A child’s first birthday party serves as a memory the mother and child will always have, and as a day, the mother celebrates their first year as a parent. The child will most definitely not remember this memorable day in their life, but the mother will. So, how do you make it as memorable as possible by throwing a great first birthday party?

Think of the birthday’s theme, shop early in advance, pick time wisely while sending out invitations to close friends and family members you’d wish to celebrate this day with you. Lastly, hire a good photographer that would document every detail and moment of the day as the child enjoys.

Many people have wondered how they could throw a first birthday party, something I’ll be covering in detail through this article. 

This article is meant to let you create this day as memorable as possible for both you, the child, and other people in your lives that will relieve the day by going through your old pictures.

What Is A Good Time For A First Birthday Party?

Earlier in the morning, say around 10:00 am, would serve better for most kids and parents.

Most parents get tempted in throwing the first birthday party during evening hours, not considering that these are the times when these little angels are tired and want nothing else but a nap. Evenings might sound like the right time for adults to socialize. However, that's not the case with kids.

Nevertheless, different babies have different nap times, and depending on your kid’s nap time, you could make plans to put that into consideration and avoid throwing them a party when they’re already asleep to witness their big day.

If you know very well that your child is likely to get fussy in the afternoons because they are tired, plan the party during morning hours when they’re at their best. 

If the child is mostly active during the afternoons, plan the party in the morning.

Below are some tips to make sure the baby has a great time during their birthday party:

• Let them nap properly before the birthday party.
• Work with time by making it not too long, leading to the baby getting too tired and bored during the event.
• Create a spare room for nap time in case other parents come with their babies.
• When hosting the party in the afternoons, inform your guests whether you’d be serving lunch to avoid confusion.
• Serve inexpensive snacks instead in case you’ll not be serving your guest’s lunch.
  
  

What Should I Make For A 1st Birthday Party?

When I had my son’s first birthday party, I kept things simple and not overwhelming to them by inviting only a handful of people.

He’s turning six in a couple of months, and planning around his nap time was a bit tricky because he’s among those that nap at any chance they’ve got. Therefore, I had to throw the party during the afternoon, meaning I had to serve lunch to my guests.

Having planned ahead of time, I knew what to serve and when the party should conclude. Something you should look into with great consideration and not leave your guests disappointed due to poor communication from your end.

Furthermore, the food you prepare for the birthday boy/girl is more than likely to be enjoyed by the adults more than the kids. They find the idea of having the party exciting rather than the food present. Therefore, let the guests enjoy themselves.

Before making any plans concerning the foods present during the party, it's wise to consult with the other parents that’ll be attending the event and become aware of anyone with certain food allergies. Don’t overlook this!

Putting everyone into consideration, you’ll be preparing different foods for both the toddlers present and the grownups who are the parents.

Below are some of the foods you could prepare to keep the party going;

Tip 1: Serving Snacks

When throwing the birthday party in the mornings, food is not always expected on the menu.

However, you could serve snacks such as yogurt, fruit smoothies, pickles, kale chips, bagels, deviled eggs, or fruit salad which are quite inexpensive and friendly with the kids. Avoid choking hazards!

Snacks such as popcorn, nuts, and chips are not recommended depending on the kid’s ages since they are considered choking hazards. In case you serve them, let someone monitor the toddlers closely and avoid any calamities.

Tip 2: Serving Lunch

Say you are someone like me who prefers throwing their kid’s birthday party during the afternoons, be generous, and serve lunch. Most parents and their children will be hungry when they arrive at the birthday party, especially those coming from far.

Serving lunch can prove a bit expensive compared to serving snacks, depending on the number of people you invite. The higher the number, the more expenses incurred from your end.

I’ve got some food ideas for you to look out for if you want to keep the budget at a minimum.

Banana-pear muffins

Banana pear muffins could be prepared a day before the main event and stored in air-tight containers. They are not expensive to prepare and take little to no time in getting ready.

Ingredients: 

• Eggs
• Ripe bananas
• Pears
• Organing self-raising flour
• Teaspoon of spices
• Olive oil
• Milk
  
  

Lavash-bread pizza rolls for the toddlers

Kids can be a bit picky when it comes to what they want to eat. The lavash bread pizza rolls are both extremely tasty and visually appealing.

Ingredients: 

• Sliced ham
• Salami
• Lavash bread
• Capsicum
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Pizza base sauce
• Mushrooms
• Olives
• Grated cheese
  
  

Arancini balls for the adults

The Arancini balls are easily prepared the night before the big day. They take less time and require little expertise.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Arborio rice
• Finely chopped onions
• 900ml chicken stock
• Unsalted butter
• Dry white wine
• Dried breadcrumbs
• Eggs
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• Plain flour
• Grated Parmesan
• Marinated artichokes
• Mozzarella

Other considerable foods may include;

• Coconut truffles
• Choc-chip biscuits
• Jelly cups
• Sandwiches
  
  

How Long Should A 1-Year-Old Birthday Party Be?

An hour or two is enough to keep the toddler entertained during the first birthday party.

Anything longer than that might find the baby either asleep or too tired to keep enjoying their great day. You should avoid inviting too many unfamiliar faces because the child might feel lost in a short period due to seeing too many new faces.

At my son’s birthday party, I invited close family members acquainted with the child and kept the event close to two hours long. He fell asleep midway; however, most of the interesting part of the day was due.

Furthermore, a one year’s birthday party is more about the family celebrating than the child. In most cases, they probably won’t be bothered. 

Some children won’t fathom many people’s presence and will uncontrollably start crying until everyone is gone; therefore, keep the party short, at least for the child. That’s easily achievable by integrating fun games that the kids can enjoy watching. 

Games such as row your boat or round and round the garden will keep the toddlers entertained for sure.

Babies enjoy watching fun stuff, especially when being performed by the people they love and others being performed by themselves. Keep the games short and avoid making the toddlers too tired for the rest of the day.

Some fun games for the toddlers that are not time-consuming may include;

Bubble Smash

Kids will always get entertained by running behind bubbles. All you need is a bubbling liquid, a bubble pumping machine, and several plastic cups.

You could also pump the bubble yourself for the kids if you didn’t get hold of a bubble pumping machine.

Give each child a plastic cup and demonstrate to them how the game is played. After the demonstrations, switch on the bubble pumping machine as the little ones start chasing the bubbles around while giggling and having fun!

Wagon Ride

With a spacious backyard, you could introduce the kid alongside guest kids to play and ride around in a wagon.

You’ll need streamers, kid’s wagons, balloons, and stickers. All these are inexpensive things to get.

You could decorate the wagons with stickers and balloons, then place the babies inside the wagon, one by one. Finally, start pulling them around as other people cheer and clap for the baby touring the backyard.

A Small Baby Fashion Show

Dress up the little ones and let them take on a competition showcasing their cuteness and great dressing choices.

All you need is a runway setup, costume for the kids, and music. Set up a runway within your party area and dress up the toddlers based on the birthday party’s theme.

Let them crawl, run or walk on the runway. Whichever way they’d prefer, allow them.

Cheer them up as they move from one point to the other on the runway to give them motivation and confidence. After the show, gift all the participants for they are all winners.

Where Can I Have My Baby’s First Birthday?

Having your baby’s first birthday party at home is the ideal place for many. Nevertheless, if you try too hard to make the birthday too perfect, neither of you will enjoy it due to the amount of pressure and fear of things not going as planned. Relax and enjoy the moment with your little one.

Some people might book expensive hotels for their child’s first birthday party but let's face it, they won’t remember it, and you are just going overboard.

The first, second, third, and probably fourth birthday parties will be more of a celebration for the parent than the child because you are free to choose the theme until they are all grown up and start demanding a certain type of birthday party. Use this time to your advantage before demands start trickling in someday.

Planning the party at home gives you much freedom such as;

Readily Available Resting Area 

Babies that just turned a year older are prone to sleeping anytime they feel tired. Some even sleep for more than 12 hours a day!

The birthday party will most definitely drain their energy faster than a normal day, thus getting a readily available space for resting is ideal. Having the party at home gives you just that freedom because the baby can rest in their usual space without feeling out of place. 

If your guests have babies that need resting, you could easily prepare a place for them without much hassle than when having the birthday party far from home.

Privacy Is Maintained

Having the party at home means total privacy between you and your guests. Most places that host birthday parties will, in most cases, have different concurrent parties at once, unless you are willing to go deeper in your pocket and book the entire space.

You also have total control over your baby’s birthday party’s theme compared to booking places that will not allow much.

Comfortability

Children are more comfortable seeing faces they’ve familiarised themselves with before rather than seeing too many new faces.

The surroundings will also matter to the kid since they are more familiar with their home setup than a hotel’s backyard setup.

No Time Restrains

As suggested earlier, the party should be no more than two hours to ensure the kids don’t start getting too bored with the event. However, the adults present might want the time to catch up while enjoying themselves now that the kids are resting or occupied with other things.

You could extend to the hour of your liking when hosting your guests at home compared to having the party far from home, where time is always monitored. Many places will not allow the parents to stay as well, but at home, all your guests with kids can have a great time alongside their kids.

In conclusion, a baby’s first birthday party is a memory created by the parent, one that both the guests present will never forget, and the child will relieve through pictures.