How can I Celebrate my Baby’s 1st Birthday?

The first year of your little munchkin is a momentous occasion. One which is filled with joy and happiness. But more often than not, it can also be a little stressful. When planning for your baby’s first birthday celebration, you may find yourself juggling between 2 choices being whether you should throw a party and invite all your loved ones or keep it simple and just keep the festivities between the family. This can be a hard choice but worry not! Because we are here to give you a few first birthday ideas that will surely help you decide:

Celebrating Your Baby’s First Birthday Without a Party

If you are one who enjoys spending time away with your family for special occasions, you are likely not going to enjoy celebrating your baby’s first birthday with a lot of people. Moreover, your toddler may not enjoy it too since they are too young to enjoy the extra company. So here are a few ideas to help you keep the celebration private:

1. Conduct a Family Picture Painting Activity

It’s the perfect time to pick out some canvases, paint, and paintbrushes and gather your family members at home. This can be a fun activity that you and your family members can enjoy and more importantly, it gives your baby a chance to stimulate their creativity and expose them to different colors. At the end of the day, you can preserve your baby’s painting as a keepsake with a touching note attached. When your toddler is all grown up, you can show them the painting and reminisce on the early days together.

2. Visit a Zoo

Not only will be a nice time for you and your family but it will also your toddler to meet a furry friend. Since it will be their first time looking at an animal, it is also a good time to take some snaps of their first interaction with the zoo animals.

3. A Birthday Vacation

Your baby’s first birthday celebration is the celebration for the whole family. So consider taking a short vacation with your baby and your loved ones to a kid-friendly location or resort. This will let you celebrate your baby’s first birthday privately and away from the busy lifestyle that you’ve left behind at home.

4. A Baby Photo Session

The memories of your baby’s first birthday needs to be preserved for many years to come. So go ahead and organize a photo session at your home. You can do this by just picking up a high-quality camera and taking candid snaps of your baby, or by booking a professional photographer who can bring along some photography gear and props for the baby to make the photo shoot fun.

5. Get a Special Cake

Whoever said that a cake needs a party. Just gather your family members at your home and bring out a special custom cake for your baby. You can make the occasion even more fun by playing baby birthday music and having your family members cheer for your baby. Make sure you have your smartphone or camera handy, you wouldn’t want to miss the moment your toddler blows out the candles.

Celebrating Your Baby’s First Birthday With a Party

If you are one who loves to host your friends and relatives and loves to throw parties and you believe that your baby’s first birthday needs to be as memorable as possible here are some ideas to celebrate your baby’s 1st birthday party:

1. Make Some Colorful Decorations

It’s not a party if there aren’t any decorations. Make your baby’s first birthday celebration vibrantly festive by adding colorful birthday decorations. Moreover, make sure you pair your party plates, hats, and cups with the same color too.

2. Create a Theme

This may require a little more effort, but the end result will surely make it worth it. If you choose to go this route, pick a theme that you think your toddler may like i.e the toys, cartoons, or stuffed animals that bring happiness and joy to their faces. The theme does not have to be complex, keep it simple with the help of costumes, a few decorative touches, and snacks. If you can’t decide on a theme, read our blog about 10 Unique First Birthday Celebration Ideas for Boys and Girls.

3. Get a Smash Cake

If you did not know already, a smash cake is simply a cake that is made for baby’s to do whatever they want with them. This includes pounding, smashing, smearing it on their faces, and of course eating it. A smash cake is great for a baby’s first birthday since it creates funny and candid photo-ops, but just to be safe, get a spare cake to serve the guests.

4. Make a First Birthday Photo Frame Display

Add a photo frame to your walls with some candid pictures of your toddler from the first 12 months of their life. It fits naturally with the baby’s first birthday and gives you the opportunity to get creative as there are numerous ways you can personalise a wall-hanging photo frame.

Read here for more home decor tips for your living room, bedroom, and baby’s room before you begin your newborn photoshoot.

5. Put out a Finger Food Buffet

For your baby’s first birthday, you can go all out and prepare plenty of delicious Indian delicacies, but that can be a lot of work. Instead, why not keep the catering small and simple? Before your guests arrive, put out some finger food that your guests will enjoy and also a few baby favorites too. They are easy to nibble on and your guests can serve themselves.

6. Keep the Party Short

Baby’s usually get overstimulated with all that this happening around them, and their first birthday celebration may take a toll on them. Your baby and your guest will enjoy the party more if you keep the party short and for no longer than 2 hours from start to finish.

At the end of the day, regardless of if you choose to celebrate your toddler’s first birthday with or without a party, you will realize that it was well worth it since nothing is more important for a parent than celebrating their baby growing up.

Orignally published on Photojaanic.com