Is your little cub turning one this year? Celebrate this milestone birthday in a beary special way — a teddy bear first birthday party! With help from teddy bear boy party supplies and teddy bear girl party supplies, as well as the tips below, you’ll be ready to pawty!
Invitation
- Your guests will know they’re about to have a beary good time when they receive a sweet Bear’s First Birthday invitation in the mail. Blue for boys and pink for girls, these invitations feature an adorable bear hugging a 1 so your guests know that this is your baby’s first birthday.
- On the invitations, ask each guest to bring his or her favorite teddy bear!
Decor
- For decor, start with all of the party basics. Bear’s First Birthday balloons, tissue paper fans, banners, and centerpieces are a great starting point for your party decor. Embellish these bear-patterned decorations with coordinating solids, such as streamers and helium balloons. Check out our pink bear party options for girls and our blue teddy bear party options for boys.
- Now it’s time to add your DIY touches. Fill the party area with bears-galore! You can find inexpensive stuffed bear animals at most dollar stores. Set the bears wherever you can find room for them — on tables, the floor, and on chairs. An adorable touch is to tie helium balloons to the stuffed bears’ paws. It will look like the bears are holding balloons!
- Another cute and adorable centerpiece is to have bear honey bottles and honey jars in the middle of tables. Accent these with small vases of wildflowers. At the end of the party, let the adult guests take some honey and wildflowers home as a practical and thoughtful favor!
- You can also go au naturale with your decor by turning your party space into a woodland wonderland. Cover your walls with large sheets of sky blue paper. Then use construction paper to create a forest floor, trees, and critters like rabbits, owls, raccoon, and bears, of course! To match, use natural elements like pinecones, tree stumps, and faux moss.
Food
- For a boy’s bear first birthday party, set up a picnic for your guests. Stage it outside if it’s nice or inside if it’s chilly or raining. Lay out blue gingham picnic blankets and serve your guests “cubmarine sandwiches,” “pawsta salad,” and “pawtato salad.”
- For a girl’s teddy bear first birthday party, set up a pink and frilly tea party. Serve the guests and their bears juice (for the kids) and tea (for the adults). Make tea sandwiches to eat! Kids will love peanut butter and honey or cheese tea sandwiches on fluffy white bread. Give the adults more grown-up options like cucumber and egg salad.
- Boys and girls alike will love Bear Trail Mix made of Honey Teddy Grahams, Honey Nut Cheerios, pretzels, raisins, and chocolate chips. And everyone will get a kick out of “beary salad” made from strawbearies, raspbearies, bluebearies, and blackbearies!
Activities
- As your guests arrive, give everyone – bears included — a name tag. Have each child tell you the name of his or her bear. Take photos of the children with the bears and send printed photos out with the thank you notes.
- For entertainment, stage a live reading of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Make it extra entertaining by creating a stage and making it a puppet show. All of your guests — babies to adults — will adore this!
- Send the kids on a Honey Hunt by trailing bear paw prints made of card stock around your house and yard. Send them through loops, twists, and turns and at the end have a large honey pot full of surprises! Some fun ideas are Bear’s First Birthday bear ear headbands, candies, and even mini bear stuffed boys.
We’re sure you have ideas, too! Be beary nice and share them in the comments below.