Birthdays: toddlers and preschoolers Birthday celebrations for toddlers and preschoolers can involve a fair amount of planning. It can be daunting as the guest list expands and you worry about cake and decorations. But don't worry, your child is not expecting a 'perfect' occasion!

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What does it mean? The present

The celebration Party checklist

By the age of two, your child may be fairly vocal and able to understand the basic idea of their birthday, if you explain it to them. By three to four, your child will enjoy looking at their baby photo album with you and hearing about the story of their birth.

Older children may be aware their birthday is coming up for quite a while in advance and may start 'pestering' for certain presents. See Tackling 'pester power' for more information.

Toddlers and preschoolers enjoy toys that rock and move, things that they can build (and knock down!) and cuddly toys. Age-appropriate present options include soft teddy bears, bricks and blocks and first train sets.

Following are some tips for a terrific toddler party:

Holding a small, morning or afternoon celebration - and plan to keep the running time short.

Keep numbers small. You may like to invite your child's friends from playgroup, nursery, or preschool, as well as family. Five to seven children should be more than enough. This will also depend on how much space you have and what you can afford.

Think about a theme for the party - this may be your child's favourite colour or much-loved character from a TV show or film. You can reflect the theme in invitations, decorations, food and party games.

Make a tape of your child's favourite songs to play.

Plan some activities for the children - visit the CBeebies website for more party game ideas.

Enlist other parents to help you run games.

Keep food simple - finger food is best.

Your child may have ideas about what sort of birthday cake they would like, but don't get too stressed about providing the 'perfect cake'.

Save the food and cake until the end of the party, and you won't need to give out party bags!

• invitations
• decorations
• finger food
• birthday cake
• paper plates and napkins
• tapedeck/cd player and selection of favourite songs
• camera and plenty of film
• party game supplies
• present

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