Help me plan my kids' bday party(s)!

[Hokulele]

My two daughters have birthdays the same week in June. This year, my oldest is turning 5 and my youngest is turning two.

I need good ideas! I have done nothing yet, I have no idea for a theme, location, activities etc. It is hard to come up with something appropriate for both their ages - things that will work for them and for all their friends, (ages 1.5 to 6yo.) I would ask DD1 but she is likely to want a Disney princess party and I just can't do that!!

Unfortunately our guest list will probably be too large to fit in our house, so we have to go somewhere. And we're in the south so by the end of June it is too hot to be outside comfortably. Unless I do a very early morning party....

I think I'm going to make it a book exchange party (people don't bring gifts, just a wrapped book and then each child at the party goes home with a new book). Anyone have other ideas for a non-materialistic party?

Does anyone have ideas for what kind of party to have? What kinds of activities? Any cute non-commercial themes? (I'm not really a theme person but where we live everyone has theme parties - plates, cake, invitations and even entertainment that all fits into one theme - so DD really wants that.)

It seems in many respects it would be easier to do two different parties but there is a lot of overlap in guest lists (lots of people have one child DD1's age, and another DD2's age so would expect to be invited to both girl's parties.)

[lotusdebi]

Originally Posted by Hokulele

Unfortunately our guest list will probably be too large to fit in our house, so we have to go somewhere. And we're in the south so by the end of June it is too hot to be outside comfortably. Unless I do a very early morning party....

Is this still true if you do a water/ splash party? Do you have a yard that will fit everyone? You can set up a kiddie pool and a sprinkler, have water games for the older kids, water gun fights if that doesn't run counter to your beliefs, etc. It would keep the kids cool, and the adults could also join in - just have everyone wear swimsuits. Here are some splash party ideas:
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/ht...ash_party.html

[pbjmama]

How about a messy party?

[eepster]

Location is going to be key to every thing else. What kind of local facilities are available? Is renting a facility in the budget? Is your yard big enough to acomidate everyone?

Do you live near the shore? You could have it on the beach and have a sea-creature theme. The obvious down side to this is small children close to the ocean need a lot of supervision.

Do you live near a lake with a beach? Near us there is a spring fed lake that is in a state park. It has a great beach with a calm and shallow swiming area, lifegaurds, changing/bathroom facilities, a playground, several picnic areas, row boat/canoe rentals, and a pizza and snack stand with indoor seating.

State, federal, county, and city parks often have facilities that can be reserved or rented. Most are open air pavilions, but some also have indoor facilities. Our town's dept of parks and recreation rents out rooms and the gymnasiums at the rec center for a very reasonable fee. The county has a covered pavilion right near a bathroom and play ground at the largest county park, which has a zoo and carousel and mini-train and ponies and more, that can be reserved for a very small fee or is free if you are williing to take your chances on a first come first serve basis (also assuming nobody else reserved it.) There are many pavillions that can't be reserved, so they are always free, but also always first come first serve.

Then there are places like the YMCA. They usually will rent you space, and some even have planned parties.

Most attractions that appeal to kids offer party packages. Museums, dance studios, zoos, etc, etc. These can be fairly expensive but there is a huge range.

Of course there are the places that focus on parties. These also tend to be expensive.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

themes: rainbows, bugs, butterflies, umbrellas (that's what we were going to do for ds' 2 yo bday, actually umbrella-butterfly-rainbows because that's what he was into), fish, flowers, beach

[zeldamomma]

Check out Familyfun.com -- they have lots of party ideas, and it might help you get started with a plan. If it were me, I'd avoid the middle part of the day, and have lots of water balloons and other splashy fun in the yard (but then you've got to worry about rain-- maybe you could have a rain-date, just in case?) FWIW, I'd expect the 3 and under crowd to just play, and plan primarily for the bigger kids.

[MtBikeLover]

I think a book exchange might be difficult with the wide range of ages. What a 1-year old reads is going to be vastly different than what a 6 year old will read.

I did a Hawaiian Luau party for both my kids when they were 2 and 4. I did it at a local YMCA that had an indoor pool. All the kids had a blast and we had kids from age 1 to age 5 there. Decor was fairly simple - leis, palm trees, etc and the party favors were little sand buckets with bubble, chalk, and a few other summer type trinkets.

[Klynne]

Some non commercial theme ideas; dot's/polka dots, letters, colors(like rainbow), tivoli/carnival, bugs, stripes, forest, backwards (everything is backwards or insdie out), flowers...

My dd loves Strawberry Short Cake, so I'm doing a 'strawberry' themed party for her at the park. To make her happy I bought SSC themed dessert plates and a candle for one of the strawberry topped cheesecakes MIL is making. All other decoration is in a fun, summerish, etsy-type style A few games I have lined up are a strawberry eating contest and a potato sack race.

Have fun planning!!