a tablet of farm paper at Dollar Store and box of crayons). Winner gets sandwich sprinkle mix and homemade dip mix.
Favors: (based on Cinco de Mayo theme, DS's bday) cactus shot glasses (PaperMart for 30c ea), mini marracas (sp?)(PaperMart for $50c ea) + postcard that I printed out, showing pic of husband at 1yo, then pic of me at 1yo, then pic of DS at 1yo and "Thank you for coming to DS Birthday, Date____".

We're also making one of my sisters in charge of photos - getting one of each couple - to put in DS personal photo album/book thing.

Good luck!

My kids just went to a party and they got kites for party favors. The were from the dollar store. I know that right the the Dollar Tree dollar stores have a ton of outside stuff to choose from. Good luck. 'Old school' games are fun. Relay races or race carrying an egg (hardboiled - less messy) on a spoon. Water balloon toss, bean bag toss etc. Set a table up with paper & crayons.

What about a pie eating contest for all the kids with the little tastycake pies? I know it is messy...but so much fun :-)