Themes, Games & Places For Toddlers Birthday Party

Organizing the perfect birthday party for a toddler can be great fun if you get it right, but a complete disaster if you get it wrong.

From planning activities to a venue, you can make sure your toddler has the best time, and things run smoothly throughout the party. Avoid screaming party guests wreaking havoc by choosing fun games to keep them entertained.

We've got some of the best ways to create a party room in your home, and all you need to know about  choosing party packages over organizing birthday parties by yourself. With our top picks for kids birthday party places, and some yummy food, you can celebrate your little one's birthday as the host with the most. Whether you prefer indoor or outdoor parties, and whatever your budget, these fun, cheap and even free ways to celebrate will make planning birthday parties as fun as the actual birthday parties.

For more fun birthday ideas, check out our guides to 6-year-old birthday parties and first birthday party food.

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If you're struggling to think of kids birthday places, these great party venue ideas will help you give your two-year-old the best birthday possible.

At Home

Why It's Great: Sometimes with party venues, it's best just to keep things simple, and that means keeping your party in your house. This limits the overwhelm of a birthday party and eliminates any traveling for guests to an out-of-the-way venue. Not to mention the cost of this venue: it's absolutely free.

How To Do It: The last thing you want is to end up with total carnage and sticky candy mashed into your carpet, so it's best to limit an at-home party to one or two rooms of your home. Remember to hide away anything you don't want tiny guests getting their hands on.

Indoor Play Park

Why It's Great: If you don't mind a little bit of extra cost, then indoor play venues can make perfect birthday party places. With helpers on hand to look after kids and party packages available, hand the planning over to someone else and relax on the special day.

How To Do It: Research any nearby indoor play spaces that fit your budget cost, and reach out to ask about their availability for parties. You might be able to hire a private party room, and have the party catered, there are usually different packages to suit all sorts of parties. Invite kids to come along and let them run wild and free (ish) while grown-ups might even get the chance to have a cup of coffee and a chat.

Choosing a theme for your child's birthday party means you can create a truly special day. If you pick a theme that covers everything from party favors to cake, it takes the stress out of planning, and is sure to impress your party guests.

The Circus

Why It's Great: Bright colors, animals, clowns and face-paint: you can't beat a circus theme for an exciting birthday party theme. So many activities and ideas spring to mind when you think of the circus, which makes it such a great choice for any birthday kid.

How To Do It: Decor is key for a circus theme. Make your party space instantly recognisable with colorful cones, banners, tassels and balloons. Go the extra mile with a dress up theme and face-painting for some adorable birthday snaps, and make sure to include a circus themed cake.

Jungle

Why It's Great: At this age, children are learning all about the exciting animals of the jungle, which makes it the perfect party idea. From games and activities to animal party favors, this theme can easily make one of the best birthday parties for your toddler.

How To Do It: Transform your party room with paper leaves and vines, with animal face helium balloons peeking through the foliage. A jungle themed cake and leafy paper plates are easy to get your hands on, and children will love playing animal charades and sleeping lions.

Under The Sea

Why It's Great: This is one of our favorite party packages because it's so widely available and includes all kinds of ideas. From mermaids to dolphins, there are so many creative creatures to add into your under the sea games and decor.

How To Do It: Twisting blue and green crepe across your walls and ceiling will make for an instant transformation for birthday party venues. Cut out paper fish and dot them around the room, and let kids take turns at bashing a dolphin-shaped piñata. This fun theme is one of the best for planning food; why not add jelly worms as tentacles to make your cake look like an octopus?

These indoor birthday party places for toddlers are great for the colder months of the year. If your little one is born in winter then don't worry, our ideas for home parties include some fun ways to celebrate while the heating is on.

Treasure Hunt

Why It's Great: Keep every child occupied without too much structure by creating a treasure hunt for them to look for around your house.

How To Do It: Leave clues and chocolate coins hidden around a room or two of your home, and give each child a treasure map to help them look for the treasure. This treasure can just be a decorated shoe box filled with toys and candy, and we recommend planting a couple so that little ones can take turns sharing the glory of uncovering the bounty.

Party Stations

Why It's Great: Toddlers tend to get easily distracted, so by setting up a few different party stations, you'll be able to keep each child busy enjoying the party. This is one of our best indoor party hacks, because it takes the pressure off and lets you celebrate your child's party with a little less stress.

How To Do It: Set up a few activities like a block station, crafts and mini ball games, and have a couple of grown-ups man each table. Let children take part in the games and activities, and guide them to the available tables when one gets over-crowded.  

Play Dough

Why It's Great: A play dough party allows guests of all ages to get stuck into making and creating at a low cost to you.

How To Do It: Cover your party room with plastic sheets to protect any furniture, and place balls of play dough at different tables around the room. It's a good idea to buy some fun easy tools for kids to play with, and you can even use plastic toys for kids to make imprints in the dough, and whatever else you have available.

So you've chosen a theme and ordered the cake, what's next for this special birthday? Getting the party activities right is a delicate art, and can often be make or break as to whether your party is one of the best or one of the worst. What are you actually supposed to do with the kids once they arrive at your party? These party ideas for two and three-year-old's birthdays will keep children entertained and hopefully help you avoid any disasters.

A Costumed Character

Why It's Great: If the idea of playing host for a bunch of excitable three-year-olds sounds like something you won't be volunteering for any time soon, then a costumed character could be a great activity choice for your child's event. Meeting their favorite character in person will make your child's dream come true, and a professional costumed character will be a master at holding kids' attention.

How To Do It: Depending on where you live, there might be different costumed characters available, so it's a good idea to check this out before promising your toddler someone specific. Once you find and book your entertainer, they will come to the party and take over the festivities.

Bounce House

Why It's Great: A bounce house makes for a seriously fun party, and the jumping has the added bonus of tiring kids out. Time this kind of party right, and your tiny guests will be just about ready for a snack and a nap, then you can ship them off with grateful parents and avoid any tears.

How To Do It: A bounce house is easy to order, just book one online and it will be delivered straight to your yard for your party, and inflated for you. It's really as easy as that!

Bubble Party

Why It's Great: If you don't have a huge budget, then bubbles are the way to go. They have the magic ability to hold the attention of children for hours, and they definitely don't cost as much as your standard party fare.

How To Do It: It's pretty simple, just order a ton of bubbles online or hire a bubble machine for the day, and let children run around popping them throughout the party.

Face Painting

Why It's Great: Face painting is a novelty that doesn't come around all that often when you're two, and the transformation will be so much fun for little ones to experience. Kids will have such a great time becoming their favorite animal or superhero, you probably won't even need to entertain them with much else.

How To Do It: If you're artistically inclined, you might want to take on the task of face painter, but we think it's a lot easier to enlist some eager family members or grown up friends to take on the role. Print out five or six ideas for children to choose from if they need ideas, and let them take turns being decorated.

Our favorite part of birthday parties has to be the food, and these tasty child and parent friendly ideas will make sure your guests can tuck into some delicious treats. Don't worry, we know you're busy, so we've made sure that these recipes are super easy and quick to whip up.

Animal Shaped Sandwiches

Why It's Great: Jazz up some boring sandwiches by cutting them into animal shapes for a cheap and fun way to highlight a jungle or animal theme.

How To Do It: Just fill your sandwiches with some favorite fillings, we love egg and cress, avocado and cream cheese, grated carrot and ricotta or creamed corn. Once your sandwiches are filled and finished, use animal shaped cookie cutters to shape them into all your favorite animals.

Healthy Ice Cream

Why It's Great: Ice cream is a total crowd pleaser for kids of all ages, and an easy dessert that tastes delicious. Our slightly healthier recipe means avoiding any sugar crashes and giving kids a healthy snack, even when they think it's a treat.

How To Do It: Slice bananas and lay them on a baking sheet in your freezer for two hours until slightly frozen. Put them into a blender with around 1 cup of milk to every 6 bananas, and 1 tsp of vanilla essence. Once the consistency is smooth, transfer to a container and freeze your ice-cream again for three hours, and it will be ready to serve.

Mini Pizzas

Why It's Great: Finger food makes the perfect toddler party snack, because a child can run around and play without getting too hungry. Mini pizzas are a delicious crowd pleaser that are low cost and easy to make, and kids of all ages are bound to love them.

How To Do It: To make things easier we buy pre-made pizza dough, but you can easily make your own. Roll into circles that are around 4 inches wide and a quarter of an inch thick, and spread with tomato sauce and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. Get inventive by adding other toppings like sliced ham or pineapple for some extra fun.

If you found this article all about parties helpful, then why not take a look at our guide to planning a baby shower for daddy or these October birthday ideas?