If the fact that I was already completely emotionally destroyed from Ted turning 2, when it feels like only yesterday he was being born, wasn’t enough… we decided to host his 2nd birthday party at home. Our home. My home.
Why? Oh why did I think this would be a good idea; multiple 2-year-olds running around, smearing food into the carpet and breaking everything they touch?
That being said, and luckily for us, the children were a dream and Ted had the time of his life. His face was filled with joy all afternoon and the fact he went to sleep immediately when we put him down suggests that he had a marvellous time tiring himself out with all of his friends.
I must pause, momentarily and say that the success of the party was largely due to my good wife. The KS1 teacher in her came out and combined with my new found love of messy play, we created, what to a 2-year-old can only be described as, play paradise.
We spent a lot of time searching the internet for the best presents, healthy party food, 2nd birthday party activities, party bags and decorations out there. To save you time when you are planning your child’s second birthday we thought we’d put all of our ideas in one easy guide.
Presents
Obviously every two-year-old is different and is into different things but if you’re looking for some present ideas here’s Ted’s present list from family and friends.
- a wooden playhouse for the garden
- a tuff spot for messy play
- fine motor tools
- messy play toys
- puzzles
- musical microphone
- books
- play magnets
- wooden train
- gardening tool set
- wooden marble run
- bath toys
- Peppa pig land toys
- Mr Tumble Fuzzy felts
- Wall art – a very special gift made especially for Teddy of an ‘eye-eye’ (snail)
Birthday Crown
First a foremost we knew we wanted Ted to continue the tradition of wearing a special birthday crown. We bought ours from Fable Heart last year and we won’t be looking anywhere else in the future. Last year he wore a black and white crown to match the monochrome theme of his party. This year we wanted to continue the monochrome theme but threw in a splash of gold and so we went with a golden sequined crown. It is just stunning. The crown stole the show and as it is fully adjustable to any size, a lot of the adults at the party had a sneaky little wear of it as the day went on, and the wine flowed!
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Birthday Decorations
Monochrome with a splash of gold was the chosen colour scheme. Finding really nice quality items that fit this wasn’t easy until we found out the Fable Heart not only make birthday crowns but they now also sell stress-free party boxes containing everything you could need for the party – plates, cups, balloons, napkins, tassels – all in one place, all fitting the colour scheme. Result! We added an extra couple of large silver 2 balloons to the decorations and used black lettering to decorate the walls.
Birthday Activities
As we decided to have the party at home, and it was during Summer, we wanted as much of the party to be outside as possible. We hired a bouncy castle and put up a large gazebo, filling it with different play areas for the children to explore.
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- sandpit with birthday glitter
- paddling pool with bottles and water guns and sprays
- ball pit with metallic threads
- play tea set
- Peppa Pig activity table
- musical instruments table
- Tuff spot with saucepans, spoons, sieves and pasta, rice and lentils
- hook the duck game – bucket filled with water, rubber ducks and fishing nets
Birthday Food
I don’t want to sound like an absolute grouch here, but even at parties, I like to think we are providing the children with healthy food options alongside the usual birthday treats. We filled the table summer berries, fruits of every kind, vegetables and with Organix snacks that tick all the boxes for being healthy and organic and well as feeling like birthday food.
Party Bags
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I definitely knew that I did not want to send the children home with a party bag full of little plastic toys that would break before they got home. This was a tricky one as we also didn’t want to spend a fortune. We scoured the internet and came up with a few fun ideas but decided the best value for money option would be to use book bundles from The Book People. This way you can buy a small bundle of your favourite books and separate them so that each child takes home one special book. Alongside the books, we filled the party bags with Organix treats and a slice of ted’s birthday cake. All children also took home a helium filled monochrome balloon. They seemed happy :)
Party clothes
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Ted had two birthday parties. One for his friends and one for our family. (Our house is definitely not big enough to combine the two!) We wanted him to have something special to wear for both of his parties. It was the obvious choice for us to go to two of our Favourite Instagram shops – Nor-folk and Blueberry Boo. We discovered the awesome Nor-folk last year when we bought Ted one of their signature numeral tees and we absolutely loved it. This year we continued the theme, buying him a 2 tee in black and white to match the colour scheme. His second special birthday tee was from Blueberry Boo. We love personalisation and we found the perfect birthday tee for Teddy to remember his second birthday.
Both his tees were paired with an awesome pair of (birthday) crown leggings we found at Baby Brain Apparel.
Ted’s birthday, for us and for him, was everything we could have hoped it to be. The house looked great, the food was delicious, the children laughed and played together, the adults had time to talk and enjoy a cold beer in the sun and above all, it was filled with precious memories for us to look back on.
Whatever you decide to do for your child’s birthday – I hope it is a great one :)
