1st birthday help - toddler activity and gift opening

[septmama2b]

I read through every birthday thread I could find on here, and I still need more help.

DS#2's first birthday is coming soon. We will be in California for the holidays, and my parent's have graciously offered to host the birthday party. I have a huge family, and we'll have 50 guests, 6 of which are toddler boys, and 6 older kids. With DS#1's birthdays we were at our home in VA, had a few friends and only a couple of kids so this is uncharted territory for me. I have some questions and want to make sure I have not missed anything.

Menu - We are serving sandwiches and cupcakes from Costco, and I'll be making dips and salads. For the kids there will be PB&J cut in shapes, and fruit. I am also having a toddler snack bar with goldfish, o's, dried fruit and teddy grahams, each toddler is getting a snack catcher with their name as a favor and to use at the party.

Activities - This is my big concern. For the big kids we'll have the wii on the big screen and a craft table, they will be fine. I have no clue what to do for the toddlers. My parent's house is not terrible kid friendly though very roomy. If the weather is good we can move it outside, but there is a pool that I will need rent picket fencing to block it off for safety. I have no clue what to do to entertain 6 toddler boys in a house with very few toys. I keep imagining them running around in a pack trashing the place. I'm considering renting a jumper, but am looking for other options. Any ideas? The party is only 3 hours, but I want to have some sort of plan.

Gift opening - When I talked to my mom about the party schedule and mentioned that I didn't think I wanted to open gifts at the party she about lost it. She thinks that gift opening is required and everyone will be disappointed if they do not see him open them. Gees my son is one he's going to be more interested in the box then the toys. Not to mention there is just no way the other little kids are going to sit through a long gift opening, let alone bore the adults. I have to figure out a compromise or a way to convince her. She has not been to a toddler birthday party in a VERY long time.

Thanks for reading this novel, I appreciate it.
Royann

[SnuggleBuggles]

Menu- scratch the PB&J, just in case. Cinnamon raisin bread with cream cheese or pb&j made with sunbutter would be better options, just in case there is an allergy.

Activities- the kiddos really don't need much. I just hosted a party with 5 toddlers and they played with toys but they also probably could have made do with a bunch of balloons!! You could hire someone to come, like someone who can make cool balloon things. Otherwise, I'd either just have some "stations" of activities out (crafts, cookie decorating, bean bag toss) or go with the bouncy house. A pull string pinata could be good as well. Check out BirthdayPartyIdeas.com for great ideas for stations. I suggest something that doesn't really require rounding people up and doing something organized. It's hard when adults re mingling, big kids are playing and little ones are having fun to really get everyone corralled for activities (or maybe I just stink at running a party :)).

Gifts- I am one of the lone "open gifts at a party" advocates on here. :) For the party I just mentioned I didn't wind up doing a big gift opening though because I didn't have my act together. We opened one on one when the guests were leaving (they left staggered). So that family got to see their gift opened and acknowledged which I think is what matters most to me. I still prefer the real deal but it worked this time. Another option is the big opening and hand out the goodie bags at the same time. The other kids get to open something special and are preoccupied. That has worked well at parties I have hosted and attended.

Beth

[septmama2b]

I already checked on FA, we are in the clear so peanut butter is ok. I learned that from here. I like the cinnamon rasin bread and cream cheese, I may try that out on my picky 2 year old.

The party is only three hours, and there are only 6 toddlers so I am not to concerned with having a bunch of different activities. I was trying to think of more things to have out that they could play with on their own. If we were at our house the train table, legos, and crayons would fill the bill, but at Grandmas we don't have those things. Thanks for the website I will try that next.

[SnuggleBuggles]

That's why I suggested "stations"- activities out that are age appropriate but don't really require more work than just toys would. Just things you can direct them towards if they start climbing the china cabinet or can't make their own fun, kwim? Like you said, crayons, Legos... you can do versions of those instead of themed party activities. Head to a thrift store or something and pick up some toys to keep at grandma's house if she is willing.

Beth

[AnnieW625]

The party is only three hours, and there are only 6 toddlers so I am not to concerned with having a bunch of different activities. I was trying to think of more things to have out that they could play with on their own. If we were at our house the train table, legos, and crayons would fill the bill, but at Grandmas we don't have those things. Thanks for the website I will try that next.

Buy a box of 64 crayons, and a couple of coloring books, or you can print out coloring pages from NickJr.com, but also plain old computer paper is great. We have this set up every year for DD's birthday party for the kids who don't want to do the bounce house (which is also a great option, and cheap, we rented them each time for about $60, and the best part is the kids go home tired!).



Gift opening - When I talked to my mom about the party schedule and mentioned that I didn't think I wanted to open gifts at the party she about lost it. She thinks that gift opening is required and everyone will be disappointed if they do not see him open them. Gees my son is one he's going to be more interested in the box then the toys. Not to mention there is just no way the other little kids are going to sit through a long gift opening, let alone bore the adults. I have to figure out a compromise or a way to convince her. She has not been to a toddler birthday party in a VERY long time.

My parents hosted a party for DD1 on her first birthday and we opened presents there, but there were only 15 people there, not 50. We have opened gifts when family is still present at all of DD1s parties, but never when all of the friends are still there, now if parties get smaller in the years to come I can see that being the norm, but not at toddler parties when there are 10+ kids/adults there. I will say though that if there are 6 kids at the party unless they are older than say 6 or 7 I bet they will have an interest in opening the gifts. My DD1 (4) is most likely going to be opening up DD2's presents at Christmas, and her birthday this year.

[mom2one]

We have skipped opening presents. It is okay to do so. At one, it is all about the box. I would take a picture of her with each present and include that with the thank you note.

We just went to a friend party on Saturday. He turned 7, and they did not open the gifts.

[LMPC]

Another anti-gift opener here....especially with that many people. I think it would get waaay to crazy!

[septmama2b]

I ended up posting the gift opening question on my Facebook page. I am friends with my mom, so I figured she'd see the replies, and 99% of the responses were no gift opening. I think if any of the family really wants to see him open them, they can stay until after he takes his nap.
I am researching bounces now, I want to tire those kids out. I ordered a kids table and small chairs yesterday. I may put one of the older 12 year old girls with lots of babysitting experience in charge of managing the kids coloring area. I think a few of the little ones may still be in the eating crayons stage.