Because it's important to take care of our planet for our children, I thought I would write this blog post to help you plan an earth-friendly birthday party for your child this year. You will see that it's easy to take steps and reduce your carbon footprint also for this kind of event. Let's look at all the steps that you need to think of when organising a birthday party.
The invitations
You can either print your invitations on recycled paper, or even better send them electronically. If you have a design already made you can send them by e-mail or whatsapp, or design one yourself on a website like Canva which has lots of designs and fonts to choose from. Another great option is the website Evite which allows you to manage easily the design, the guest lists, and even the reminders.
The decoration
Try using things that you have around your house to decorate for the party or borrow stuff from your friends. This will help waste less. You can add paper banners or aluminium balloons that are reusable, colorful paper straws, tablecloths made with a colorful fabric, real plates with glasses in different colors, glass jugs of water, big drink dispensers filled with bright juices.
You can also use leaves, flowers, or branches to give a natural and earth-friendly touch to the whole thing.
The food
You can start with making the cake from scratch yourself (with the help of your child) to avoid unecessary wrappings.
Try to buy the rest of the goodies from a grocery shop that offers plastic-free and responsibly sourced products (popcorn, candies, fruit etc)
You can also make homemade smoothis that you can serve in mason jars with a paper straw. It's easy to make with a blender, you can for instance check these smoothie recipes for inspiration. You can also fill some jugs with iced tea or water infused with mint and lemon or other fruits.
And why not prepare some individual desserts in small cups or dishes ? Also try to offer some fruits.
And at last try to buy local, in season and without plastic wrappings if you can. And cook as much as you can yourself if you have the time !
The party games
A great idea would be to organise a game that helps the children think about the earth and how to take care of it. It can be quizzes or a treasure hunt for instance to help save the earth.
You can also have the children make something that they can take home after (this will be their party favor). It can be soap, or a painting, or a ceramic, or a bracelet, or a magic wand depending on the theme of the party.
If you can, try to use what you have at home for the games. It can be a puppet show with teddy bears (hiding behing the couch), or a quizz around food tasting (with blindfolded kids), or a soccer match in your garden or in a park.
The presents
Let's talk first about the presents your child will receive. You can perfectly ask for eath-friendly presents in the invitation, I have seen it done before. Here are a few suggestions if people ask for ideas : invitation to spend time with your child, wooden toys, second-hand games or toys, gradening set, earth-friendly and ethically sourced clothes etc.
Regarding the party favors that you will give to the guests, try to find edible things to give, or things that will be reusable. Try at all costs to avoid plastic little toys that will end up in the trash sooner or later ! Here are a few ideas : a card game, something that the children will have made during the party, something useful (pencil pouch, glass water bottle for instance), a small present bought from a charity, a plant...
At last, you must think of the wrapping of the present. You want them to be as earth-friendly as possible. Think of reusable fabric bags, recycled paper, newspaper or even a cute glass jar with a lid. It can look very nice as shown in the picture below. There is even a japonese way to wrap presents with fabric that's called furoshiki, you can learn more about it in this video if you like !
I hope this blog post will help you plan an earth-friendly party for your child's birthday. If you need help for your party games and decoration, you can visit my Etsy shop..
Don't hesitate to comment below with your suggestions, it could help other parents !
Thanks for reading 😊
