Boy's First Birthday/Going Away Party

You can give them little goody bags that has some toy stickers, little bag of animal cracker or goldfinsh, and little bubble bottles.

I think a circus or zoo theme would be a lot of fun. If you type in circus or carnival birthday partys and hit enter, a ton of websites will come up with lots of fun and EASY and cheap ideas. As far as goody bags, I did stuff like fruit snacks, fruit roll ups, matchbox cars(girls and boys love them), balloons, and since Halloween is close, you can go to McDonalds and get those free ice cream and cookie gift certificates real cheap and put one of those in there. Good luck!!

I don't have any suggestions for themes, I just threw a party for my one year old on 09-13, but I didn't do a themed party. One thing I did do to make it extra special for him was that I made him his own private little cake (I always do this for my kids birthdays). Just prepare the cake batter, but then use a little of it to fill two cleaned out tuna fish cans (with paper label removed of course) about 1/3 full each. Then just bake them with the big cake pans (you will still have plenty to make the big cake with) but check the small ones earlier. Then just let them cool for a minute or two, then turn over and layer the way you would any ordinary cake. Frost and serve. They're always a big hit! Maybe you could do one for each child if you wanted, but I wouldn't, it's a special treat for the birthday boy.

Have fun!

I do a little catering and I did a party for a family who was moving. We had a travel theme and we found airplane pulltoys to give each of the kids. I also did a large photo album, took a picture of each child at the party and pasted it into the book and had the parents write a note to the kids who were moving away (including the child's address and e-mail so the parents could stay in touch). Food is tough for 11 month olds since some may not be eating "real" food yet. We had goldfish crackers, Ranch dip, and small diced or julienned veggies. Fruit kebobs worked really well, too, with a strawberry/CoolWhip dip. Good luck!! --B. B.

Only because he's turning one will I say it's a good idea to combine the parties. I'm a stickler for having my children's parties on their birthdays and not before or after. Since you're moving I can understand why you can't. Does your son like dinosaurs better than fish? The theme should be something he likes. What is his favorite thing? That's your theme.
Party favors could be small bottles of bubbles, fruit roll ups, cookies (you can never go wrong with cookies with kids), small (not real small)plastic dinosaurs or fish (depending on the theme), those larger super balls, noise makers (whistles or small flutes), or crayons. They have a lot of those favors that come in big bags at many stores. You just have to make sure they are age appropriate.
Good luck on your move and I hope you have a wonderful party!

I have boys, and I think that if I was in your situation, I would consider Thomas the train theme, or something travel related. You could cover both events, and still keep it simple. Good luck relocoating.

A transportation theme would be really neat. You can give those plastic toy/pool boats that are in the dollar bin at Target as party favors. I think they would do well for boy or girl. Chicken nuggets, waffle fries (costco has a huge bag in their freezer section-at least the one in Elkridge/Columbia does), tater tots, fruit, cheese, crackers, and almost any finger food you can think of. A car or boat cake is easy to make to go with a transportation theme. Go to www.bettycrocker.com and they have tons of easy cake ideas. The car is actually super easy to make I did it last year. Good luck with the party and with your move. Have fun.

I did a 4 yr old birthday party the other week and the mom wanted mini pizzas for the party. I decided to go with homemade fruit cups (pick whichever fruit is on sale) grapes, watermelon, and peaches. Plus we had pretzel sticks. And as for party favors and favorite that I have noticed with 1 year olds is bubbles. You can go to the dollar store and pick up 3 packs of bubbles for $1. I would stick with the dinosaur theme. If you need anymore suggestions feel free to ask. I'm starting a party planning business and love to get ideas out there.

Since you are moving, you could have a transportaion themed party. The party favors could be hot wheels/tub toys/ boats, etc. For my daughters 1st bday, I went on the web and found free,printable, coloring pages. There were all types of themes. I just printed out a bunch of simple shaped animals. I went to the store and bought a party pack of crayons, like at the restaurants. This kept them intertained for a long time. Here's a link that might help.
http://www.free-coloring-pages.com/cars.html

For foods I would keep it simple. Chunks of fruit, cupcakes, juice boxes, little bottles of water, chicken nuggets, pizza rolls, cheese chunks, goldfish, little cups of ice cream or dibs if you're brave.
Good luck
M.

Michaels sells dinosaur shaped cake pans (been there, done that :o). It is easy to make. Oriental Trading has everything you will need for a dinosaur party (or any other party for that matter), including goody bags for a great price!! For party gifts, I would keep it simple. Have fun at the party.

As for the party favors, try playdough! You can get mulit-packs of the smaller size and give each child 2 or 3 different colors. It's cheap and they all love it!
Have fun and good luck with your move!

Of course pick things that are not choking hazards or that can be cut into small bites (chicken nuggets, cheese, etc). As far as party favors for little ones, books (the dollar store)or inflatable beach balls and bubbles are always good options. If you go with beach balls & bubbles a Ocean/Bon Voyage theme would work. If money isn't concern look a Gymboree Play & Music, they have cute educational/stimulating stuff for little ones. As far as the dinosaur invites, you can always tie it in by making a cake with a dinosaur on a beach.Good luck.

What about a train theme? That way, it incorporates the "going-away" part & your daughter can get in on the fun by wearing a conductors hat..

simple things like

pineapple chuncks and cheese bites on a stick(sitck being a tooth pick, just one piece of each) also you can do those little sausages on a stick, fruit.

chips

depending on the time of day, depends on what you serve you could also do meringue worms just pipe some meringue on some baking paper and cood untill dry and the decorate with some food icing. and sprinkles.

also google partyexpress they do theme stuff that you can either order or get ideas from i usuall recieve stuff from them with in 4-5 days. pritty quick.

Pizza is a great idea, but finger food for 1 yr old is also good...my kids love when I would order a nugget tray from Chick Fil A. I do not think 1 yr olds really need a themed party but since it is 11/1 you could do a "Costume"/Halloween Party. As for a cake.....most stores can do any cake...I love a personal "smush" cake for the birthday baby though. Cupcakes a always also a very nice idea for that age.

Now as to favors....I am not a big goody bag candy person...I think I gave all my 1 yr old party goers a "toy"...Party City or the Dollar Store always good for that. They got a ball or coloring book or something like that.
Good Luck and have fun....make sure you enjoy yourself too!

I did this for a halloween party a few years ago. I bought Kraft sliced cheese and used halloween cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the cheese then put them on the pizza for a little Halloween flair. All the kids loved it and there was NO extra pizza. I also made brownies and put marshmallows on top then decorated them like spiders, frankenstein, and ghosts (idea from the box top website). This could be adapted to an underwater them by making an octopus, submarine, or any other underwater creatures. Good Luck and have fun!

Hi, I am a party planner, and I can tell you that no matter what theme you pick your one year old will not remember it, but considering you already did dinosaur invites most will probably be expecting a dinosaur party and may actually bring dino gifts so I would stick with what you started with. As for food, they probably won't eat a lot of pizza, if any. That will be more for adults, I would get additional food for the kids such as a finger food platter of some sort. For goodie bags, check out your local party store. Or even Walmart. Maybe a little stuffed animal with a few 1 yr old safe toys...or you could even give out just 1 toy as a thank you. Find some dinos...again try walmart...and have little t-shirts made to go on them in assorted colors for boys or girls that says "your childs name...1st birthday party." That way your still giving a favor but its appropriate for the childrens ages. Have a great party.