First Birthdays are pretty awesome. Not only are you celebrating a birthday, one that changed your life forever as a parent, but you’re also marking off a year well spent and survived. As we all know, parenting is really hard. As soon as that baby comes out you begin to worry about the future you’re going to provide for them and the values they will pick up from you as a role model. Will they be like me? Will they be ambitious, creative, or even intelligent a little bit? Whoever they are and whatever they want to be when they grow up, my husband and I decided we would put a premium on giving them their best chance at success.
My husband and I met in college. We both accredit college to being the most impressionable time in our lives for shaping who we are today. Under all circumstances we loved it. It was the favorite time in our lives. Moreover, we appreciate that our parents gave us the opportunity to go…
College is important {obviously} and it is getting more expensive by the day. In 18 years from now who knows how astronomical tuition will be? With that in mind, we both decided that the best gift to give each of our sons on their first birthdays would be a College Savings Account Party, or as I call it, A Penny Party.
When the boys were born we opened them each a 529 College Savings account through Edward Jones. We chose this plan because, hey, they might actually decide not to go to college, so we could be flexible with the money in the account. We aren’t pressuring them to go if they decide not to… but if they do want to, they’ll have some means to attend. {This is not a post selling 529 Accounts, I’m not an affiliate in any way, this is about the party!}
How to plan a Penny Party
What does a one-year-old really need? Clothes they’ll outgrow? Toys they’ll mature out of in months? Sure, grandparents did gift some fun things because after all, it is hard to resist spoiling your precious grandbaby… and we’re grateful for that. But, we tried to inform guests {we actually only invited immediate family to their first birthdays because we really didn’t feel comfortable asking friends to bring him money} to bring lots of pennies instead. We also prepared ourselves by bringing home bricks of pennies from the bank weeks ahead in case anyone brought cash or needed to exchange, or just remember to bring any.
Choosing your THEME
College. College was the theme I had to pull off. For Cash I did an Oregon Duck theme, University of Oregon Penny Party. We both went there and met there… so let the brainwashing begin right? GO DUCKS! Anyway, I couldn’t repeat that again for Wyatt so my challenge was on….
Still leaning in the Go Ducks direction I settled on the iconic movie Animal House {filmed at U of O!} and a toga party. Our invitations told everyone to wear a toga and they did! Which was really fun.
Penny Games
What does everyone do with the pennies they brought? We this year, now that I had toddlers running around, and we were inside {cannot toss pennies through the air, bouncing all over the floor as choke-bait} I had everyone cash-out for poker chips. I set a value for each color. This also made it much easier for people to drop in cash.
Fill the KEG
I used a plastic container to resemble a keg with the campaign “Fill the Keg” to inspired money deposits, Cha-Ching! I decorated my table with prizes: 5 x 7 framed pictures of the birthday boy courtesy of Auntie Supreme Kelsea Joann Photography. Who doesn’t want a picture of the charming Hooligan as a prize?
I made up score cards and we were off and playing.
The Games
Trying to stay college themed but also, use the poker chips I chose a lot of tossing games. A poker chip on the floor is better than a penny!
- Chip Flip- Stand back and flick your chips into cups for points
- Chip Puck Chuck- Like shuffle puck, slide your chips along a table into a triangle for points
- Ante Up- Stack chips as high as you can in a minute
- Send Him Packing- Toss chips into scored buckets in a suitcase
All games were very easy, minute to win it style games. Even the toddlers could play if they wanted to… especially the suitcase one!
Make your Own Pizza Buffet
Obviously, the meal of choice had to be pizza! I bought a ton of mini Boboli Pizza Crusts from Costco and made a make your own Pizza Bar. We {fortunately} have a double oven, so while people were playing games and rotating around, we had 4 mini pizzas in the oven at a time. This format made everything much more laid back and casual rather than Cash’s party where I had a big spread of food out at a specific time. Animal House theme you know? Kick back, relax… it fits. I made the Animal house banner out of a pillow case, toga scraps and iron on letters. Please note the Pizza Menu Options… Mariota and Belushi were my most clever moments of the party….
Cake Smash
I’m not too big into the whole Cake Smash thing, but you have to do it… I set Wyatt up on our Mess Mat with the Candle Pictures strung up over him. Every month since birth I had taken a growth picture with him and a birthday candle. So you could see his progress from the last 11 months. We also went outside for some balloon pictures in his DIY COLLEGE blue shirt.
Party Planning
We know we can’t ask everyone to bring money every year for their birthdays. However, we thought that this was a fun way to earn some money for a great cause, and pass over one year of blinky toys and more clothes. {Not really, though} Their next birthday parties will be normal, friends, family and superfluous amounts of toys I’m sure. This was our way, our plan, and our priority. We thought it was clever and fun. We also raised over $1,000 for each boy on their birthdays, for COLLEGE… I certainly didn’t need that amount spent on toys that would end up in a garage sale in a few years! The gifts from this party will help him the rest of his life. No matter where life takes him.
I actually do plan parties like this often… I run and own Green-Eyed Girl Productions. You can see more Party ideas HERE.
Happy party planning!
