Our unique first birthday hiking theme party ideas

Our little girl turns one the end of November. In Ireland, the weather can be cold and wet at that time of year so we planned to have her party indoors. We all love the outdoors so my plan was to bring the outdoors inside.

Here are our top tips for planning your Hiking themed Party:

1. Decide weather you want a big or small crowd.
2. Make one room a child-friendly play area with chairs around the room for parents to sit and relax while watching the children play.
3. Decide what type of food you are going to serve and also have a healthy snack table for the young toddlers like-

• Chopped up Strawberries,
• Bananas
• Yoghurts
• Organic baby biscuits

I ordered a Keepsafe box with her name on it and writing that said;

”TIME CAPSULE 2017 To be opened on your 18th Birthday xxx”

The Time Capsule was a great talking point at the party, all the children and adults wrote our little birthday girl a letter and message for the future. I read the letter her nanny (my mother) wrote and it brought tears to my eyes, it will be so nice for her to have it in years to come.

I put little keepsakes in it like my bracelet that I wore on my wedding day, a mini china teapot that was her great grannies, along with other special keepsakes.

On the table beside the Time Capsule, I had a picture from her ‘cake smash’ photoshoot and I had left finger paints beside it so all the guests big and small left their fingerprint and signature around the picture. This is now framed in her bedroom and it looks great.

Also on the table, I had a vintage Polaroid camera that I got for my wedding day and props, so everyone took pictures and stuck them in a book for her when she is older.

Top Party Games at Our Babies first Party

OurlittleHiker was too young to fully join into the party games but all her nieces and nephews got a great bit of craic out of games. Ourlittlehiker loved being involved in it all even if she wasn’t participating.

• Treasure hunt
• Pass the parcel
• Pin the tail on the Donkey
• Musical Statues
• Hit the pinata
• Simon Says

Top Tip with Pass the parcel- As there were so many age groups ranging from 1 year old to age 12, I had to try to get presents to suit all age groups. So I wrapped up the presents individually with a clue stuck on it so if a baby pressie landed in the hands of an older child they would read the clue to figure out who the parcel belonged to. For example, I wrote a clue on it saying ”pass this toy to the youngest boy” They had fun trying to figure out all the different clues.

Baby Party Decor- Hiking Theme

We decided to do an outdoor camping theme indoor party (slightly confusing but you get the idea). As people came in our entrance hall they were greeted by big teddy bears having a picnic with signs saying ”Don’t feed the bears” and ”Beware of Bears” As you pass through the house I had a sign up saying ”Campside ahead” We drew our own signs and also printed signs off  from the internet to save money.

We had a picnic area in one corner near the table with the Time Capsule.

In our playroom, we had a Teepee, a pop-up tent and a pretend felt firepit and marshmallows. I bought the firepit, stones, logs and toasted marshmallows on sticks from Esty. It came from a shop called Oxonworkshop https://www.facebook.com/oxonworkshop/

I also printed out all our hiking pictures from our adventures and hung them across the windows. It was a great talking point for the adults and it really complemented the Outdoor hiking theme kids party.

Teepee

Her nanny and grandad got her a lovely Teepee for her first birthday with her name on it. She loves playing and hiding in it and Crawling in and out and bringing her toys in it, all her older cousins loved it as well.

We bought it from https://www.teepeesbyluluandweasel.co.uk/

The Indian camping themed party bags I bought in Mr.Price, it is like a discount store and I filled them with little toys and goodies for the children to take home with them.

First Birthday Cake in Hiking Theme Party

We always buy our cakes from a very talented lady that lives nearby. https://www.facebook.com/Yummy-Cakes-220846548047805/

We asked her to make hiking figures of us and she did a great job. She had Ourlittlehiker in her hiking bag on her dads back and I had our hiking mascot, the flamingo in my hiking bag. We loved it and have kept it safe in a box along with our wedding cake toppers she made and also Ourlittlehikers christening cake topper.

As you can see from the above picture, I reused decorations I had for her christening like the table cover. I loved the colour of it and its a good way of saving money. I also used our outdoor camping fire pit to store crisp packets in, Our pink measuring scales held the party blowers, So its a great way to get creative and reuse stuff that you have already to help your party decor.

Baby Friendly Birthday Cake- Sweet Potatoes Brownie CupCakes;

Our friend is a great dietician and she kindly made loads of these healthy cupcakes out of Sweet Potatoes for the babies to enjoy. They all loved along with the adults as well.

Food at a Kids first Hiking theme party

We made different types of sandwiches and desserts for the guests to nibble on, we also had healthy baby pasta dishes made for the younger children. Then we got a fabulous takeaway from our local restaurants. We got chicken Curry, Beef Stroganoff, Rice and Chips. Everyone served themselves and it was nice and relaxing as there was a total of about 35 people at the party.

Overall we had such a fantastic day and night. It is such a special time to celebrate the 1st birthday and its a great way of getting family and friends together. I Hope you found this post helpful and remember to relax and enjoy the day as well as its also a celebration of surviving one year of parenthood.