Need Help with Joint Boy/girl Birthday Party!

Hi A.,

I know you have a ton of responses - but I thought I would share what I did for my son and niece's 3rd birthday (they are 10 days apart). We did bugs and butterflies. They're all one in the same... but we were able to choose some "boy" bugs like grasshoppers, spiders and scorpions and then ladybugs and butterflies for girls. Makes for some awesome looking cakes! :-) Good luck!

-D.

I'm doing a Rubber ducky theme for my little boy. There are LOADS of things available in boy and girl colors and the ducky itself is gender neutral. If you google Rubber Ducky Birthday Party you'll get a TON of links with websites dedicated to this sort of thing. I'm stealing loads of ideas from these websites for my lil guy's party.

Maybe you could try something gender neutral like an under the sea or Nemo theme. We had a "fish" party for my dau. when se was 4. We took a large box (I think a treadmill came in it) and made a fishing booth. Just a thought. Seems like there could be lots ways to go with that theme.

I have to second all the ones Rae Ann suggested below... but I also would like to add

Raggedy Ann & Andy
Cowgirl/Cowboy theme (Western)
Winter Wonderland theme...
Wizard of Oz
Sesame Street (lots of characters there)
Disney in general theme party with all of the characters
(mix and match characters and maybe put Wishing All Of Your Dreams Come True on the cake...

We personally have done the Blue's Clues for my daughters birthday (which could go either way) and made/purchased everything BLUE.

We also did the Sesame Street Party theme and did Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Zoe, Elmo...

My daughters birthday is also in December

Do a primary color birthday. Have everyone wear a primary color (red, blue or yellow). Kids love bright colors. Have two cakes, a primary color one with a big #1 on it for your son (they can make balloons out of frosting) and a primary color girly cake (with characters like Dora or Sesame Street). That way, your daughter will have her own candles to blow out and they will both feel special.

You can get plates, napkkins and stuff now at the dollar stores (or start watching for them to be on sale, esp. after labor day (great time to buy blue and red).

Since it will be in December, the bright colors will cheer up a dreary day.

Hi,
I did a princess/knight party for my baby's 1st birthday. I gave all of the boys breast plates and knight hats, and I gave all of the girls crowns and a wand. (The breast plates are a seasonal item at Dollar Tree, and you can get them at Halloween time. It was cute, but you may be safer with something like Elmo or Dora... Your 3 year old would love it, and you 1 year old really won't know what's going on. I have a friend that did a scavenger hunt and the kids had to use "the map" to find the birthday cake that "swiper swiped." It was cute and you could focus on primary colors. She made purple back packs out of craft foam for the treat bags. Both boys and girls loved it.

G.

Although I'm 30 now, my brother and I had a lot of joint birthday parties when we were growing up. Our birthday's are 2 years and 10 days apart. My mom did Mickey and Minnie once for us, and I think that's still popular enough that it would work for you. Also, I think they have a lot of Elmo and Zoe stuff out there, or just Sesame Street. Dora and Diego, Backyardigans has 3 boys and 2 girls. Also, you could do either a farm or zoo theme, or just stick with cowboys and cowgirls. Sorry if these are repeats, I didn't have time to read the other's responses. Good luck! Let us know what you decide.

-Dora and Diego
-Minnie and Mickey
-Donald and Daisy
-Backyardigans (both boys and girls as the main characters)
-Dragon Tales-same as above (both boys and girls)
-A Zoo, circus, Wild West, or Jungle theme
-Medieval times theme
-Curious George
-Clifford's Puppy Days and/or Clifford the Big Red Dog

Hope this helps

Gosh- there are so many fun boy/ girl things. I can't wait to get my daughter and son in them for Halloween! If you can find anything- Raggady (sp?) Ann & Andy. The more popular would be Dora & Diego. Something like a Nemo or Backyardigans theme could certainly go either way. Choosing colors like purple and green would certainly stray away from the baby shower look. Good luck!

You could do a farm theme. It is perfect for really young kids and is not gender specific! Who doesn't love duckies piggies & cows?

A few simple games might be:

"go fishing" using either magnets/paper clips or velcro to create the rods & fishies.

We like to paint a theme related board with holes & make theme related bean bags to have a bean bag toss. It does not have to be competitive.

We also love to hang a long piece of paper on the wall with a few "starter" drawings & let the kids create a mural. They could use stickers or crayons or the foamie stickers from the craft store.

Don't stress about it. They are so young, you don't really need to plan - keep it as simple as a play date & the kids will have a great time.

Have fun!

P.

I have done the boy/girl party and for our theme we did cat and dog. We have the cake decor. with cat and dog paw prints and the the our decor had cats and dogs. It turned out so cute because it was neither girl or boy. But when it was time to have plates and cups the girls chose the cats and boys chose dogs.

Never did a joint party unless u count that my daughter's birthday parties always have male guests. She has two godbrothers I never want to leave out. I am guessing it will b indoor party in Dec. Past themes of ours back in toddler years: art party at our local art store, Alice in Winter Wonderland tea party where all prince/princess dressed up, & carousel party at mall. I try to b more creative every year.

I have found having activity parties that both genders enjoy is always a hit. Don't have to pay for decorations generally when I pay to use another location & cleaning up behind toddlers becomes some one else's job! Good luck. Hope this helps.

V.
Memphis, TN

A.,

Dora and Diego would work well together, now that Diego items are gaining popularity.

Since it is in December you could to a North Pole Theme and have Santa and Mrs. Claus items - or just santa and elves for kids...regardless of boy or girl

Or you could do Snow families and the kids could make a snowkid to look like them...there are several easy craft projects to make snow men.

Shrek would work - since Fiona turns into an ogre at the end, all the kids could get ogre goodies, paired with either knight helmets or princess tiaras depending.

Thomas the Train would work, there is a girl engine named Lady, she is featured in the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

That is all I can think of off the top of my head. I am sure what ever you do the kids will love it!

And - even as they get older - why not do combined parties for a while...unless you are going to only invite boys to your sons and girls to your daughters....my kids parties always end up being mixed gender for goodies anyway. As long as you can ride the train of one party and keep the costs down....go for it!

T.

I have read a lot of great responses. You have really got your hands full with 3 little ones. I have a boy and girl who are 2 days from being 4 years apart and we have had quite a few joint birthdays. When my children were little they were both into Veggie Tales. One of the most memorable birthday parties my children went to was a carnival birthday party. There are so many gender neutral birthday ideas - I'm sure it'll be hard to choose just one. Good Luck

How about a mickey & minnie mouse party? That way you only have to purchase one set of items and it would work for both. You can probably even get costumes or extra items at the Disney store.

I know others have mentioned this already, but I was going to suggest Mickey and Minnie. My youngest son turned 3 last December and we had Mickey Mouse come to his party. There were both boys and girls there of all ages up to about 8 years old. It was a huge hit with everyone. They have lots of decorations for it at the party stores and I had noticed they had some for Minnie Mouse too. You can even buy mouse ears...plain for Mickey and with a bow for Minnie. It was all really cute stuff. Good luck with whatever you decide!

A.,

You have a fun challenge on your hands. Have you thought about animals. They are always fun and can go both ways. For example: lady bug and lions or butterflys and bees. Just some thoughts. Hope you have a wonderful party. Let us know what you decide.

I would do bright colors, lots of balloons, dollar store has balloon table cloth, napkins, plates, any bright colors mix and match. Cake can have balloons on it too. That age will be thrilled with anything.

Invite friends and little people over to help your little prince and princess celebrate their special day. Play restaruant and take orders for food and maybe show movies or have your friends dress up like their favorite cartoon people. Ex: like dora, other disney characters, have happy clowns not sad or scary ones. Have a cook out make it a big family gathering if doing multiple parties in one. Buy small cakes but different ones. Good luck. Oh yeah, take lots of pictures!!
A.

Do you have to do two seperate themes or can you do one that will cover both kids? I am an event coordinator and did a 6-year-old twins (one boy/one girl) b-day party and we did an animal theme. It was gender neutral. All the party stores have TONS of cutesy zoo and/or wild animal party items and decorations that are very inexpensive! Also, Sam's makes really cute cupcakes with this theme that each have a different animal on them and icing that looks like grass--too cute!

If you don't like this idea, I think it would be smart for you to go to Horner Novelty and wonder around for a bit to see what strikes your fancy. The one over in Indiana is definately the best. If you need any help, please feel free to contact me, I work on an hourly basis and pass all my wholesale costs onto my clients so I can actually end up saving you money.

I would love to know how it turns out!

A.,

Sorry I don't have anything else to add to your request. All of the other request listed my suggestions. But I would love to hear how this turned out. So be sure to let us know how it goes. GOOD LUCK!!

I have never done a joint boy and girl party but maybe Dora (the Explorer) and Diego (Go Diego Go) would be a good theme. Just a thought. Good luck.

how bout Mickey & Minnie mouse or Zoe & Elmo?

How about Dora and Diego? One boy and one girl. Or you could do whatever their favorites are and just split all things in 1/2. For example, if son likes Elmo and daughter likes Hello Kitty, then instead of one big cake, do two smaller cakes, or cupcakes, and 1/2 the plates and napkins Elmo and 1/2 Hello Kitty. For my daughter I did pink toille plates and napkins which was beautiful and pink cupcakes, etc It was very pretty! My son had blue polka dots one year! That shouldn't look like a shower.

Or, if they both like the same thing....Pooh and Tigger, Superman, Scooby Doo! My daughter could not decide last year what she wanted so we did a Diego party for her friends and a Scooby party for family on the day of her bday. Make it fun and any way you want!

I have a boy and girl that are 3 years and 3 days apart. Last year we went with Yo Gabba Gabba. You can find items online to download and print for games and decorations.http://www.gabbafriends.com/parties

They have a CD that has the Happy Birthday song, you can also play the DVD.

Good luck.

is their a show they both like? my 2 and 5 year old both love blues clues... and of course elmo is always a hit. that way you arnt having to do pink and blue. how this helps!

Backyardigans, Dora/Diego, Max & Ruby, Maggie & the Ferocious Beast