I have a 2 year old. He officially turned 2 on April 21st, I can’t believe how quickly it happened but we’ve always been really good at mindfully living in the moment so every day with him has been an exciting experience watching him grow. Being a mom to a toddler means I get to meet other moms of babies, toddlers, and kids of all ages. As our children get older, it seems that birthday parties do too. Believe it or not, even as the party planner that I am, I don’t necessarily think it’s necessary to have a huge party for a 1 or 2 year old. Kids this age don’t really know the difference between a big birthday party and a day at the park with a minimal amount of friends. We’re still in nap territory at this age, sharing is a whole new concept and jumping off a small park structure is as much fun as a bouncy house. So save your money for your college fund (or future parties if you like) and your sanity with kids this age.

The general rule is to have as many children invited as the age of your child. For Kieran’s 2nd birthday party, we set up in the park and invited 4 kids (twice the general rule of thumb, but in a park setting it worked great). Since sharing is still a new experience, we don’t open any presents with everyone present; we choose to open gifts only with the family after the party at home. Also, since we only invited 4 other kids, I was free to create some fun take-along toys for all the kids. I know that not everyone believes in favors or surprises, but at this age it is nice that everyone plays with the same toy. I bought inexpensive lunch boxes for each child and filled them with toy cars, bubbles, and other fun things. Pizza, cupcakes and sandwiches for the adults and everything ready.

Here are my 10 tips for planning your Tots birthday party.

1. How much? The child’s age should roughly match the number of children invited.

two. What time? I suggest the start time of the party be 1/2 hour to 45 minutes after the usual end of your child’s afternoon nap. It can also be helpful to know the nap times of the invited children, but don’t stress if they are all different times. Find the best middle ground and go from there – people can come and go as needed.

3. KISS. When it comes to decorating, keep it simple. This doesn’t mean it can’t be fun or pretty, but there’s no need to go overboard here. You can still make it look like Martha Stewart herself stepped in by keeping a basic theme and colors and sticking to them. There is no need to get too complicated in this area. Find some cute touches and that will be enough.

Four. How to invite everyone Get creative with your method of invitation. Incorporate your child into the invitation and let him or her help make a cute invitation. I have a very creative girlfriend who created an invitation by having her son hold up a cute homemade sign with the party information and she took a picture of it. They then printed the photos and embossed them in scrapbooks on homemade invitations. Your child can help by attaching stickers, fun pictures, or using the glue stick to attach other fun items.

5. Gifts. We are of the opinion that presents and gifts should wait to be opened after guests have left the party, with only close family members or friends who want to be there to see the excitement on your child’s face. I think that (1) the other kids get bored quickly when they realize the presents aren’t for them; (2) meltdowns will happen faster and easier when other kids can’t run around and play with these fun new toys; (3) adults get restless and bored when they see a child struggling to open each present; and (4) it takes forever for a child to open each present, play with the toy for a few minutes, and then have to move on to the next. I could probably go on with the reasons, but I think you get my point.

6. Activities. When it comes to kids, you’re dealing with 2 things: short (poor) attention spans; great imagination (good). Because of these opposing factors, we suggest some easy activity ‘stations’. Some examples are an area reserved for making sidewalk chalk; a dress-up area where kids can wear fun Halloween costumes over their clothes; Make your own goodie bag station using brown paper lunch bags, ribbon, glitter, marker, crayons, googly eyes, etc. then have a pre-packaged cellophane bag filled with healthy treats or muffins to put inside your bag. Other than that, put out toys and let them run around and play.

7. Let them eat… When it comes to feeding your little guests and their parents, you’ll want to consider the time of your party and the age of your guests, but you’ll still want to keep it simple. If the party doesn’t last long after lunch, then a simple snack will suffice. Try to find snacks that both adults and children enjoy: Pirate Booty, Vegetables with Gravy, Peanut Butter Crackers (check for allergies first), Apple Slices with Yogurt Sauce. If the party will last until dinner time, plan something simple like ordering pizza or grilling hot dogs and asking guests to bring a side dish to share.

8. Third party fire extinguishers. I’m going to say it again – KISS. Yes, that’s right, this is another area where you can keep it simple and still provide cuteness and delight to your guests. A fruit tea and lemonade mix of a drink is not only delicious, but also has less sugar than a soda alternative and is very thirst quenching. Also, you can sweeten it with honey and put it in a nice pitcher of sun tea. It’s okay to provide some alcohol for your adult guests. Just because it’s a kid’s party doesn’t mean they can’t have a drink. Just follow the usual responsible drinking etiquette (no drinking and driving…you know) and maybe just a few options instead of a full bar.

9. Where. Instead of telling you what’s best, I’m going to give you some pros and cons and let you decide what’s best for your family and situation. Home: advantage – allows you to set the exact time and allows more free schedule. It gives you more control over décor, food and drink options, and unique activities for the kids. cons – You have to do all the setup and (ugh) cleanup. It takes time and energy to ideate, set up, and supervise activity tables. You will be more focused on hosting with food, drink, etc. than having someone do it all for you. Party place: advantage – They prepare and clean everything for you. They will often provide minimal decoration with the price. They have their own fun activities for all the kids to enjoy. They often provide pizza and drinks for a minimal additional cost. They let you bring your own cake. There are many options, from bouncy houses to museums and science centers that allow children to have fun and learn at the same time. cons – They can be expensive. You only get a set amount of time, usually 2 hours, and you can feel like you’re being herded and rushed during pizza party time. If you love to customize the decoration, you will not be able to do anything unique in these places.

10 Timeline. While it’s good to have a general idea of ​​how your party will flow, you don’t need a strict schedule (like you would for a wedding or larger event) for your child’s birthday party. However, you’ll want to have some general guidelines in your head about activity times, meal times, and of course, cake time. Try not to make the cake time too long. On the one hand, you’ll want enough people at the party to enjoy it, and you’ll want to leave some time for the kids to get some sugar before you send them packing with their parents.

We hope these tips have given you something to think about when planning your child’s next birthday party. We’d also love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, comments and stories about your children’s birthday parties.