How To Organize A Fun Eco-Friendly Children’s Party

With the current pandemic situation, it’s a bit sad how the usually large parties in the past have been cut down in size. Smaller and more intimate parties are now more common than ever before. And if you’re planning to hold an upcoming birthday party for your little one, it’s only natural to gather some pointers and insights early on. 

One party theme that’s getting pretty popular these days is making your children’s party a sustainable one. These parties require more straightforward preparations with relatively lower costs, and the best thing about it is they’re environmentally friendly. At the end of the party, you and the entire family feel happy, contented, and guilt-free.

Take a look at some ways to organize your children’s party to be more sustainable: 

1. Save On Gift Wrappers  

You should recycle or reuse packaging when wrapping birthday presents for your child or another kid. You can also share this idea with your guests, as they might be thinking of gifting your child some presents. Encourage everyone to reuse paper bags from stores and boutiques instead. You can even use cloth bags. For instance, if you’re thinking of purchasing an environmentally friendly t shirt for your child, wrapping it with recycled gift paper makes it even more sustainable.

Moreover, you can use newspaper, recycled paper, or colored pencils to decorate a 100% recyclable wrap. These are little efforts that are still green. When your kid receives glittery bows and ribbons, ensure to keep them, so you can reuse them when you need to wrap a gift for someone else.  

2. Hand Out Sustainable Party Favors 

Today, one green initiative for many families is to make sure you choose eco-friendly party favors for your children’s party. Their production and consumption should be ethically sourced and have a small environmental impact. There are limitless ideas for kids’ party favors, such as recycled crayon sticks, handmade wooden animal figurines, or tote bags that kids can use for their toys and stuff. 

Simply make sure these goodies catch the interest of your child’s friends and guests. Whether they’re toys, crafty materials, or other things with a purpose, the key is to source them out in an environmentally friendly manner.

3. Simplify The Invitations 

Guests should be informed when and where the party is, along with any other relevant information. Therefore, it’s essential to send out invites. However, it’s best to steer clear of printing paper invitations so that you can save trees. It’s time to bypass the traditional invites and go for greener alternatives like the following:

E-Invites

There are electronic invitation apps and websites today that offer free or paid services for sending digital invitations. They come with various themes and templates to choose from. They can be sent via email or personal messages online.

Call

The simplest way to invite friends and families is through a direct call. This is a perfect strategy when you have complex instructions or expectations to convey. You can have the person confirm through text or call if they can’t decide on the spot.

Text 

Another easy method is to send out chain text messages to all your guests. Include all the information about the party and send it by phone or online. 

4. Organize Simple But Fun Games

Fancy games that use electricity and other resources are unnecessary if you have an eco-friendly party for kids. Choose old-fashioned games instead. You can organize fun and simple games, like scavenger hunting, obstacle races, or hide and seek. Better yet, you can allow all the kids to simply just run around and have fun outdoors. Kids can discover, explore, and create endlessly through nature and outdoor games. You can allow them to play out in the sandbox too. 

Children tend to entertain themselves most of the time, especially if they can go outside during the party. There are countless options for your kids to play and kill time. What’s important is that they enjoy each other’s company. The key is to occasionally monitor their activities to ensure no one gets injured or does harmful things.

5. Think Of A Green Venue 

Children should feel connected to nature in today’s digital age. With the pandemic limiting time for people to go outdoors, it’s safer to hold a party outside once your city or region allows it. Some eco-friendly ways to have a children’s party outdoors are hosting it at a nearby park or renting out a party space somewhere in the mountains. Since these venues are naturally windy and lit, you don’t have to use electricity at all.

The key is to monitor the weather and ensure a suitable temperature on the day of the event. If your kid’s birthday happens to be during winter or colder months, you can have the celebration in your house or somewhere indoors. This way, you can control electricity usage and maximize the available resources. 

6. Rethink Your Plates And Cutlery 

Doing dishes is something most people dread. However, if you want to be more eco-friendly, you need to ditch the disposable plates and cutlery. Go for real plates, spoons, forks, and glasses. Another way to avoid washing dishes is to serve finger foods. Your guests can dig in and enjoy their meals with their bare hands. Just make sure there’s water and soap for washing their hands after. 

You can even provide toothpicks as an alternative to forks for fried foods. It’s best to cut them into bite sizes, so your guests can easily manage them with toothpicks. Furthermore, there will be less food waste since food proportions are small. As a result, you’ll enjoy the event more and save a lot. 

7. Forego Goody Bags 

While it was pretty common to prepare goody bags in the past, it’s something that you need to reconsider this time. These bags are usually filled with candies, chocolates, plastic toys, and so on. If it’s not really necessary, you can skip these favors and focus on other alternatives instead. 

Why not invest in actual experiences for the kids instead? You can hire a clown or a magician or set up a craft bar for everyone to learn new tricks and art. Another lovely idea is to encourage kids to create their own birthday gift with your craft bar. Elevate the activity by turning it into a friendly contest. This will allow the kids to up their game and use their creative juices more. 

The memories of these activities are far more precious than any of the goodies they’ll find in a plastic bag. 

8. Be Mindful Of Food Leftovers 

The problem with food waste begins when you don’t know how many people will attend your party. But on the contrary, dealing with a shortage of food is even worse. Therefore, it’s crucial to get an estimate of your guest number. When preparing the party food, consider the right portion sizes. Estimate how much each guest will likely consume the food you serve. 

Find out how many adults and how many children will attend. Make a plan for handling leftovers if your guests aren’t very hungry. One way is to pack little ‘doggie bags’ for the guests to take home. This is a thoughtful and sweet gesture that saves food from being wasted.

Putting out all the food at once is another excellent idea. Refill plates as you go. Leave the excess food and extra portions in the fridge, and you can reheat them only when the food displayed is already finished. 

9. Reconsider Your Decorations 

Sometimes, parties accumulate too much rubbish because of the decor. It’s best to reformulate your decorating strategies. For starters, don’t use balloons. The balloons will not only end up in the ocean, and the helium they use for inflation has been in short supply recently. You can take out the existing toys of your kids and decorate the room with them. This allows your kid’s guests to have fun and play together. 

If you really want to display banners and other decorations, you may opt for sustainable alternatives like cloth banners. There are also wooden decorations that allow you to reuse many times at other parties. Try to invest in reusable party decor. This way, you can pass it on to your neighbors who are planning birthdays, so they can reuse and buy less as well. Many green-themed party concepts require simpler decorations, so check them out. 

10. Shop Locally 

Planning a party that’s eco-friendly means considering where your food comes from. Even sourcing out supplies can be done in an environmentally friendly way. Your food will take less fuel to deliver to your home if you shop locally at a grocery store or visit the local farmer’s market. Consider the dishes that are healthy and greener.

To give your party a healthy twist, you can incorporate a lot of plant-based and vegan-friendly dishes. Prepare tasty vegan snacks for kids too. The best thing about going for local supplies is that the flavors are more delicious because the produce and ingredients are all fresh. 

Conclusion

Making your child feel special and celebrating their most special day of the year is what truly matters during birthday celebrations. It’s not about fancy decorations, luxurious party favors, or expensive presents. With the eco-friendly tips mentioned above, a sustainable children’s party will be as great as a lavish one. It’s best to cut costs, avoid wasting essential resources, and make the most of what you currently have.