Birthday Parties for 2-year-olds
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Birthday Parties for 2-year-olds
March 2006
I'm planning my son's 2nd birthday party and would like to
charter a trolley. due to the number of people invited, i plan
to have it at a local park in alameda. ideally i would have
liked to rent a ride-on train that the kids could ride on, but i
haven't found one company that does this in the bay area. if you
know of one, please let me know! so as an alternative, i
thought i'd rent a trolley and take the kids for a ride. the
problem i've encountered with renting a trolley is that all of
the places i have called charter for a minimum of 3 hours (at a
pretty hefty price). since my son, and all his buddies, are
only 2, i really only need a trolley for about an hour. i
figure it could pick the kids up and take them into town and
back, about a half hour ride. i don't think they could handle
any longer. does anyone know of a trolley company that charters
by the hour or does anyone have any other recommendations to
make his train/trolley party really fun? OR if anyone has a
homemade train or something like it, can i rent it from you?!
nicole
Don't know if you would consider changing the location of your
party, but I think I saw a trolley one day at the park area at
Lake Merritt outside Fairlyland. May be owned by Fairyland.
Might give them a call for more info. Good luck.
anon
The Golden Gate Railroad Museum in SF used to provide rides on
their steam engine for children's birthdays, but unfortunately,
they are not currently open to visitors. There is the Tilden
Steam Train, and AMTRAC or BART of course (any ride great for
kids of course), but there aren't any opportunities for riding
trains in the Bay Area that I've found either. With my train-
obsessed son, I've noted that he's never been much impressed
with riding or seeing real steam trains (Skunk Train, the one
at the California State Railroad Museum, even the Thomas Steam
Engine at Roaring Camp). But he loves the steam engine at
Tilden, trips in real trains with the family, his play trains
and track, and all books about trains. IOW, you may find that
your son may not be much interested in, even a little scared,
of a big sized moving machine, like a trolley. Your liability
concerns are extreme also, with other small children. Your son
should be really happy if all the kids just got to wear
engineeer hats and eat birthday cake with a train on it - even
if he was much older, 4 or 5.
Aug 2005
We are getting ready to have a birthday party for our two year
old son. We are having it at our house. Hopefully we'll have
good weather and we can all hang out in the back yard with the
play houses, slide, little pool, etc... We have invited about 6
kids from 20 months to three years, all kids he knows and has
played with. We're having the festivities from 11-2 so as to
somewhat preserve nap time. We are planning little, kid friendly
foods like raisin boxes, goldfish crackers, cheese pizza
squares, fruit, etc.. I don't think we should do formal present
opening since I think they're all too young to sit and attend to
that but we do have goodie bags for the birthday boy and guests.
I'd love for those who have been there to comment on the above.
In addition, what kind of activities, if any can I plan. Should
I just let them free play for 3 hours or plan simple elective
activities like dance time, follow directions (everybody touch
your nose, moo like a cow, etc...), playdough time, musical
instruments with music, etc... I'd love any feedback regarding
any ideas.
S.W.
I would say no organized activities, and give goody bags as the
guest arrive. Have the goody bags, play-doh, stickers, pens,
paper, chalk, water squirt bottles available, and then allow
free play and have enough supplies to let the guests take some
home. My daughter is four and her parties have been fun
unstructured time with her best friends. We just went to a
super-structured birthday party (dance time, story time,
treasure hunt time) and the kids were polite but they seemed
bored, and you can't even expect two year olds to be polite.
LC
We just had a 2 year old birthday party in a park.
The two hits were:
- spraybottles with water in it (adjust them so they make mist)
- a popup firetruck (to walk in), a tent or a tunnel would h! ave done
the same job
If you want to have a moment where they all do something together,
just play ''Ring around the rosie'' or ''Hokey pokey'' or such.
My daughter enjoyed the long afternoon of party well into the evening.
One expection was the moment where everyone's attention suddenly
centered
on her: the cake and candles.
Have fun,
Julia
March 2005
My daughter's 2nd birthday party is next month. We are having it
at the Albany YMCA Kindergym on a Saturday from 3:30 till 5:30.
Since this falls right during dinner time for many toddlers, we
are going to serve some food along with the cupcakes. My
question is: what can we serve that is not too messy but that
toddlers will like? I thought about pizza, but my daughter
doesn't like it, so I don't know how the other kids will feel.
Will kids (and their parents) be satisfied with finger foods
like veggies, fruit, cheese, olives? Or, should I figure out
something more substantial?
Dawn
I always like to serve PB&J sandwiches cut into shapes with cookie
cutters (stars, hearts, etc.)at toddler parties. If you don't want to
do PB do cream cheese and jelly or just strawberry flavored cream
cheese. Also, mini bagels, taquitos, chicken nuggets (traderjoes has
yummy ones). Pasta salad is also popular. Have fun!
Jen
Mac and cheese is always a winner with kids and adults. (You can even
make a vegan version with brown rice pasta and vegan ''cheese''--I know
because we make this for our wheat/lactose intolerant son.) Clarisse
March 2004
As my daughter's 2nd birthday approaches, I'm wondering what
kinds of parties people have found most fun for kids and adults
at this age. Most of the 1st birthdays we went to were large,
fun, chaotic parties with lots of kids, lot of adults, lots to
eat and drink,and little by way of structure. Does this work
with a group of 2 year olds too, or do they have more fun when
the party is organized around some simple activities? If so,
what kinds of things have people found most successful with a
gaggle of toddlers? How about ideal size? thanks.
Katie
2nd Birthday parties can be so much fun. I found that at this
age, the children are mostly happy to just be able to play.
We went to Ruby's Tumbling in Alameda for my daughter's 2nd
Birthday. It was wonderful: the kids could run and play (in a
safe and confined space), and it was a bit different from their
normal activies.
For slightly older children, however, more structurec activities
can also be wonderful. As part of my What's Cooking business, I
teach cooking classes for children. This is popular for birthday
parties, too.
Visit my website for more information:
http://www.whatscooking.info
Happy Birthday!
Michelle
When our older daughter turned two, I made a ton of homemade playdough in
different colors, some with sparkles. Then I had a huge low coffee table covered in
butcher paper and laid out the play-dough with a lot of kitchen utensils (garlic
press, pastry trimmers, etc) and many plastic cookie cutters. The kids had a great
time. The adults sat around and shmoozed. There was cake and presents. Done!
When our 2nd daughter turned two, we had a big inflatable wading pool (it was a
hot day) and lots of bubble-making implements. The kids got wet and splashed, the
parents sat around and shmoozed. Cake and presents. Done!
Keep it Simple
For our daughter's 2nd I made cupcakes, and then gave each of
the kids (we kept is small-ish, about 7 kids total) a plain
cupcake and an individual bowl of whipped cream (seemed
healthier than the usual frosting), and placed several bowls of
sprinkles on the table. Frosting their own cupcakes kept the
kids occupied for a long time, and they were very excited about
it! Paper table cloth and plates made the clean-up easy.
Parents ate simple brunch food, coffee and mimosas, stood
around chatting, ready to help little hands when needed - but
really, the kids were very motivated to be self-sufficient with
this activity! I highly recommend it.
believer in low-stress b-day parties
We just celebrated my son's second birthday. I really wanted to
keep things simple in order to avoid inflating birthday party
expectations too early and it make things easier on myself (I'm
8 months pregnant).
We had 6 kids over plus the family members that are in the
area. We didn't have any structured games, just free play time
inside and outside. We had very kid-friendly food (peanut
butter sandwiches, cheese, crackers, juice boxes) and the
obligatory birthday cake. We actually asked for no presents (we
really don't need any more trucks around here), so opening
presents wasn't a part of the party.
My son and his guests had a terrific time! In fact, my son
keeps asking to have his friends over again for another birthday
party. And the format kept the stress level, expense, and clean-
up to a minimum. You'll have plenty of time for fancy birthday
parties later, when your kid starts asking for one!
Keep it simple!
My son turned 2 in feb and we just wanted something very small
(not because big is bad just because it would be easier.) We
still ended up having 6 kids (mostly around 2 yrs.) Plus a mom
and dad for each child. So in the end this small party was
fairly big, but I enjoyed it and so did my son and the other
kids I think mainly because it was casual. A piniata (pull
string, not bash style -filled with little rubber balls, little
cars, other trinket toys but somewaht durable- and gave the
kids little gift bags to collect the toys in) and the cake
cutting were the only formal activities, and I also got a ton
of play dough (cheap and very fun), and some extra bouncy balls
(like 1$ each at longs). We opened the presents without fanfare
one here and there, and even had some of the other kids open
the presents as my son really didn't care much. I actually
wanted no gifts, but decided to request something used or a
toy/book they had laying around the house they no longer use,
because everyone seemed to brush off the no gift rule and I
didn't want someone to be embarressed that they were the one
that actually listened to my request. We scheduled our party
for 11am, to avoid nap issues, but if I could do it again I
think I would have scheduled it for late afternoon say 3 or 4.
Anyway that was our experience I think you need to think about
what kind of party you are up for giving: small and intimate or
large, and if you want small invite no more than 6 families
because mine seemed big with that many. (Don't count on some
not coming, I invited 6 and everyone came).Good luck, you'll
have a blast.
The large, chaotic parties you describe for 1-year-olds will
also work fine for 2-year-olds, but a 2-year-old may have some
ideas of her own for a party theme or activities, which you
should incorporate if you can. Don't try the classic party
games that involve lots of rules, turn-taking, or winners and
losers (e.g., pin-the-something-on-the-something), but 1- to 6-
year-olds will enjoy arts/crafts activities (younger kids can
scribble while older ones create more elaborate works of art)
and semi-structured games like hunting for ''prizes'' you scatter
around your yard (just make sure you let the smaller kids start
before any older ones, and that there are more than enough
prizes to go around). One or two such activites, plus plenty
of ''free play'' time, plus cake and presents, will make for a
very satisfying party.
The size of the party is really up to you, though of course you
have to take into account the size of your home (or other party
location). If the idea of a horde of 2-year-olds running around
your house scares you, limit the party to 3 or 4 kids and their
parents. But if you're a ''the more the merrier'' type, invite
everyone you know with a child between the ages of 6 months and
6 years. Only you know which type you and your daughter would
enjoy more. Have fun!
Holly
Nov. 2002
Hello,
My son is turning 2 the 23rd of this month and I wanted to make
him a little party. My husband and I had thought about doing it
in a park. Something simple: wine, cheese and bread for the
adults; healthy cake, juice and fruit for the kids. But the
rain is almost here and I don't think the park is a good idea
anymore. I would love to have it in the house but we ran out of
money with the remodeling and we don't have dinning room or
living room furniture yet! Could you give me some guidance
please?
Anonymous
Our son turned 2 in May, and we decided to have a small party at
our very small house, planning to set up an inflatable pool
outside (one of his bday presents). Believe it or not, it
POURED down torrential rain all day!! This possibility had
never even crossed our minds at the end of May! Thankfully, we
had only invited one other kid (also 2), and several adult
friends, so we could all fit comfortably inside. We decided on
only one kid guest for several reasons: A) our house is tiny,
B) we are on a tight budget, C) the options were to either
invite every single kid in his daycare (which most of the other
parents do who have outdoor parties) or only 1 non-daycare
friend, and D) we realized that, at 2, he really didn't
understand the whole birthday party thing yet (even tho he'd
been to several big ones and enjoyed them), but at 3 he would
understand it much better and therefore this would be the last
year we'd be able to ''get away with'' having a 1-kid party.
Well, in spite of the rain and the small guest list, he had the
time of his life! What really made it special for him, I think,
was that we decorated the house and made a really big deal of
the whole thing. My husband took him out in the morning while I
put up streamers and ballons and set the table (Blue's Clues
theme), and when my husband brought him back we all made a big
fuss over all the exciting decorations, and how it was his
Blue's Clues birthday party, and told him all the people who
were coming over, and I think the fact that it was in our house
also made it special because he obviously sees our house every
day, but on that day the house was transformed! We actually
took about a week to remove (gradually) all the decorations, and
every morning he'd wake up and get excited all over again when
he'd see a remnant of a streamer from the party! He talked
about it for months, and he could not have had a better time if
we'd had 15 kids and rented out an amusement park. Another nice
thing was that the emphasis was not on presents, because there
weren't all that many. And because he had only one little
friend over, they really got to play together and just have fun
being with each other. I have no regrets--I know I'll have to
get more creative (and spend more money) next year, so I am
really glad that we did what we did this year. Honestly, at 2,
what's important to them is that the day seems special and
exciting, and that doesn't have to mean a lot of people or a big
budget. Plus, you will enjoy yourself more if you are not
stressed out planning a big to-do. Save your stress and money
for next year, and savor the pure fun of the day this year!
anonymous
We had my daughter's 1 year birthday at Wee Play on lower Solano ...
Ave in Albany, which was excellent! We set up the front area for
adults...with food and drinks....and 9 children played happily in
the play area. The adults took turns playing with the children
while others ate and chatted. In fact, the party must have looked
fun because folks just passing by stopped to ask what was going
on and wanted to join in!
Amy
Actually, your house with its empty dining room and living room
sound absolutely great for a rainy day party. The best parties
I've been to have been in vast, empty rooms. Borrow or rent
folding tables & chairs if you need to for a little seating, but
most people stand during parties anyway, and all that elbow room
would be really great, especially for active, pent-up kids.
Feb. 2000
Does anyone have suggestions for a clown or other low key entertainment for
several kids for a two year old's birthday party?
Julie
It was my impression that kids this young get pretty overwhelmed when you
try to "entertain" them at a party. The thing my daughter and her day-care
cronies loved at her 3-year-party was simply the songs we sang. Why not just
whip out a guitar, pass out the cupcakes, and sing lots of favorite songs?
Do the hokey-pokey, that sort of thing. Save the clowns for five year olds.
Good luck!
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