Elmo/Birthday Ideas

I agree about kids being scared of characters in person that they love when on TV. For the jumpers, you have to have a lot of open space and very high ceilings. Most will warn you cannot have indoors because they have to be anchored. Would it be possible to instead setup small stations with age appropriate crafts and maybe some games? Usually the toddler age is happy just running around, especially since they burn out pretty quickly. We didn't start having activities/games until the kids were 4.

Maybe theme the party cake decorations favors stuff like that with the elmo theme. I would not suggest the character visit at the party. My daughter is 3 and just went to my neices birthday party last weekend and they had a polar bear come in and she and a few of the other kids had a fit. They hated it! We are still trying to explain that its just someone playing dress up like she does for halloween. Good luck!

I had an Elmo character for my sons 2nd birthday and it was a huge mistake. Like the other moms said, the kids were terrified of him. Elmo did a great job, trying to entertain the kids, but they wanted nothing to do with him. Save your money on this one.

I just wanted to add some suggestions for the craft table. For my son's first birthday (he's now 3), his cousins were a few years older and I wanted something for them so I went to the dollar store and bought a ton of big coloring books, 12 piece puzzles and those velvet coloring posters, along with crayons and markers. A major plus is that any artwork that they do you can send home with them. Just don't forget to bring plastic bags for it! Good luck!

I don't have any referrals for an entertainer, but I did want to tell you about our experiences. On a few different occasions, we've had various visitors at our parties (Barney, clown, etc). It did NOT go over well with our 1 and 2 year olds. It's one thing to see their favorites on TV, but for some reason they didn't like seeing them in person. It was quite traumatic. I hope that doesn't happen for you, but you might want to prepare yourself for that possibility JUST IN CASE.

As for the jump house, I do know that they have small ones. My sister bought one at Toys R Us and had it in her basement all winter long (paid about $150). I don't know if you can rent those, though.

Sorry not much help. Good luck and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!