Rubber Ducky -1yr- Baby Charades for Adults

1st Birthday Rubber Ducky Theme  For my son's first birthday we chose a rubber ducky theme.

I made photo invitations with a rubber ducky border. The photo had a beach shot of my son playing in the sand, and surrounded by sand toys and duckies. I got lots of compliments on the invitations, and people appreciated having a photo.  I requested RSVP's a week before the actual party date. We decided to have it in our home to keep my son in familiar surroundings, and so we could decorate as we pleased. 

We really went to town on decorations. I cut out lots of ducky webbed feet out of orange construction paper to use at the end of my hanging streamers. We put the webbed feet scattered on the driveway and leading up to the house. This was a hit with all the kids! We also bought lots of blue balloons and clear balloons and rented a helium tank to give the effect of bubbles. We tied about 12 bubble-like balloons behind his highchair to make it look super-festive.  At the top of these we put a rubber ducky mylar balloon.  We took lots of rubber duckies and placed them arund the table, and used them for nifty ideas like holding napkins, or forks etc.   Since we had a nice mix of adults and children (more adults than children, but kids ranging from 1 year-5years) we had some fun games.

One of the fun games we played was "Pin the Tooth on Baby." This game was my own idea, and I blew up a picture of my son (one with his gums really showing!) and made funny looking teeth for the kids to pin on.  I just stuck tape to the back of the teeth and blindfolded them and played it like any of the other "pin the tail" games. Everyone loved it and I definitely think it was a great ice-breaker!   Other activities we played were "Baby Charades" and "Baby Trivia" where we decided teams into men vs women and everyone had to act out a milestone or answer a question about the b'day boy.  This was a lot of fun too and everyone learned neat things about my son (like first word, favorite food, favorite CD etc).While everyone played games I was able to get the food ready. 

For food we had an assortment of finger foods. I made lots of finger foods for adults and children.  There was a lot of food and variety to choose from.  I also made cupcakes with rubber duckies for babies if they wanted it instead of cake. The cake was adorable, purchased from a local bakery with a huge rubber ducky on it. I went with a carrot cake and got lots of compliments.  My son had his own personal teeny tiny cake with a candle on it.  In addition to sodas for the adults, we had a punch bowl with rubber duckies floating in it.  This was a big hit for the children but adults commented on how cute it was too.  

We also made a Memory Box. We decorated a wooden box (bought from a local craft store) and painted it with blue acrylic paint and tied a rubber ducky ribbon around it. Next to it was a sign that read: Please write a letter to the B'day Boy. He will read these letters when he is 18. We got lots of lovely letters from friends and family. Even some of the little ones who can't quite write yet, dictated their thoughts for us to put on paper. Since it was a really hot day, we didn't plan any outdoor activities, but some of the kids went in the backyard and played anyway. 

After they came indoors they played the "Lucky Ducks" board game (aimed for ages 3 and up).  This game was lots of fun and I set in up in the living room.  By the end of the day all the kids were pretending to be duckies! The favor bags were age appropriate. We included play doh, cookie cutters (plastic), ducky bubbles, coloring pencils, a sucker, and notepad. The notepads were personalised in baby blue and had a rubber ducky on them and read: The party's Over now I'm one, Thanks for coming it ws fun! This was a lot of fun. I loved planning this party and I got lots of nice compliments on it.