Party Ideas the 1/2 Year Birthday

Informal play dates are one way to celebrate the half birthday.

Half birthdays are marked by the mid-point between birthdays and are usually calculated by taking the month and day you were born and adding six months (round up to the first of the next month if it falls on a day that doesn't exist). Half birthdays are reasons to celebrate--especially for babies and small children. Celebrate the sixth-month milestone and other half-birthdays with a party or informal get-together.

Decorations

Decorate just half of the room. Decorate in half dozens--six balloons, six half-birthday signs. As an alternative, get a large happy birthday banner or sign and cut it in half, hanging just half of the banner.

Cake

Create a "half" cake by baking a cake in a large round or oval cake pan. When the cake is cool, cut it in half. Frost the top of one of the cake halves and stack the halves on top of each other to create layers. Frost the rest of the cake and decorate as desired. As an alternative, decorate a cake with a large "1/2" or write half a birthday greeting on the cake "hap birth" and half the name. You can also purchase a cake at the store and cut it in half. It will be really obvious that it is cut in half since it won't be frosted on one side. Serve that half first and bring out the other half if necessary.

Gifts

Guests are generally not expected to bring gifts to a half-birthday party, but parents may want to celebrate their little one's milestone with a small gift like clothing or a new toy. You can also choose a gift that keeps with the half theme, like a half dozen flowers or balloons.

Food

Continue the half theme with your food. Serve half sandwiches, or cut pizzas in half, displaying half at a time. If you are planning a half-birthday cookout, grill hot dogs and hamburgers, cutting them in half before serving--guests would enjoy this since they'll get to have a taste of both. You can also halve fruit like melons or pineapples and fill them chicken salad.

References

• Halfbirthday.com