2yo birthday party - what would you do?

[BananaPalm]

What do people normally do with kids at a 2nd birthday party?

My DS will have his birthday party in December and we have a community hall booked but that’s about it. There will be a few 2 year olds and a few a bit older children. Children’s entertainers are expensive and I am by no means able to turn into one. He or his nursery friends definitely aren't able to follow games with rules just yet.

So what do I do? Shall I hire some toys (but again, that tends to be expensive…)? What did you or your friends do? Any suggestions will be really welcome!

We just did family parties at home till they were 5. Sorry to be no help but maybe this will bump your post!

I would just hire some soft play equipment and let the kiddos play.. they will be a bit too young to do structured games or sit nicely through an entertainer.

My little one turned 2 not too long ago and we took him to a trampoline park with his siblings and cousins and then had a little tea party at home with family.. his favourite part was all the balloons so I recommend blowing up loads of them! 🎈

Does the Community Hall you are hiring have any toys you can use? Some do for a small additional charge, as they have play groups etc there during the week. This would be a lot cheaper than hiring externally. Otherwise two is a hard age for a larger party which isn’t just family and close friends. Most structured games are a bit too old, however maybe you could do pass the parcel and some singing/actions/dancing type activities similar to circle time songs etc.

Agree to getting some soft play equipment.

Any toys you can bring from home?

Set up some tables, crafts (I know they are too but sticking etc play dough, water/foam play)

Pinterest is great for ideas!

Oh and plenty of balloons, bubbles and kids music on in back ground.

Coffee for the adults

Two*

I agree that 2 is a bit young for this type of party, I think thats why you are struggling with ideas of what to do, its difficult at that age.

We did a family tea party type thing and invited a couple of friends and that was enjoyable.

Having said that, we did go to a 2 year old party at a community hall, they got someone from the local children’s art club to run some art activities. It was a bit chaotic and the children didnt interact that much, is was essentially the parents doing the activity with their own kid but it was ok.

What it was a good thing for was meeting the other parents from the nursery, so that was nice.

It’s up to you what you do, I’d just say make things easy!

Have you given out invites yet? If not then I would suggest cancelling the community hall and having a smal tea party / picnic at home.

We had our 2 year olds party at a place where they hire out to toddler/baby class instructors and have regular play sessions with toys and bouncy castles as when you book a party with them it includes a bouncy castle and all their toys/ride on toys/climbing toys ect. We also hired one of his toddler class teachers to come and do a class with them (to the theme of the party) and then we had party food in another room when the class ended whilst they were setting up the bouncy castle and play stuff. It worked well and everyone seemed to have a good time 😊 It was mainly 2 and 3 year olds as well as a 5 year old sibling and 2 little friends who were 18-20 months ish

At that age, it was pretty much all soft play parties. So if it was in a community hall, there was a hired trampoline and other soft play equipment. More often, it was just held at the local soft play.

I think you’re struggling because 2 is too young for that sort of party really as they’re too young to interact with each other so it just becomes like a weird stay and play toddler group at your expense. Especially if you don’t actually know the other nursery parents very well due to different drop off/pick up routines, for me personally I didn’t get to know any other parents properly until mine got to the school nursery. If it were me I would cancel the hall and would instead do something with family and/or my friends that have kids like an outing to a farm or a small tea party at home.

Hire a bouncy castle. Blow up lots of balloons. Stick music on. Have a couple of quieter corners with some basic toys (could bring from home or get from a charity shop) or colouring/craft things at a table. Keep it fairly short.