1st bday favors: Cost, what ages, activity needed? (at restaurant)

[ilovetivo]

DD's party is at Edwardo's Pizza and we're inviting 96 people: 34 kids (18 are 0-4, 16 are 5-9) and 62 adults (ages 13-72).

At what age do you stop with the favors? Do I need to include the teenagers? I just want to do the same gift for everyone.

We weren't going to do an activity, do we need to do one? We're only there for 2 hours. If we're not doing an activity, should the favors be an activity they can do while there (Like fun pads or coloring books)?

How much do we need to spend on the favors? As it is, the party's more than we want to spend but our families alone are half of the guests, so it's hard to cut the list down.

Thanks so much!

[kaylinsmommy2]

I just wanted to say WOW! That's a huge party! Are the parents of all the kids going to be there? If so, you don't *have* to have an activity. However, some easy activities (actually, if you found an easy and cheap activity, that could be the favor for all the kids): maybe making a coloring sheet where kids can color in the words to say "happy birthday" or something fun, decorating bubble containers with stickers or you coudl cut out a piece of paper the same size as the label on the container and have kids draw/paint on them (I gave out bubbles for our favors, and the kids loved them!), and decorating a small terracotta pot: this one is more expensive, but my friend did it. Then she planted a violet into each pot. It was cute.

I think the bubble idea is probably best for all ages and inexpensive enough that you can have some for the teenagers in case they wanted to participate.

Good luck!! Happy early birthday!
Caroline
Kaylin 6/5/04

[ribbit1019]

For DD's favors I filled a bag with age appropriate random things for each child guest. Babies got rubber duckies and books, 3 and up kids got bouncy balls, bubbles, wands and candy. I had some fiber optic "wands" left over so the adults happily partook in those.
I would just get favors for the kids 0-9. We had one teenager he is 14 and I gave him a wand and some candy and he was pleased as punch that I remembered to make him a bag.
Kids will entertain themselves with whatever you give them. However, I think a coloring book is some other activity is a good idea to keep them entertained.

Christy
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[ilovetivo]

Thanks Caroline! Yes, the parents will be there. I have 7 sibs but only 4 are in town and DH has 1, but we *have* to invite his SIL's 2 sisters b/c they's "family" on DH's side. All are married and have kids. We've been invited to all our friends' DC's 1st bdays (and beyond) so we have to reciprocate.

W/ the bubbles, I'd buy regular size bubble w/ the labels on them and have kids color their own label and take it home for them to attach?

One thought I had was to get "fun pads" and a 4 pack of crayons and let them play w/ those during the lunch. But, it's not bday specific. Would that be ok? Or maybe make my own coloring book (coloringbookfun.com a bb member mentioned on another thread). Those would be the favors and activity.

[ilovetivo]

coloring book for all ages? same one?

[mama2galpals]

for my first dd's first bday party (a big one in an italian restaurant) i gave out those ice cream cone cups and spoons i mentioned in another thread (from oriental trading) and then i also had these big sugar cookies made (but you can make them yourself) into minnie mouse heads. they were outlined in pink but not fully decorated or anything. i gave those to everyone adults and children and then the kids got the cup favor. HTH!


rita
mommy to
olivia '97
stella '00
emma '03

the truth can hurt your feelings, but lies can break your heart.


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[ilovetivo]

Thanks Rita -
what month was your party?
could I do the bowls in Jan?
did you serve ice cream too?
were the cookies in place of the cake or for them to take on the way out?
Oh, did you do an activity?

[ribbit1019]

I still love the color books with large spaces myself.
Maybe an activity book word searches etc. The babies won't care if they can even use crayons they will scribble on anything YKWIM?

Christy
"My Mommy" to Maddy born 06/09/04
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[masha12]

I haven't read the replies you have received so far, but my personal opinion is that you skip the party favors altogether. No one is going to miss them.

As for activities, 2 hours is not that long so I don't think you need any activities. People will arrive, they will socialize, they will eat, they will leave.

[mama2galpals]

ok the party theme at the time was minnie mouse. her bday is february. we didn't do ice cream. i can't remember but i think the cookies were given to each on the way out. however, it's also nice to put them out on the table on a plate in center. there was a (way over the top as i remember it lol) cake with mini mouse decorations and the cutest idea. a small cake on top that lifts off just for the first bday baby (cupcake size). the room was long and rectangular so in the back i had set up the kids table and i had minnie mouse come and entertain the kids with dancing and games.

the place where i got the favors put the kids names on the spoons and wrapped them up pretty. that deal at oriental trading is great though for the presentation. :)

ask me any more questions if you'd like. what is your theme?!


rita
mommy to
olivia '97
stella '00
emma '03

the truth can hurt your feelings, but lies can break your heart.


http://lilypie.com/baby3/030123/3/4/1/+10/.png

[jbowman]

I would skip activities. If it's only two hours (which is a great--not too long/not too short), people will just want to socialize and see your daughter.

I would also only do favors for the little kids (perhaps up to ages 6? 7? I'm not really sure). And I would get them all the same thing.

For DD's first birthday (circus theme), we gave away boxes of animal crackers bundled (using curly ribbon) with little toys (matchbox cars or lip balms) and let each child choose what he or she wanted. This was inexpensive (about $2/favor). For the small kids/toddlers, we just gave out animal cracker boxes.

Have fun!

[ilovetivo]

Thanks again! We don't have a theme...I guess just party.

My friend just told me that Edwardo's has a play mat and crayons for kids. I called them and by gosh they do! A 4 pack of crayons and a placemat that they can color, word find etc. Would it be tacky to have that be the favor, so to speak?

ETA: But as of today they're out of crayons. They hope to have them, but can't guarantee it. (I think i need like 30)

They also have a dvd player that plays on several tv's. Maybe dh can do a slideshow of zoey's 1st year that plays in the background (continuous maybe).

[mamaturk]

We are having DD's 2nd birthday party a week from Sunday and ours is huge too. We are having 72 adults and 16 kids. No way around it..... As for favors, I am giving them to kids up to age 10; the older ones are not getting them.
We hired a clown this year but last year had no activites and that was fine too. Maybe you could do something simple like pin the tail on the donkey if you wanted. I would not give out the favors early because I'd be worried that someone would lose theirs and get upset or something. DD's favors this year were around $6... A LOT more than I wanted to spend originally. Sorry I was not too much help.
Have a great time at your party!!!!!

[ilovetivo]

$6! Wow! I was thinking like $1.50 :)

[HGraceMom]

Definitely think about taking a trip to the $1 store... they have tons of bulk toys (6 & 8 in a pack) that you can use for all the kids - put 2 or 3 different toys in a zip lock to send home at the end of the party. Noise makers are currently DD's favorite toy in the world... a close second is playdoh (and both come in multiple packs for pretty darn cheap.) Most favors that make it into the house after a birthday party end up long forgotton 24 hours later, so I never feel bad going to parties where DD doesn't "get" something to take home.

For her last party, there were only 4 of her most frequent friends - even with the small number, I skipped the favor & no one seemed to mind - they were so excited about choosing & eating a cupcake that no one noticed, that I could tell.

[kaylinsmommy2]

Yes, a making a coloring book sounds cute, too.

For DD's birthday, I bought regular sized bubbles and just cut out paper to be the right length/width of the label. Then I printed out a cute saying and DD's picture on it, and taped it on (only one piece needed along the seam. So, potentially, you could have the kids make all the labels and wait for them to dry (if needed for glitter or glue or something) and just tape them on at the end of party. A simpler option is to just have all the kids decorate their bottles as is - so maybe gluing pom poms/glitter or soemthing onto their bottles.

I should point out that DD's favorite craft to do right now is what day care calls "pat pat" where you put glue all over a piece of paper and have the kids pat on small pieces of paper. So I think both the young kids and older kids will like doing somethign with glue. :)
Caroline
Kaylin 6/5/04

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