Lots of parties are centered around the characters found on Nickelodeon, like Dora, Diego, Blue, or even Yo Gabba Gabba. Why not do something a bit different and pare it down; celebrate Nickelodeon itself at your child's first birthday party!
There are tons of downloadable invitations that you can find on the Nickelodeon websites. Choose from one of those or create an orange splat of your own and put your child's name there using a similar font as Nickelodeon's. Put in the party details and get set to have fun!
Decorating around the orange splat is easy, since you only have two colors to deal with: orange and white. To add a bit more interest, use two shades of orange, a dark and a light. Set balloons in dark and light orange and white around the party area. To make it look more Nick-like, change the strings to silver ribbons. Anchor the balloons in slightly off-beat things, like a metal tub filled with plastic or rubber balls. You can even use the baby's washtub and fill it with bath toys. Be ready to step out of the box with the Nick decorations!
You could set up a child's wading pool and fill it with large plastic balls for the children to play in. A bubble machine in the corner is a great idea, with a fan beside it going on low to get the bubbles farther. Suspend orange and white paper pom poms from the ceiling and intersperse that with clear acrylic balls hung like bubbles at different heights. You could also suspend streamers from the ceiling using clear and orange cellophane strips to give a twist on the familiar.
The kids' table is simple to set up but a bit-off tangent again. A plain white tablecloth makes the perfect background for orange splats you can cut out from card and use as placemats for each place setting. Top the placemats with white plates and utensils. Layer an orange and a white napkin together and tie it up with two shades of orange ribbon. In the middle of the table, set up a “dry fishbowl:” use an acrylic fishbowl if possible and fill it up about a third of the way with white, yellow, and orange sand to look like sand art. Cut out twisty coral shapes from orange card and put in details with orange glitter pens. Set a few white rocks and stand the corals between them to keep them upright. You're done!
The cake table should have a white tablecloth too, but an uneven shaped orange paper topper. Use an elevated cake stand for the birthday cake and surround the cake stand with your party favors. A great and simple cake to have would be an orange creamsicle cake covered with white fondants and decorated with dark and light orange splats.
You can keep the party menu simple too. Macaroni and cheese make a typical Nick food, and does plain cheese pizza and octo-dogs. Served with veggie sticks, chips, and a dip, your menu is complete. For dessert, fruit chunks in a watermelon shell are a different and exciting treat. Add a few Pop Rocks to your orange juice to make it fizzle while they're drinking.
Nickelodeon-themed favors could be jelly orange slices, a pack of big kiddie crayons, and a water pistol.
By the way, Nickelodeon Kid's Awards may be all about getting slimed,
but this isn't a good idea for young children since it may be quite
scary for them. Reserve the special effects for your kids when they
get older.