Birthday Party Ideas

Looking for a birthday party ideas for 3 year olds and under? Below are a few fun and unique birthday party ideas. Some are appropriate for a first birthday, others are not. If you have a fun birthday party idea, submit it here and we’ll be sure to include it below.

Dress-Up Tea Party - Invite all the little girls to come dressed in their favorite dress up clothes. When they arrive, send them to a ‘Beauty Shop’ that you have set up in your house. Have a couple of ‘make-up artists’ (moms) there ready to do each girls make-up. After their visit to the ‘Beauty Shop’, send the girls to a ‘Jewelry Store’ where they can pick out beautiful (fake) jewels/jewelry to dress up their outfits. Items like big plastic diamond rings, necklaces, etc… are perfect. You can name the ‘Beauty Shop’ and ‘Jewelry Store’ something cute after your child. After the girls receive their ‘makeovers’, treat them to a tea party of finger sandwiches, fresh fruit, pretzels, goldfish, and other kid friendly bite-size foods. Serve them ‘tea’ (punch, juice, etc…) in little plastic tea cups. Then, instead of a birthday cake, you can serve them cute little petite fours. Take each girl’s picture with the birthday girl and use the picture to make cute ‘Glamour Girl’ thank you notes or put them in a cute frame as a take-home gift.

Toddler Pool/Beach Party - Borrow some kiddie pools and set up three or four in your backyard, along with a sprinkler. This is a great party for parents and kids. The parents can sit around, visit, and supervise while the kids splash around in the pools. For a cake, arrange cupcakes in a circle and ice them to look like a beach ball (blue, white, red, and yellow). Have a few ice chests sitting around full of drinks. For the party favor, give each kid a blown up beach ball.

Bear Hunt - Have a bear hunt in the backyard. Hide teddy bears all around the yard and these are also the party favor. You could really play this one up by having everyone be quiet while they follow the dad.

Scrap-booking Party - Wait until Hobby Lobby has scrapbooks at 50% off and buy several. Ask each girl to bring their own pictures and provide some as well. Fill your tables with all the supplies and stickers in the middle. Decorate the cake like a photo and while you take pictures and a group shot outside(which you can include in your thank-you note) have a friend tie up each album with ribbon and a note that thanks them for coming to the party.

Princess Party - For this party the guests come dressed as princesses. While at the party, the guests can make their own crowns using foam crowns, glitter glue, and jewels. You can play ‘Pin the crown on the princess’, ‘Princess Posture’ (the Princess walks across the room with a book on her head), and ‘Pass the treasure box’ (A box is filled with jewelry and is passed with music playing. Once the music stops each child picks one thing out of the box to keep as a takeaway.) You can also make a throne for the birthday girl. As a party favor, tie up some ‘Royal Ritz’ crackers in a baggie for the guests. For the invitation, ask everyone to attend the ‘Royal Ball’ in honor of your Princess.

Charlotte’s Web - For this party dress your girl up as the little girl on Charlotte’s Web and a baby in a spider costume. Other guests can attend as different farm animals. Hire a petting zoo to come and set up in your yard. The favors can be pig cookies in bags held together with a spider ring.

Circus Party - Have kids dress up like their favorite circus character and come ready to perform. For example, if a child came as a tight rope walker, the child can walk on a jump rope. Serve popcorn and cotton candy to add to the theme.

Pirate Party - Lay a board across a shallow pool to walk across the plank. Have a treasure hunt with pictures. As party favors you can give away gold candy coins in bundles, eye patches, and paper towel rollers with colored saran wrap. All the kids can dress up as pirates.

Dino-Dig - Kids can dress up as their favorite dinosaurs. For an activity bury little toys in the dirt and have them do an ‘archaeological dig’ to discover the ‘artifacts’. Little boys will love this.

Car Party- Set up tables on their sides creating a path in a curvy shaped circle. You can connect the tables with flagged rope. Borrow some tricycles and let the kids ride around the race track. While the kids aren’t riding, if it’s not their turn, have some crafts available for them to participate in. For instance, give them the opportunity to create their own drivers license by taking their picture with a Polaroid camera and placing the picture on a pre-made computer printout. Make sure you have a tape measure to measure their height, etc… Make sure there are places for their name, height, eye color, birth date, etc… You can also let them create their own personalized license plate. Hot wheels are a great party favor.