Green-Theme-Birthday Planning
Eco-Friendly Birthday Parties

A green-theme-birthday is simple but fun. Start new green-birthday-traditions for the good of the environment in your home.

"Of all the birthday-themes out there, just what is a birthday with a green party theme?"

I would have asked myself that sometime ago.

I've been the regular route, and I'm sure you have too.

Look Familiar?

Tons of sugar in the food

Pop cans, pizza boxes, candy wrappers
Latex-balloons

Cheapo double-plastic packaged party-favors

Mountains of paper plates and cups

Plastic tablecloth (never to be seen again)

Styrofoam cups

Paper napkins and plastic utensils

Gift-wrap, bows all over the place
Not to mention 10 half-eaten wieners and buns

All of the perfect ingredients for a kid birthday party and
two more garbage bags for pickup.

Did I complain? Not really. Armed with the green
garbage bags, clean-up was a breeze.

Sound familiar too? Hardly an eco-friendly-birthday party by any means.

HOWEVER, times are changing.

As adults, we have become more and more concerned about our environment. We tend to look to the kids of today as the leaders of tomorrow for the answers.

And while they unknowingly carry that burden, we try to make their immediate surroundings as enjoyable, pleasant and as much fun as possible.

Afterall, they're still kids and one thing kids do look forward to, are birthday celebrations. Especially their own of course.

You can put on an earth-friendly celebration for your child, and not stress over it.

If you are in the midst of teaching your child all about carbon footprints and how NOT to leave them, this may not be too difficult afterall, when thinking in terms of creative party theme ideas.

Invitations

Save a tree. Use recycled paper like old magazines, wrapping paper or newspapers. Get the kids to design and make them. They will be unique, and it encourages their creative spirit for planning a green-theme-birthday party.

There are alot of creative programs on the internet to check out. If you aren't handy and have a teenager in the house, they will know! Email them out.

Actually, there are some great free printable party invitations online that download and print nicely. I tried a few out. They come in a variety of party themes. Check out the Printable Party Invitations here.

Gifts

It is perfectly ok to request no gifts, if that is what you want to do.

Or, you can ask that everyone bring something to donate to a local charity or organization.

You can ask for something small like a gift certificate for an ice-cream or something of that nature.

You can request that it not come excessively wrapped, rather wrapped in a reusable cloth bag, or newspaper or something like that.

With all of the gifts, you can choose to play a game.

Let everyone choose from the pile, and take something home themselves. Especially with little ones, this develops a sense of sharing and that everyone at the party is special. Kids go home with a better sense that it was THEIR day too.

Activities

This can be stressful. I had a little girl look up at me once and say "Isn't there anything else to do?"

Amazing, the power of a 5 year-old.

I always found that the outdoors was the answer.

It doesn't have to be elaborate. Plan a trip to the Park.

Kids just love to play together on the swings or on a slide.

Pre-arrange a treasure hunt while you are there. Kids love the challenge of looking for things.

Fall activity? Take a nature walk; talk about the leaves changing colors. Have them gather some to make a craft with.

Let them help or watch you fill bird feeders.

Close to Thanksgiving or Halloween? This is a great opportunity to provide an easy craft for kids to do, like coloring a picture, or making something pertinent to the season to take home.

If unexpectedly indoors, always provide materials they can use to make something to take home with them.

Winter activity? Let them play in the snow. Make a snowman as a group. Go tobogganing, and finish it off with some hot chocolate inside.

I do realize very well that some ideas may not be suitable for every age group. Some ideas may seem juvenile for older kids. But, younger children are like little sponges.

They love to learn, and they like things that appeal visually. So, whatever activity you are doing, make it an attempt at providing a little education to go along with it.

A successful green-theme-birthday party takes full advantage of the season, by utilizing the natural events of that season to make things interesting, fun, and educational too.

Is there something going on locally that you could attend as a group? An exhibit perhaps?

Take pictures at the party. Later, send everyone theirs by email for their family to keep.

Decorations

What? No balloons? Well, if you must, how about only a few weighted down as a centre-piece on the table.

Balloons are actually treated with a multitude of chemicals and they aren't good in the landfills either. You may want to consider using tissue paper, japanese paper balloons, or streamers that can be used over and over again.

Use a decorative sheet for a table-cloth or a regular linen one that can be washed and used again for the next party.

Look to nature for your green-theme-birthday decorations especially in the summer. Flowers from your backyard will do just beautifully.

Different colored leaves and pine-cones in the Fall would be perfect.

Have an assortment of different colored linen napkins for green-theme-birthday parties as well as dishes and mugs.

You can get dishes and mugs at a thrift-shop, or you can simply buy them to use just for parties. A light plastic is ideal for repeated use. In other words, they won't be going to the garbage. If you have enough, assign each child their own cup and plate by color for something different and so everyone isn't mistakenly sharing dishes.

If you do use disposable plates and cutlery, look for ones that are 100% recycled, or of high recycled content, or biodegradeable.

You can make a pinata as your main decoration, and fill it with whatever you like.

The pinata is not only cool to look at, but it provides that extra fun activity too.

Food If you want some degree of what kids expect as "junk-food" you can make your own pizza or burgers. You can control what's in them that way. But, also...

Make a lovely display with a variety of fruits. Kids generally love that stuff if it's just put in front of them and displayed nicely.

Choose organic and local fruits and veggies and chop them up.

For drinks, serve smoothies or fruit juices. Perfect choices for green-theme-birthday party. Better for them anyway!

Give your Health a Flavor with our Smoothies Recipes

Smoothies And Health

Try an organic cake recipe. You can make it from scratch or buy a mix.

I wouldn't worry that they would know the difference. There are no-fat yogurts out there that people swear are real ice-cream.

You may even choose to make cupcakes and let your kids help make and decorate them too as part of getting ready for their party.

You can use soy candles for the cake as well.

The Dreaded Goody-Bags

Why are these so difficult to fill?

Always had a problem with these. They can be costly too, when buying for a number of kids. But, all the more reason to fill them with something meaningful, simple and at the same time fits right in with your green-theme-birthday party concept.

Here are some ideas - a small craft like a planting kit, seeds for planting, a small book, baked healthy goods, or soy crayons.

How about a mug with their name on it? A reusable container
for their school lunches? The moms will love that.

For adding sparkle to every occasion, visit Pink Heaven Party Ideas .

CLEANING UP

Have recycling boxes ready and get the kids to gather up anything that can be recycled or composted.

This sneaks in a valuable lesson on the subject as well as helping you at the end of the party. There shouldn't be too much clean-up from a green-theme-birthday party.

For many of us looking back, a green-theme-birthday wasn't something we were used to having.

You may worry it won't be much fun, as other creative party theme ideas out there. Remember, you can attach any birthday themes you want to your child's birthday party.

The bulk of the green-theme-birthday idea is really only the base, which provides the overall lesson in looking after the planet, using what you have, sharing with others, being thrifty and saving money too.

Kids today need to learn these things from an early age.

Kids are kids and they make a lot of their own fun. And also the party isn't usually an all-day thing. It's only for a short time, but you can cram a lot of learning into that time and have a great time doing it.

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