How to spend your baby's first birthday? Ideas for celebrating a 1 year old child's birthday

The moment has come when it’s time for mom’s little one to throw a dinner party. Just yesterday all my thoughts were about the brand of diapers, but today I need to decide how to celebrate my child’s 1st birthday. Dad is already calculating the budget for the upcoming event, mom is thinking about the program for the holiday, but the almost one-year-old toddler does not give away the secret of what he wants to receive as a present.

The article contains useful information, tips and ideas on how to make your one-year-old child’s birthday interesting, fun and memorable.

How to organize a 1 year old child's birthday?

Parents want to celebrate their first birthday in a special way. To organize a great fun holiday, you need to prepare for a long time and not miss anything:

Determine the venue: home, cafe, nature. Be sure to consider the child's needs. If it’s summer outside, then you can safely organize a holiday in nature. The child will walk outdoors with other children. And after the holiday, tired and full of emotions, go into a deep sleep
Determine the approximate time. With a small child this is quite a difficult task, because the schedule of a child under 1 year of age changes very often
Determine your guest list. You should not invite people to the holiday that the child does not know at all. Children react differently to strangers. Let only the people closest to the child be on the guest list. It will be very good if you invite children
Determine for yourself how you see the upcoming holiday: a fun holiday exclusively for children, or you want to have fun for adults as well; At the celebration, every little detail will be thought out or decide to make do with a beautiful cake and balloons; Will there be a holiday theme?

By answering these questions, you will know and can create a clear preparation plan:

Choose an outfit for the birthday boy
Make or order invitations (optional)
Make or order a book of wishes (not required, but will remain as a keepsake)
Think about accessories for the holiday
Decide how you will decorate the room
Choose suitable competitions
Think about what the holiday table will look like
Order a beautiful cake in advance
Print out the best photos of the first year of life

Since the young mother has little free time, it is better to start all preparations 2 months before the event in order to gradually carry out each stage of preparation

A child is one year old: how to celebrate a birthday and not disrupt the routine

The next point in planning the holiday should be a daily routine, based on the baby’s existing sleep and waking patterns. We agree that when a child is one year old, almost no one knows how to organize a celebration at a certain time, because the birthday boy can sleep for 40 minutes or all of 2 hours, and perhaps switch from two sleeps to one or vice versa. In any case, it's definitely worth making a plan in advance, but there's no need to get upset if something goes wrong.

The main thing is not to force your child, because at one year old he will not yet understand why he is woken up earlier, and he can easily throw a tantrum from lack of sleep.

Who to invite to your first birthday?

There are two options for choosing guests: the first is close relatives and friends, and the second is mothers with the same one-year-olds. It would be quite reasonable if you decide to celebrate your child’s birthday at home, in a small family circle, with those people who sincerely love the baby and have taken part in his upbringing throughout the year. And a one-year-old child will find more joy in communicating with those to whom he has long been accustomed.

Relatives don’t always live next to us, so you can invite the baby’s first friends. You should not call everyone with whom you play in the sandbox, even if your baby is very sociable. It is not a fact that other children are the same. Therefore, for the first time it will be enough to invite 1-2 mothers with children. But you need to be prepared for the fact that the children’s schedules will not match, and some of them will not be able to come at a time convenient for you. In addition, you will have to carefully consider the children's menu so that it is festive and hypoallergenic for all kids at the same time.

Brief scenario for a 1 year old child's birthday

A child's first birthday is a holiday that can tire a baby. Therefore, the script should not be too intense for the child. Let the guests participate, but the baby does not need to be dragged to every competition. He will quickly get tired of this. You can create a general outline of the scenario. And the mother, based on the list of guests, the character of the child, the venue and the budget, will clarify and supplement it.

General scheme:

Meeting with guests. Guests can be greeted in poetic form and formally. But, given that all the guests do not arrive at the same time, you can simply greet all the arriving guests with the birthday boy in your arms and receive gifts. The baby will be happy with such an abundance of new things
Invite the waiting guests to look at the photos of the birthday boy that you have hung on the walls or photo posters
When all the guests have arrived, you can invite everyone to the table for the first toast to the birthday person. After the toast, you can sing the classic song “Happy Birthday to You” to the birthday boy. Toasts during the evening can be made in a funny way. It's a children's party. A talking toast can sing a toast, can dance or speak while standing on a chair
Competitions. In order not to tire guests, it is better to present competitions in parts. Alternating between children and adults, mobile and table
Arrange a photo session while your baby is not yet tired of everyone's attention
In the interval between competitions and toasts, together with the guests, compose a memorial telegram for the child. Print out the form. And ask guests to take turns naming adjectives. Fill out the telegram. Then read the result
Birthday cake
After the cake, you can turn on a film about the first year of the birthday boy’s life.
After the film, invite guests to fill out a wish book.

For the birthday of a one-year-old child, such a scenario is enough. Don't overdo it with competitions. Remember that your child is still just a baby. Don't let him become emotionally overloaded.

Organizing a celebration: we think through all the details

To celebrate your child's birthday colorfully, you need to think through several aspects. First of all, when preparing a celebration for a one-year-old birthday boy, you need to take into account some rules:

The duration of the event should not be excessive. 3-4 hours is enough for a holiday program;
the intensity of the celebration should be evenly distributed throughout the day so that the baby does not become overtired. Exciting moments need to be alternated with calmer ones;
exclude too sharp and loud sounds (fireworks, loud music, etc.) from the holiday program;
Give the little birthday boy the opportunity to feel like the center of attention. This applies not only to gift giving, but also to competitive programs and games;
It is better to give gifts not all at once, but gradually, giving the child the opportunity to examine or try a new thing.

An important point is the choice of venue for the event.

. A child’s first birthday should be celebrated in a familiar environment, and the one-year-old feels best at home. Some parents organize outings into nature, trips to relatives or friends. Sometimes the birthday boy is entertained by a clown and company in a special playroom.

But it is worth remembering that this bright day can turn into stress for the baby, so there should always be an opportunity to relax or even sleep in a quiet, cozy, familiar environment. The home is irreplaceable in this regard.

It is also necessary to think about how to decorate the room of the one-year-old birthday boy. The following options are suitable for festive interior decoration:

various inscriptions from large bright letters (“Happy Birthday!”, “Congratulations!”, “The year is behind us - everything is ahead!”, etc.);
bright garlands, chains, pompoms, bows, butterflies and other decorations that you can either buy or make with your own hands;
air balloons;
children's drawings of parents or other children;
pictures of the birthday boy’s favorite fairy-tale and cartoon characters;
a large number “1” in the most visible place;
photographs of the baby that indicate the main achievements of the little man (it is best to make a selection of photos in the form of a wall newspaper). Photos of one-year-old parents wouldn't hurt either;
family tree with photographs of long-time relatives (if it is possible to find information).

The atmosphere of the holiday and the child’s well-being largely depend on the guests. You shouldn’t invite a large number of people to your first birthday: it’s too tiring for the baby, especially since he may not know many of the invitees. Among those present there should be only the closest relatives with whom the child constantly communicated. Parents, grandparents, godparents.

Some parents invite other children to their one-year-old child’s birthday and organize competitions and joint games for them. This is a great idea, but only on condition that the child already communicates with his peers and knows how to play with them. But still, this happens extremely rarely; in general, children join the team only after a year.

How to decorate a room for a party

If you decide to celebrate your baby's birthday at home, it is enough to decorate only the room in which the celebration itself will take place. To decorate the room, you can use balloons, colored banners, place photo albums with children’s photographs in prominent places, or publish a festive wall newspaper. When decorating a room for the holiday, you should follow some recommendations.

When decorating the walls and ceiling with multi-colored balloons, you should carefully choose them. Balls made of thin, fragile material burst much faster, and this sound can greatly frighten the baby.
Give all the guests multi-colored paper caps for their heads and pipes; adults, too, sometimes want to fool around and return to childhood.
Draw posters with congratulations, print out photographs of the baby. You can make an interesting photo newspaper. Surely you have photographs of the baby in different poses and funny moments, place them in the form of a train of 12 carriages, where in each carriage there is a photo of the baby from birth to one year, or take photographs of the birthday boy flying up on painted balloons. If you don’t know how to draw, an art editor, such as Photoshop, will come to help you, or contact a professional who will help you make a calendar or photo collage from your photos, or perhaps he will simply select interesting frames.
Organize a place for your child to play, bring his favorite toys, entertainment, and play his favorite songs quietly.

You should not decorate the room too lavishly: a lot of new impressions and bright colors on the walls and ceiling may not have the best effect on the fragile psyche of the baby, he may get upset and begin to be capricious.

Holiday preparation checklist for one year

It’s not enough to just plan the organization of the celebration. It’s better to create a step-by-step algorithm, and where better to use the checklist we prepared for your baby’s one-year birthday, in which we will tell you tips on how not to forget everything.

A month before your birthday

Decide on a budget.
Make a list of planned guests.
Choose a location to celebrate.
Prepare invitations and send them to guests.
Contact the animators, presenter, photographer.

Two weeks before your birthday

Sum up the total number of guests.
Consider the menu.
Buy a suit for yourself and your child.
If you want a custom cake, place an order.
If you are planning an outdoor celebration, negotiate with catering.

A week before your birthday

Coordinate details with the venue and entertainment.
Discuss the entertainment program.
Make an agreement with the decorators.

On the eve of the birthday

Call your guests and remind them of the event details (time, place).
If necessary, prepare food and drinks.
Check and prepare clothing.
Pick up the birthday cake.

How to decorate a table for a 1 year old child's birthday

The table can be decorated with:

A beautiful tablecloth. In stores you can find options for disposable tablecloths with a children's theme. The tablecloth will immediately give the table a festive look and the appropriate mood
Disposable colored plates. Plates can be chosen in the same theme as the tablecloth. They come in different sizes
Disposable colored cups. Similarly, the theme can be matched to the tablecloth and plates
You can purchase or make your own food toppers
A bottle of champagne can be covered with appropriate stickers
You can tie small bows on the forks
You can place a beautifully decorated napkin on each guest’s plate, and a beautifully packaged chocolate bar next to it. This will serve as a bonbonniere for the guest.

The design of the children's candy bar deserves special attention:

Buy a lot of different sweets: gelatins, marmalade, candies, dragees
Bake or order beautiful cupcakes. If you bake yourself, bake in beautiful disposable paper muffin tins.
Prepare a lot of themed toppers
Make a streamer over the candy bar with the words "Happy Birthday"
Place a lot of juice jars
Place a lot of fruit on beautiful dishes

The design of a candy bar largely depends on your budget, since making beautiful sweets to order is not cheap.

What to cook for your first birthday

Despite the fact that the child will not appreciate the mother's culinary skills, this is not a reason to leave holiday dishes boring. Salads, appetizers, meat and other dishes can be decorated in the form of insects, animals and other things.

As for dishes for adult guests, the hosts should not have any difficulties in choosing a menu - here you can serve everything they like. But the festive table for one-year-old babies has its own specifics, since at this age their diet is not yet so wide, so the main emphasis should be on the bright decoration of the table.

For children, you need to set a separate table of appropriate sizes so that the kids can feel comfortable and free. Dishes must be served in original design. For example, sliced fruit can be placed on a beautiful plate in the form of a funny face or a bright ornament. Cookies with pieces of fruit would also be appropriate. Moreover, they can be offered in the form of healthy “sweets”, wrapped in bright pieces of paper.

Various curds are also recommended for the children's table, which most children love very much. And, of course, there must be various juices to quench your thirst.

Festive table

The menu should be separate - after all, the hero of the occasion is only a year old and his diet differs from adult food. In addition, other children may be present at the celebration. To please them, you can prepare the following dishes:

some interesting composition of fruits ;
on the puree laid out in a circle, draw eyes, a nose and a mouth with liver pate;
cut a sandwich with boiled sausage in the shape of a bunny, turtle or other animal ;
cut the cheese into various geometric shapes .

Adult guests can be offered any festive cuisine.

Birthday cake for a 1 year old child

The child is unlikely to appreciate the beauty of the cake, but as a keepsake and for photos, you can order a beautiful cake that matches the theme of the event, the gender of the child, and the interests of the child.

Depending on the hobbies of your child’s loved ones, the cake can be made:

With figures of Masha and the Bear
With a crown
With a ball
With bodysuits and booties
With bears

Cakes with fondant are popular, as they allow you to choose almost any design for the future cake.

Making a menu

Regarding dishes for adults, you should not have any special worries. You have the right to submit what you consider necessary. But the children's menu needs to be carefully considered, since children cannot always eat what you serve for adults. For children, you can prepare fruit salads, make beautiful cupcakes and gingerbread cookies. You can bake a sponge cake or a banana muffin. For the children's table, you can prepare dishes with cottage cheese, as they will be beneficial for the child's body. And don’t forget about drinks; the kids can be treated to compote or juice.

Cakes for 1 year old girl

But since at one year of age the diet is not as wide as we would like, focus on design. Depending on the style of the celebration, choose appropriate napkins and tablecloth. Think in advance about how you will decorate the dishes. To emphasize that the holiday is really for children, you can supply jars of baby food for everyone.

Pay attention to the tablecloth, because it primarily attracts the attention of guests. Pink and blue tablecloths look nice. You can also choose a tablecloth with themed patterns.

Decoration of the festive table. Photo: goodfreephotos.com

Kids just love cupcakes. Photo: maxpixel.net

Posters for a child's first birthday

It will be interesting to use posters containing photographs of the child in the design. The poster can depict anything in a children's theme:

A locomotive, in the carriages of which photos will be located
A clock with a photo of a child instead of time numbers.
Just a beautifully designed poster without any theme, with photographs in frames

You can decorate your child’s room or hallway with posters if there is a holiday at home. If the holiday is on the street, then hang it between the trees or on a prepared stand.

Place the best photos of the baby's first year on the poster.

Birthday outfit

It is quite natural that on the first birthday of their child, every parent tries to dress the birthday boy in all the best. With girls, this issue is easily resolved - young ladies try on lace dresses and bright shoes with great pleasure. Boys do not always take into account the opinions of their parents, and very often new clothes cause them a feeling of rejection.

Try to talk to the child, tell him that today is his holiday, and the birthday boy should be the most beautiful on it. If persuasion does not work and the baby categorically refuses new clothes, do not insist, dress him in casual clothes. The most important thing is that your child feels comfortable in any situation.

First birthday: how to celebrate without forgetting about mom

In most cases, it is the mother who waits the most for the child to turn one year old. She also decides how to arrange the birthday. In this hustle and bustle, you can easily get so busy with things that there is no longer any festive mood left. To prevent this from happening, you need to not refuse help, plan everything well in advance and do it gradually so that there is no rush at the last moment. And remember that when the baby is one year old, adults are more concerned about how to celebrate the holiday, so if necessary, lower the bar if you feel like you can’t cope.

What to give to the baby?

The tradition of receiving gifts on a birthday is certainly pleasant for both the birthday person and the giver. In this case, as a rule, there are no problems with choosing a gift.

However, when purchasing something interesting for your baby, you should avoid things that are not recommended for this age, namely:

large soft toys;
toys-sets, where there are a lot of small parts;
products made from suspicious materials that pose a potential danger to children;
toys with sharp sounds.

Everything else depends only on your imagination and desire to please your baby. The following purchases can be used as a gift:

trains, cars, tractors, etc.;
dolls or various animals;
painting sets, easels;
sports equipment - balls, jump ropes, skittles, gurneys;
building sets, cubes, pyramids;
original books with thick pages;
swings, sleds, pieces of children's furniture - chairs, tables, chests of drawers;
cloth.

Traditions

In addition to competitions, there are several traditions for the first birthday. One of the most common is the rite of tonsure by the godparents of the child. The godparents take turns cutting four strands of the birthday boy's hair in the shape of a cross and folding them into a scarf.

These hairs are kept only in one’s own home, behind the images of saints. In this way, you give God and the Saints the opportunity to protect and help your child. Therefore, the child will always be under the protection of God's power and grace.

Birthday photo session for 1 year old child

You can arrange a photo session on your own, or you can invite a photographer. To make the pictures more interesting and to avoid plates being visible in the background, it is better to organize a photo zone.

A photo zone can be organized as simple as possible, which can be done easily using available tools.

Or you can try, spend more time on preparation and make a very interesting and beautiful photo zone, near which any guest will want to take a photo. Or rent a photo studio for 1 hour.

The first birthday should be spent in such a way that beautiful photographs, videos and simply the best moments of the holiday remain as memories.

Scenarios for holiday competitions

The child’s well-being and mood depend on a properly prepared program, the purpose of which is to amuse the guests and give them the opportunity to have a pleasant time while visiting you. There shouldn’t be too many competitions – 4-5 exciting activities are quite enough. At the same time, be sure to think in advance about how to reward the winners and participants of the games, and stock up on interesting souvenirs for children and adults.

What competition ideas are most suitable for such a day? Of course, your child and his fellow guests are still young enough to fully take part in the holiday play program. Therefore, it should be designed primarily for adults. We offer a lot of options from which you can choose the most optimal ones for your case.

"Accurate shooter"

All kids take part. For the competition, you need pacifiers that you need to spit as far as possible. The one who does it best is declared the winner.

"One-year-old water bread"

All children are given drinking water bottles equipped with nipples with small holes. The winner's task is to drink as much liquid as possible in one minute. The action can be accompanied by lively music.

The same competition can easily be adapted for adults. If the men present express a desire, they can be given the same attributes, but instead of water, pour champagne. Most likely, everyone will be a winner in this case.

"As two drops of water"

This competition is open to adults. An envelope is prepared in advance, into which notes are placed indicating different parts of the body and face. Each of the guests, in turn, takes out one note, and they say which relative the birthday boy resembles in terms of body part. All data is recorded by the organizer, after which the results are summed up and the result is announced.

For example, a child can be three times like his mother, five times like his father, and several times like his grandparents.

"A true gourmet"

For this competition you need to stock up on a few jars of baby food. Labels must be sealed in advance with paper tags with the inscription - the container number. Each of the adults present should take turns tasting the contents of the jar and try to guess what the puree is made from. Once everyone has completed the “sampling”, you need to peel off the numbered labels to see who knows best about baby food. The winner here is the one who guesses the names of the purees in all the jars.

"Mr. or Mrs. Accuracy"

If the hero of the occasion does not particularly object, then he will be the main participant in this competition. Each of the adult guests takes turns lifting the baby in his arms and offhand calling his approximate weight. The one who turns out to be the most accurate in his guesses is awarded some kind of comic prize.

"Guess Fate"

This entertainment involves the participation first of the birthday boy, and then, if desired, of all the other kids who came to visit him. Some items are placed in a chaotic order on a large tray placed on a chair or children's table. Your child must choose one of them, and this choice will symbolize his future destiny or preferences in life. The following can be used as attributes for an action:

a book - symbolizing intelligence and the desire for knowledge;
keys - good welfare;
ring - love and quick marriage;
coin - prosperity and wealth;
a skein of thread - a long and happy life;
bottle - a tendency to have fun;
screwdriver – technical ability;
chocolate - sweet life.

Of course, you shouldn’t take such “predictions” particularly seriously, but children’s interest in the competition and general fun in this case are guaranteed. It is especially funny when the baby is not content with one object, but grabs almost everything with his hands.

"Letters from the Future"

This task must be assigned to adult guests. The organizer of the holiday invites everyone to write congratulations to the birthday boy, which he can read seventeen years later, on his 18th birthday. Participants are given envelopes with a message indicating when the letter was written and when it should be opened.

"Who is the most attentive"

This competition in the form of a quiz will be of interest to those who were directly involved in raising the birthday boy in the first year of his life. Mom, dad, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, godparents - all those who, undoubtedly, will compete with each other with great pleasure for the title of the most attentive relative.

You can make the attributes for the quiz yourself. This could be a large paper daisy with question petals. As an alternative, a small box is being considered, into which folded sheets of paper with written questions are placed. Participants take turns tearing off the petals, or taking a piece of paper out of the box, and answering the questions there.

There can be a lot of them, for example:

What was the birthday boy's weight at birth?
How tall was he born?
What does he like to eat?
What food does your baby refuse?
Give the name of the doctor who delivered the child.
When did your baby's first tooth come out?
When was the first time he walked on his own?
How many teeth does the baby have today?
Name the day of the week when the baby was born
What are the names of godparents?
When did the baby undergo the Baptism ceremony?
State the time of birth of the child.
How long does he drive now?
What zodiac sign does he belong to?
Name the birthday boy's eye color
What toy does he like the most?

Do not forget that you are doing all the preparatory activities not only for yourself and the guests, but first of all for your baby. Create an atmosphere of warmth, kindness and joy on this day. Even if the weather outside is dull, it should not affect your mood in any way.

It is in your power to make the sun shine on this day, even if you have to draw it. Use your imagination and give your child a wonderful holiday where everyone is smiling and having fun.

A selection of fun competitions

Organize fun competitions.
Photo: pxhere.com Competition “What does the child look like”

Have all your guests write their version on a piece of paper, and one of the parents will read it out at the end. Your baby may look like some actor or sports star, be that as it may, your loved ones will come up with many interesting options.

Competition “Who knows the baby better”

Make up a series of questions, for example, about his weight and height at birth, about the meaning of his name, about his zodiac sign, when he sat down, when he started walking, what word he said first, what he likes to eat, when his first tooth came out, etc.

Competition "Who's the gourmet"

For the competition you will need jars of baby food. Cover the labels with paper and write the number. Let everyone try the contents, and then ask what the puree is made from. The one who guesses the largest number wins.

Competition "The most accurate"

If the birthday boy doesn’t mind, it will turn out to be a pretty fun and interesting competition. Each of the invited guests must approach the hero of the occasion, lift him and evaluate his weight. The prize is given to the one who was closest to the truth.

Competition “Letter to the Future”

All guests of your holiday can leave their congratulations and wishes in a letter that will be given to the birthday person after 17 years, that is, on his coming of age. Each guest is given:

Sheet;
Pen;
Envelope.

On the envelope, ask for the name, the date it was written, and the date the envelope can be opened. This is a very touching competition.

Hold interesting competitions for your baby’s birthday and don’t forget about the prizes. The winner of each competition should receive, albeit insignificant, but pleasant gifts that will remain as a memory of this holiday. You can also make comic awards and titles like in beauty contests, such as “Best Storyteller”, “Best Nanny”, “Best Animator”, etc. Let this day be remembered by all guests!