In preparing for a birthday party in my house, my children are very helpful. They enjoy helping set the itinerary, practicing the games, and assisting with setup. However, at the party, my children do not enjoy being the center of attention. Thus far, both my son and older daughter get embarrassed and shy.

Since I now know this behavior is likely to occur, I decided to keep my daughter with her friends throughout the party. She did much better this year and seemed to enjoy it. Whew!

Greeting Guests

On the day of the event, we were ready a little early to receive our guests. My daughter greeted each girl at the door and brought her friends to the living room to play.

Playing Games

One friend did not care to participate in the games, so this friend continued to play with some toys while the other girls played.

Pass the Orange:  The girls did a great job keeping the orange moving and cheering each other along.

Strawberry Spoon Race: Though my daughter practiced this game and said it was her favorite, she wanted to quit in the middle of her turn. Not sure if she got frustrated, tired, or embarrassed, but the girls who started the game finished. Of course, there were prizes for all.

Strawberry Strawberry Shortcake: My daughter ended up loving this game. Some of the girls forgot to sit back down, so they kept running around the circle. Others were really fast back to their seats. This game received the most giggles and laughter of all the games.

Musical Strawberries: This game was a good idea, but the girls kept stepping on the strawberries and sliding across the carpet. Since I did not want them to get hurt, we revised this game a little and had the girls walk on the outside of the circle. When the music stopped, they needed to be standing next to a strawberry. With this adjustment, the game worked perfectly.

Eating Food

Having my mom help in the kitchen was a blessing. As the girls won the Musical Strawberries cake walk, they went to the kitchen where my mom scooped their choice ice cream and then sat them at the table with their chosen cupcake.

If my mom needed more time, then we kept the music playing. Once my mom seated one child, then we stopped the music and the winner went to the kitchen. Working with one child at a time kept the party calm without chaos.

Once all the girls were served, we sang and let my daughter blow out her candles. Then the girls chatted and enjoyed their food together.

Opening gifts

All the girls came to the living room, sat in a semicircle with their gift, and waited their turn. We started with the winner of the first game giving her gift to my daughter first. Having her friend sit with her, my daughter did not feel embarrassed or the center of attention. This arrangement worked well.

Expressing Gratitude

While Daddy was removing the gifts from their packages for the girls to play, my daughter thanked her friends for attending her party and for all her gifts. I stood with her and encouraged her to thank her friends. I was very proud of her announcement.

Delivering goody bags

With all the goody bags previously packaged with the attendees’ names on the bags, I read the name and allowed my daughter to deliver the bags to each of her friends. She enjoyed giving to her friends.

Playing until pickup

The girls enjoyed sorting through their goody bags, playing, and talking until their parents arrived for pickup.

The party was a success! My daughter enjoyed the party, the girls stayed busy, each activity flowed into the next one without interruptions, and no one got hurt.

By preparing in advance, weighing the cost, and keeping event notes, I followed the itinerary, made adjustments, and enjoyed the process. Birthday parties can be lots of work, but the results are worth all the money, energy, and time. Hope your planned events are running smoothly as well!

Question: What adjustments have you made at an event when the original plan did not work? Please add your answer by clicking the Leave your Comment button.

Nailing down a theme for an event early helps to guide the rest of the planning. With a theme of character, color, or holiday, you can coordinate food, decorations, and favors. Sometimes getting to the theme is a journey.

Choosing a Theme

Prior to my daughter turning two, Paul and I wavered back and forth on the theme of her party. Having had a pink princess first birthday party, she missed the Blue’s Clues theme that our other two children had for their first birthday. Also, my toddler loves Blue and dressed as her for Halloween.

The other option was the custom party I created for my oldest daughter’s second birthday party centered on the book, Good Night, Gorilla. Both of our girls love this book as there are repetitive themes throughout the pages – colors, moon, balloon, animals, banana, etc.

Knowing that our toddler would probably outgrow both themes by next year, we paid attention to her playtime activities. During the weeks before her birthday, the reading of Good Night, Gorilla faded, but Blue remained in the coveted corner of her crib. Though I wanted to repeat the Good Night, Gorilla birthday party, this was not my party. My daughter loved and cared for Blue, so a Blue’s Clues birthday party we did.

Though the planning, shopping, and executing falls on my shoulders, I chose to consider my guest of honor’s wishes above my own. Though I already knew the answer, I still asked my toddler to choose her theme. By doing so and allowing her to help with the decorations, tableware, and games, I demonstrated my love and my willingness to create a fun party for her.

With the theme chosen and most of the decorations gathered from my older two children’s Blue’s Clues birthday parties, I had a game plan. Next week in Part 2, I will share our Blue’s Clues birthday party itinerary. To be continued . . .

Question: Did you choose themes for your child’s first or second birthday party?

Though I plan each birthday party, I know that there will be changes. I never know how my children will react on the day of the party. Sometimes they are all in and ready to play everything while other times they do not want the attention focused on them.

Having learned from past birthday parties, I try to have a backup plan or at least another option for those moments.

For my toddler’s Blue’s Clues party, we chose a theme and planned an itinerary. On the day of the party, we carried out our plan. I enjoyed the process as my toddler allowed Daddy, grandparents, and siblings to help her. Though the party was not perfectly executed, a bit of spontaneity kept everyone on their toes. 😉

Welcome

Since my toddler cannot turn the door knob on our front door, my son and older daughter opened the door when the guests arrive. My toddler remained down the hall waiting for her guests to come see her.

Games – Part 1 of 3

Blue’s Clues

After our guests arrived and had a few minutes to play, we began the game of Blue’s Clues. For our party, Blue was looking forward to something at this birthday party, and she left 3 clues to help us figure out Blue’s Clues.

The 6 children then began searching for Blue’s Clues. (We hid one clue at a time to avoid finding them out of order. During setup, Paul placed the first clue. Though I could have cut the clues out of paper, I just used the clues from her Halloween outfit since they were nice and big.)

The birthday girl found the first clue on the living room ceiling fan. It was really cute. The older children took turns drawing the clue in our handy-dandy notebook.

Hide and Seek Blue

During setup, I hid 6 Blue’s Clues items (2 figurines, 2 stuffed animals, and 2 bath mitts). With the 6 children paired up, the two 6-year-olds searched for the figurines while the two 4-year-olds and two 2-year-olds looked for the stuffed animals and bath mitts. Each child found one item. How cute it was to watch the older ones help the younger ones after finding their own.

Lunch

With our party beginning at 10:00 a.m. and the younger children used to eating lunch around 11:00 a.m., I tried to keep them on schedule. The children found their seats at the table, set with tableware, silverware, and place cards, while the parents served the food.

While the children ate at the table, the adults filled their plates and ate in the living room.

Games – Part 2 of 3

Pin the Paw on Blue

After lunch, we played the Blue’s Clues version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. The older children were blindfolded, but the younger ones just closed their eyes or placed the paw on Blue. 😉

Open Presents

The children all sat on the living room floor and waited for the birthday girl to open her gifts. Sometimes opening the presents is the hardest part with keeping the children back to removing the toys from the packaging to the commotion.

However, this gift opening session went very well. While the grandpas removed the toys from their packaging, we continued with our games.

Games – Part 3 of 3

Blue’s Clues

During lunch, I placed the second paw print on my daughter’s portrait. When the participants found it, we drew the clue into our handy-dandy notebook.

While drawing the second clue, Paul placed the third clue on a candle. The guests quickly found the third clue, added it to our handy-dandy notebook, and deciphered Blue’s Clues. Blue was ready for the birthday girl to blow out her candle.

Sing, Blow Candle, and Cake

After singing, my daughter blew out her candle (with help), and we served cake at the table with the children sitting in their lunch seating arrangement.

Thank you and Goody Bags

As the children finished their dessert, they went to play. My daughter then distributed the goody bags, made from brown paper bags with a paw print and a guest’s name on the front. The goodies included: blowouts, straws, flying disks, jewelry (girls) and action figures (boys).

Play with new toys and goody bag items

The participants finished the party by checking out the new toys and their goody bags. Throughout that morning, they enjoyed playing with each other while celebrating my daughter’s second birthday.

With an itinerary in place, I followed the plan to keep the party moving and to remind myself when to hide the clues and what activity to complete next. The party was fun for all and wore out our toddler. Upon telling her friends goodbye, she got her blanket and crawled upstairs. She was ready for her nap. 🙂

When planning birthday parties, I consider the theme, plan an itinerary, and enjoy the execution. Happy planning!

Question: Does your child like or avoid the attention at his/her birthday party?