Hi there, my DD3 will be 1 yr old in 3 weeks and i hadn't given it much thought as it's DD2's 3rd birthday in 3 weeks and she's been VERY vocal about what she wants!

Seeing it through the eyes of my DD1 who is 4.5 yrs old, she gets a lot of pleasure of watching the home movie we took on our camcorder of her 1st birthday - just opening her presents, even though it was only us in the room (it was 7am!).

We had a little gathering of friends and simple food. Nothing fancy at all and a heartfelt thank you to our friends for sharing the journey over the first year of her life.

Knowing what i'm going through now with a 3 yr old party to organise and a 5 yr old one later in the year, i think at 1yr old, keep it short & sweet & simple.

With the ages of the kids coming, how about a 'picnic in the park' party (saves on having the get the house ready!) or at the botannical gardens if that's close to you. then the older kids can run around as much as they like. You can organise a couple of games like pass the parcel or duck duck goose or a ball/balloon game that the kids can play.