Babies & Toddler Information

Do you want your baby to be thrilled by his or her first Birthday Party? Then you need to come up with interesting ideas for party games and activities. It's not a problem to entertain one child, but if your guests are brining their babies too, then you better plan party activities in advance. Here are some ideas of the games to play during the party.

Rubber Ducky Bathtime

This little washing game will delight the children and parents with its emphasis on good, clean washing fun! All you need is a rubber ducky and a washcloth for each child, a washing basin, bars of soap and either some flour, breadcrumbs, syrup or molasses. Before the party take out the rubber ducks and make them look as dirty as possible. Dip them in molasses or corn syrup and roll them in flour, cereal, breadcrumbs, or whatever you've got (you get the picture). Store them in a tray in the freezer. Once the children are ready, round them to come around the washbasin and give the rubber ducks a bath. Pass them out on a tray and put each child to work (help them out, of course, if they need it). Once they've cleaned their ducks they each get to take their clean ducky home with them!

Animals and the Sounds They Make

Gather up an eclectic mix of stuffed animals, plastic animal toys or animal puppets into a toy basket. With each animal, hold up the toy and ask the children, "What's this?" and "What kind of noise does this animal make?" Go through all the animals at least once. Soon the children will be meowing and bowing and hissing and mooing in unison. Let the children play with the soft animal toys afterwards!

Bubble Popping Contest

Use either a bubble machine or get someone to blow bubbles so the children can catch and pop them by clapping their hands. If you have a cat that's safe around small children, you may want to let him or her join in! Put on some fun music and let the popping begin!

Sandbox

If you have a sand pit, hide toys (small trucks are ideal!) and sweets in plastic containers and have the kids dig for them. They can go one at a time for say a minute each and keep what they can find and place in the bucket (but make sure you have enough to go round if clever diggers uncover most of the goodies early on!) If you have no sandpit, you can fill a large box or paddling pool with sand instead for the day.

It's a Story Time

Gather the children around for a cozy story time or, if you're feeling creative, coordinate a puppet show for the kids. Use bought or homemade sock puppets or your child's toys, and try to get at least one other person to help out. Hang a portable coat rack with a red blanket or curtain as a partition and stage the puppet play just above it. Sure to capture the awe and giggles of the children! Narrate and act out one of your child's favorite educational storybooks. Remember to read with lots of expression to keep them enchanted!