Want to throw a birthday party for your two year old? Need a few ideas for how to make their party extra special? It can definitely be hard to come up with party ideas for the toddler age. You want to make it memorable, but you'll always have a few kids who just plain aren't interested.
As a preschool teacher, it was always frustrating when we planned elaborate parties and games for different holidays...only to have my students have much more fun setting up the classroom chairs as a train.
CANDYLAND
Toddlers want to do what they want to do when they want to do it. They don't usually like being told what to do. Because of this, you'll do well to offer a couple of different choices of activities for the children at your toddler's birthday party.
To do this, set up a couple of "stations" around your house. If there are many adults present, then you can have a different adult monitoring each station, but if not, try to keep all of the activities in one room so that you can monitor it. It's best if you choose activities that appeal to different personalities--something physical, something creative, something helpful, and something that uses thinking skills.
For the physical station, make sure that the kids have space in which to move. If the weather is nice, you can hold the party outside and have some bicycles or a paddling pool. If you must stay indoors, then you can set up a CD player or a video with dancing to let the kids dance.
Toys like puzzles, blocks, or sewing boards are great activities for kids who like to think or may be shy. These can easily be set up in a quiet corner of the room or at a small table.
A helpful child may like to help out with frosting cupcakes. Alternatively, you could pretend that you need some help sorting socks and let the children go through the laundry basket matching up the pairs (clean socks please!!).
Creative minds will be happy coloring in a coloring book or painting a picture. One way to really spark creativity is to put paper on the floor or on a wall--somewhere where kids don't usually get to do their artwork. I've found that this interests even the child who doesn't usually like craft time.
Once all of this is set up, let the children themselves decide which activities interest them. The worst thing you can do is try to force a child to do something that they don't want to do. By giving a variety of options and letting children pick the one that best suits them, you're sure to have a great party.
Happy partying!
Terrific Toddler Party Ideas
Shannon Tani has many years of experience teaching ESL preschool in Japan. She writes and maintains Teach ESL to Kids which is a resource helping ESL teachers of (very) young learners.
CANDYLAND
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