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Birthday Parties
beautiflaw
member
Birthday Party Question! Beach or Home? Opening Gifts at Party?
beautiflaw
member
x-posted on Toddlers 24+
What sounds best to you as a guest at a 3 year old's bday party? A Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star themed party in an apartment? Or a beach picnic?
Twinkle, Twinkle is DD's favorite rhyme/song, and I was thinking of doing a themed party here at home for her, but she also loves the beach. I think it would be easier to keep everyone together for party activities if we had the party at home, but if we went to the beach I wouldn't have to decorate the house and there would be more room for everyone. Plus what kid doesn't like the beach? This is my first time throwing a birthday party where kids are invited (we only had family at the others) so I don't want it to be a miserable experience (for me or the other parents lol). I figure there are pros and cons to both.
It would be more overall fun at the beach, and as far as food I'd probably just do like sandwiches and cut fruit and veggies, and for drinks water and juice. I could do cupcakes or maybe ice cream sandwiches instead of cake. I wouldn't need to organize party activities because everyone could play in the sand and water. But we wouldn't have a "gift table" so probably we'd end up sticking presents in the trunk of our car or something. And if everyone is playing in the water and sand, I don't see it being more than just a group beach trip rather than a "party" atmosphere. Plus we live at the beach, so a beach party is not going to be anything special in terms of a party. Everyone invited probably takes a trip to the beach at least once a week.
If we did a TTLS party, we'd be having it in our small apartment. We have two bathrooms so that wouldn't be too bad, and the kids could play in DD's room between party activities. Our table is small and we don't have many chairs so I have no idea how we'd have the kiddo's eat. Unless they sat on cushions all around the coffee table and the adults sat at the dining room table? I'm also not sure what kind of activities we'd do. I'd want everything to go with the theme, so I was thinking we could have a "storytime" and read Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Iza Trapani, and then maybe so a sing-a-long and sing the song together. But that would take no time at all to do that and I don't know what else we'd do. Pin the star on the milky way? lol! I don't know. I don't want to go overboard on the theme or do too many activities and make it so structured that the kids don't get to play.
Also, we are from the South but we currently live in San Diego, CA and I know traditions are different outside the South. But in the South we believe in opening presents at the party to show appreciation for the gift and giver. (by making a big display of oohing and ahhing over gifts, etc) But I know that is not done outside the South so much now because some people think its rude to "show off" your presents by opening them at the party, and the other kids get jealous, or some people are just bored by it, etc. So I am trying to decide if we are going to open presents at the party. I am thinking of erring on the side of caution and saying we will open presents after the party is scheduled to be over, and anyone who wants to hang out and watch can do that. Would that be acceptable for those who don't want to watch the presents being opened? We live thousands of miles from our families and we always videotape DD opening presents for our families (they like to see her reaction when she opens presents) so we'd be videotaping the party and the present opening.
Any thoughts?
What sounds best to you as a guest at a 3 year old's bday party? A Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star themed party in an apartment? Or a beach picnic?
Twinkle, Twinkle is DD's favorite rhyme/song, and I was thinking of doing a themed party here at home for her, but she also loves the beach. I think it would be easier to keep everyone together for party activities if we had the party at home, but if we went to the beach I wouldn't have to decorate the house and there would be more room for everyone. Plus what kid doesn't like the beach? This is my first time throwing a birthday party where kids are invited (we only had family at the others) so I don't want it to be a miserable experience (for me or the other parents lol). I figure there are pros and cons to both.
It would be more overall fun at the beach, and as far as food I'd probably just do like sandwiches and cut fruit and veggies, and for drinks water and juice. I could do cupcakes or maybe ice cream sandwiches instead of cake. I wouldn't need to organize party activities because everyone could play in the sand and water. But we wouldn't have a "gift table" so probably we'd end up sticking presents in the trunk of our car or something. And if everyone is playing in the water and sand, I don't see it being more than just a group beach trip rather than a "party" atmosphere. Plus we live at the beach, so a beach party is not going to be anything special in terms of a party. Everyone invited probably takes a trip to the beach at least once a week.
If we did a TTLS party, we'd be having it in our small apartment. We have two bathrooms so that wouldn't be too bad, and the kids could play in DD's room between party activities. Our table is small and we don't have many chairs so I have no idea how we'd have the kiddo's eat. Unless they sat on cushions all around the coffee table and the adults sat at the dining room table? I'm also not sure what kind of activities we'd do. I'd want everything to go with the theme, so I was thinking we could have a "storytime" and read Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Iza Trapani, and then maybe so a sing-a-long and sing the song together. But that would take no time at all to do that and I don't know what else we'd do. Pin the star on the milky way? lol! I don't know. I don't want to go overboard on the theme or do too many activities and make it so structured that the kids don't get to play.
Also, we are from the South but we currently live in San Diego, CA and I know traditions are different outside the South. But in the South we believe in opening presents at the party to show appreciation for the gift and giver. (by making a big display of oohing and ahhing over gifts, etc) But I know that is not done outside the South so much now because some people think its rude to "show off" your presents by opening them at the party, and the other kids get jealous, or some people are just bored by it, etc. So I am trying to decide if we are going to open presents at the party. I am thinking of erring on the side of caution and saying we will open presents after the party is scheduled to be over, and anyone who wants to hang out and watch can do that. Would that be acceptable for those who don't want to watch the presents being opened? We live thousands of miles from our families and we always videotape DD opening presents for our families (they like to see her reaction when she opens presents) so we'd be videotaping the party and the present opening.
Any thoughts?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Birthday Party Question! Beach or Home? Opening Gifts at Party?
But San Diego beaches really lend themselves to kids parties. The party we went to was at Del Mar/Powerhouse park, so there are the picnic tables/grass areas. The kids played on the playground, and some went down to the beach with parents (again, it was really cold!) There was a wagon and blankets to pile the presents on, so even though no "gift table" per se, they weren't thrown in a trunk. Mission Bay, Solana Beach, and Moonlight Beach in Encinitas all have similar set ups with a playground.
I have never been to a small child's party where gifts were opened in front of guests. The non-opening kids don't have patience for it. Heck, even my 2 year old doesn't want to sit and open his own presents. He wants to open one and play with it and we have to coax him to open the next!
I would love a beach party. I'm guessing parents who don't like sand would not enjoy it so much. You'll never please everyone
Gift opening is tough. I believe it is common here to not open the presents at the party. Guest lists tend to be huge. At a 3 year old party we attended this past weekend they had a petting zoo and bouncy house (yes, both...it was awesome) and I'd rather my DD spend the 3 hours playing than having to get her to sit for an hour watching gift opening.
At the same time, at her first birthday my friend told me that I should have had her open the gifts during the party because her 4 year old was disappointed that she didn't get to see my DD's reaction to the gift. Welllllll......DD wouldn't have had much of a reaction to 30 gifts. It took me a loooong time to open them all. DD would NEVER have been engaged and attentive during that process. Over time she has enjoyed playing with all the gifts, however! I did make it a point to tell her daughter how much DD loves playing with her gift. I think that satisfied her...if she even remembered at that point what gift she gave!
Point is...again, you'll never please everyone so go with what you think will keep the party fun and festive...and no longer than 3 hours long!