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Hawaii Babies
redshoegirl
member
first birthday help
redshoegirl
member
I'm starting to brainstorm ideas for the boys' first birthday. It's not going to be a major event - we're planning a BBQ with just family and close friends, so probably 20 guests, some of which will be children aged 2-11. Pretty small and simple - I don't see the point in having a big bash when Will and Dash won't remember it or even know what's going on. *shrug*
Anyway, I already have a loose theme in mind - they're in love with the Very Hungry Caterpillar so we're going with that.
Invites will be DIY, and I might even be lazy and just do a graphic to
email around vs actually printing them. I know this might get me some
gasps and pearl clutching on the Nest/Bump, but it's how invites to
events are normally circulated in our group - probably because we're
largely a bunch of geeks lol.
Cake will be like this:
Decorations...not sure. Some ideas here, but I doubt I'd use all of this, if any. Maybe just some themed plates, with cups, napkins, streamers and balloons in coordinating colors? I thought of doing a bowl of fruit - 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 4 strawberries and 5 oranges (you Hungry Caterpillar fans get it lol) - as a centerpiece for a drinks table. Too cheesy?
Location is the one thing I'm really wrestling with. We can have it at home or we can have it at a very cool park/playground that's in our town. (We don't have any museums, zoos, music studios, etc. here - these are pretty much the only two options unless we want to go to a restaurant. C'est la vie in a small town.)
Home
Pros: it's an environment we can control - indoor areas in case it rains, outdoor areas if it doesn't, etc. We can decorate ahead of time and can easily put the boys down for a rest in their cribs if they need a break.
Cons: aside from eating and goofing off in the backyard, there won't be much in the way of activities for our friends' children - there's such a big age range among the rest of the kids that I doubt
anything we could think of would be fun for all of them to participate
in (I'm open to ideas - I just can't think of anything that would work for two 2 year olds, two 4 year olds, a 6 year old and an 11 year old).
Park
Pros: most of the people we know have older (2-11 years old) kids. Having it at the park/playground would give them somewhere to run around and have fun while the parents kick back and chat.
Cons: the weather will be getting cooler by April, the BBQ areas are undercover but not large enough for everyone to squash into if it rained, and it's all on a first come first served basis (so if both BBQs were taken, we'd be SOL - one of us would probably have to camp out there for a couple hours leading up to the party).
Thoughts? Ideas? Holy-sh!t-don't-do-that-you-crazy-womans? 
This discussion has been closed.
Re: first birthday help
i'm exhausted and about to go to bed but wanted to say i love the theme
the centerpiece idea is super cute and not cheesy at all. if you wanted to do a candy buffet take home favor table (i don't know the formal name for those LOL) you could do round bowls filled w/candy and line them up like a caterpillar 
personally i'd do it at home. having done it, i can tell you that you'll want to be able to set up as much as you can ahead of time to minimize stress. you can always find ways to entertain the kids. there won't be one thing that keeps them all entertained but you can come up w/ a few things to make them happy. coloring books, puzzles, games etc. i just googled "yard games for kids" and this link came up - a lot of those could be fun for kids that are preschool age and up and don't require you to buy much 
if i think of other ideas i'll let you know....
i just think it would be super stressful to have the spots taken up by other groups (how annoying would it be a family of 4 to take up the spot when you've got a large group? LOL) or if it started raining.....
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
The cake is cute!! Are you going to make the cupcakes yourself?
I agree with Jaime. I also vote for the house. Less stress since you can set up early and don't have to worry about getting rained out.
I vote for home. I'm all for outdoors parties, but maybe not under the circumstances -- no reservations of park areas and the cooler weather.
Super cute cake idea!
I vote for having it at home. I just did that and it was so much easier to get everything ready the night (or week!) before and then just put out the food and cake the morning of.
We didn't have any children attend so I can't really help in terms of games or activities, but I would recommend to keep it simple, because you will be so busy with other stuff. I would suggest getting someone else to volunteer to run any activity you do decide to do. Even though our party was pretty simple I still felt like I was all over the place and barely remember much of it since I was pretty much handling Jack and making sure we spent time with all the guests (I had us pass out favors during the party, so I knew we would see everyone) and my mom/g'ma handled making sure the food was set out.
argh, lost my reply on this one!
But in short, I LOVE the decorations and LOVE the cake idea and everything!
And we are actually having our 1st bday party (also BBQ) at a park but that's because it's across the st from our place (our doggies christen it everyday lol) so it's easy to put B down for a nap or get things if we forgot to bring it (I can imagine the day-of being hectic so it's nice to be right there), ours is late spring so the weather should be nice here, we can reserve the entire park all to ourselves for the entire day for $60 incl even *all* the BBQ pits, our 1000sq ft townhome can barely fit having a family over for dinner, let alone a bday party....so ours was kinda a no choice-no brainer...
But in your case, if the house can accommodate and works, I'd do the house. Unless the park was next door/across the st/a block away...and you're able to "move" it home if need be or something like that...but from the sound of it, it isn't?
Love the theme and I agree with the other ladies...have it at home. You can organize some fun games, if you like. Libby's bday party had a wide range of kids (3 months to age 6) and they participated in group activities for about 45 minutes.
Some ideas...circle time and read the book to all at the top of the activity time. then have a scavenger hunt...the littles can have help from mom and dad. Make two lists, one for 3 and under and one for the older kids. Maybe enlist the 11 year old to be a "helper" to the littles? Use OBVIOUS items and place them down low for the wee ones and then for the older ones be sure their list has things that are more camoflagued/hidden. You could make then related to the book, if you like.
You could also do a craft...maybe make-and-take pom pom caterpillers? Moms and dads can help with this...maybe use glue dots rather than hot glue or liquid glue so it's not so messy and instantly gratifying. You can clip them onto their goodie bags at the end of the party.
https://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/insects/mcaterpillar2.htm
https://www.education.com/activity/article/pom-pom-pillar/
Other ideas would be a big blanket or parachute and play some games with it (parents involved, of course):
https://playparachutes.com/
You can also do other circle games (like hokie pokie, etc.) Here are some ideas, with recordings so you can learn the songs. Better yet, enlist a friend to be in charge of organized games (provide a list or let her have free reign) so you can participate with the boys:
https://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/learning/toddler_games.html
Here are some more great ideas:
https://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/hungry_caterpillar_parties_0.html
I particularly like this idea:
Decorations: Over the food table I made a balloon caterpillar. It was made of five green balloons and one red balloon (for the head). I tied the balloons on long pieces of white thread so that the strings wouldn't show and it would look like the caterpillar was floating. (Fishing line might be even better.) I taped the bottom of each piece of thread to the back edge of the table so that the balloons were all in a row. I attached paper eyes and pipe-cleaner antennae to the red "head" balloon using clear tape. This decoration was easy to do and very cute and effective.
And this idea...read the book before serving the food and then:
Food: I decided to serve the food that wasn't cake separately from the cake so that the kids would actually eat some. We had ALL of the food that the caterpillar eats in the book! This is what he eats: apples (sliced) plums (I chose small ones and served them whole) pears (sliced) strawberries oranges (I used canned Mandarin oranges) watermelon slices salami cheese pickles small sausages (I used mini hot dogs served on fancy toothpicks) and "nice green leaves." For the "leaves I served salad.
And here's an awesome blog post with cute pics of a Very Hungry Caterpiller party:
https://growinggreatkids.blogspot.com/2008/11/very-hungry-partyfinally.html
Love the bean bag toss and hunting for caterpillers (decorated sections of egg carton).
Here are some more ideas:
https://www.eric-carle.com/bb-VHC.html
I like this one a lot...
Submitted by Mush11301994@aol.com
I am a substitute teacher and have to be prepared when there are no lesson plans left for me. As a filler, I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and use body movements to teach young children the life cycles of the butterfly.
1. Egg: Have children hold their ankles. bend down, and round their body like the shape of an egg.
2. Larva: Squirm like a worm.
3. Pupa: Crawl into a sleeping bag (large pillowcases, leap frog bags) with colorful kerchiefs inside.
4. Butterfly: Children pop out of the bag swaying their colorful kerchiefs behind them.
Libby has a bunch of nylon play scarves that we got her for Christmas and she loves swirling them around....they did something similar at her birthday party too.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
I vote for home, too.
I like Lori's idea of a craft....maybe something related to the book? Maybe they could each do a small craft to take home, and also participate in something bigger? Like maybe fingerpainting a huge caterpillar (if you're feeling adventurous and have forgiving parents of the guests) drawn on a long length of butcher paper?
And I love the centerpiece idea. I actually have also thought about this theme myself (in the very little thinking I've done so far) and thought of the same idea.
Thanks all! I think you guys are right and that home will be a better venue for this birthday.
Jaime and Lori, thanks for the links!
inamra, no, the park isn't across the road - it's about a 10 min drive away.
I'm undecided - either I'll do it, or I'll get my friend who decorates cakes as a hobby to do it (I'd buy the ingredients and give her a gift card or something since I know she'd refuse payment).
Hi there! I ran across your post and thought I would share my website... I make all sorts of accessories and birthday decor.. LOVE your theme. Let me know if I can help
))
www.keikicoutureonline.com
Aloha!