These days, green living has become very complicated. Natural lifestyle is rarely adopted. But, it is very easy to find the products that are derived from nature and can be easily degraded in a compost pile rather than a landfill. Are you planning to throw a green budget-friendly birthday party? Then eco friendly birthday party is the best choice.
Recent cultural minds are disposable and crazy towards consumerism, which made it hard to lead simple lives. Especially when it comes to kid’s parties parents dream to make them a grand event. Try celebrating your kid’s birthday eco friendly and a low waste party.
This article presents tips for throwing an eco-friendly 1st birthday party of your kids. It also discusses eco-friendly decoration ideas and green theme party game ideas.
Tips For Throwing An Eco-Friendly 1st birthday Party Of Your Kids:
There are plenty of eco friendly ideas to use at your birthday party. Here are the few tips for you to go green party.
1. Eco Friendly Invites:
You might think recycled paper might be the best choice towards go green. But, a recycled paper might not be eco friendly. For example, the processes that are used to remove the ink from paper will release dangerous emissions and ends up in landfills. Send E-invites. Make use of apps and websites to create the perfect theme for your e-invitation. Send out the invitations via Email 3 to 4 weeks before the party and send the remainder including the directions to the venue one week before the party.
2. Use Fresh:
Food is one of the biggest sources of wastage at any party. Try using fresh ingredients like the things purchased from the local farmer’s market instead of buying frozen meat or vegetables. Natural ingredients may consume more time for preparation. But, they are rich in nutritious values.
3. Venue:
Your backyard or a public park might be the best choice for your green birthday party.
4. Eco Friendly Decorations:
National environmental agency (R) reports show that the recycling rate started declining in recent days. Let’s took a vow to reduce the burden on the environment with affordable and eco friendly decoration ideas. Instead of hanging streamers, balloons, and banners use the recyclable and reusable things available at your home like cardboard, clothes, etc.
5. Avoid Using Disposables:
Single use paper plates and plastic cups, plastic cutlery are very wasteful. Buy environment-friendly plates, cups and cutlery made from the bamboo.
6. Bake the Cake at Home:
A bakery cake may include a lot of wasteful ingredients. The best way to ensure that nothing goes away is to prepare your own cake at home as per your preferences. You can also effectively use the scraps of fondant and cake by making cake pops for children.
7. Party Favors:
Instead of giving the toys wrapped with plastic packing covers, choose eco-friendly gifts. Does not pack the gifts instead keep them in a cloth bag. You can give the kids notepads, pens, chalks, jigsaw puzzles, and so on. You can also gift them a bag of plant seeds.
8. Sort Out the Trash:
Arrange separate trash bins at your birthday party for mental, glass, paper, and plastic. Your guests will be glad to help you in sorting the trash. Kids feel fun to sort out the trash whenever they find something to throw. You can also engage the kids in trash sorting activity by scattering the trash and asking them to match them to the basket that they belong to.
9. Ask for Environmental Friendly Gifts:
Request your guests to bring eco-friendly gifts instead of traditional gifts which maybe sometimes not useful to the kids. Some interesting eco-friendly gift ideas include donations to charity organizations, adopting rescued pets from a local animal shelters, etc.
10. Plan Green Games:
Entertaining the kids and adults at the birthday party is more important to show them respect. Instead of using balloons, plastic cups for the games try using the available things in the party space like chairs, chalks, etc. Present eco friendly gifts to the winners. You can make the goodie bag with the help of old newspapers at your home.
How Do You Throw An Environmentally Friendly 1st Birthday Party:
You need to think more to throw a green birthday party different from the theme-oriented lavish parties. Here are the few eco friendly ideas for the first birthday to make it simple, green, and unique.
1. Fabric Cloth Decorations:
These kinds of simple ceiling decorations will bring special effects to the party. Ceiling decorations best fit your backyard which is open. You can do this decoration on your own by hanging the fabric cloth from the ceiling.
You can also hang a ceiling light from the center of the ceiling decoration to make it more special.
2. Paper Decorations:
a. Paper Flowers:
This is one of the best DIY Eco friendly birthday party ideas. You can decorate your party space by hanging the paper flowers from the ceiling. Stick a colored bead at the center of each flower. You can also make fans out of paper to hang them from the ceiling.
b. Paper Lanterns:
This is a simple lantern made out of paper with an electric bulb hanging inside. You can change the color of the bulb as per the paper lantern color.
3. Table Decorations:
a. Live Plants:
Place the live plant pots in the center of each table instead of artificial flowers. It brings nature to the party.
b. Rainbow Flower Decoration:
This is a simple and best eco friendly decoration ideas. Place the water-filled glasses with aromatic natural flowers in them. You can also add colors of your own in the water.
C. Candle Decoration:
This is a simple beeswax candle made in the shape of an egg. You can place the wax candle in an empty jam jar or small empty paint can.
4. Pom Pom Decorations:
Unlike the single-use balloons, these pom poms are eco friendly and can be used again and again.
Decorate the party space with the pom-poms hanging from the ceiling. You can also make the wreath from the pompoms that can be hanged in the party space.
5. Glass Globe Decoration:
Decorate your party space with this recyclable glass. Place some natural flowers inside the glass globe and hang them from the ceiling.
6. Acrylic Lights Decoration:
This is one of the eco friendly first birthday decorations, simply hang the acrylic eco-friendly bulbs from the ceiling to celebrate the party with the minimal carbon footprint.
7. Forest Theme:
This is one of the best DIY Eco friendly party decorations. It is a good idea to choose a forest theme for an eco friendly birthday party. Use branches and trimming from the garden to give a good look to your eco friendly party.
You can also have a recycling theme for your eco friendly birthday party with the help of junk or recyclable materials like foil crisp packets, drink cans, bottles, etc.
Go Green Theme Birthday Party Activities and Games for Kids:
1. Painting Pottery:
This is one of the best craft activities for all ages. Make the kids paint the flowering pots. You can also include piggy banks and ceramic plates for painting.
2. Spa Party:
You can also throw a spa party for older kids. Set up your own spa stations with natural ingredients to make face masks.
3. Nature Photographer:
This is the best outdoor game that you can make kids play in your backyard. This game makes the kid sense the beauty of nature.
How To Play:
- Make the kids stand in pairs. Blindfold one of the kid. The blindfold kid is the camera and the other kid is photographer.
- The other kid has to choose the scenery or the thing that he wants to capture.
- Once he/she chooses the scene to be captured they have to bring the camera, blindfold kid, and position them just as they would use a camera.
- The kid has to remove the blindfold in just 10 seconds as the camera savors the beauty of the image.
4.Nature Scavenger Hunt:
- Make a list of natural items that can be found outdoors like red leaf, green leaf, piece of rock bigger than a thumb, some flowers, etc.
- Distribute the list to the individuals and have them spread out to find the items.
- The one who collects the more number of items wins the game
5. Buddy Tag:
This is one of the best group games for the kids that can be played outdoors.
How To Play:
- This game requires at least 6 kids.
- To start the game, one person is IT and the other person is Runner.
- The remaining kids are with their buddy.
- IT tries to tag to the Runner.
- A runner has to link with the pair of buddies before being tagged by the It.
- If the runner links to a pair, then the buddy opposite to the pair becomes Runner.
Some other well known common games to keep the kids entertained at the party are hanging on the trees, rolling on the grass, dumb charades or musical chairs, etc.
With the help of your eco friendly party kids might learn the following things:
- Handmade effort
- Reduce the use of one-time use materials like plastic bottles, plastic glasses, and cutlery.
- Using eco-friendly, biodegradable, and reusable things.
Eco Friendly Party Favor Ideas:
Throwing a party by being environmentally conscious is a tough task. It is rare to find eco friendly things in any party store. If you walk into any party store you will find the bulk of plastic one-time use materials. Most of the Eco-Friendly gifts need to be prepared at home. Eco friendly favors save money and resources.
Here are the few eco friendly party favors.
1. Painted T-Shirts or Bags:
Gift your guests Eco-friendly painted T-Shirts and cloth bags. You can ask your guests to paint them eco-friendly paints or vegetable dyes.
2. Craft Books:
Gift the little one the craft books which help in enhancing their creativity and they come to know how to reuse the things.
3. Homemade Cookies:
Make the chocolate chip cookies at home, pack them in a paper bag, and give them to your guests for attending the party.
4. Growing Things:
Involve your guests in doing their own seed bombs or seed packets. You can plant the seeds in a pot to gift it to your guests. Indoor plantations are also the best choice to appeal to your guests.
5. Chocolate Play Dough:
Chocolate play dough is the better choice to go into the gift bag. You can also add chocolate molds along with the dough. Kids will love to play and eat the dough.
6. Recycled Jewellery:
Wash the old sweaters and fabrics to create adorable cloth barrettes or woven bracelets. You can also make the earrings and bracelets by using the quilling material.
Start helping the environment with your baby’s first birthday. Say no to the things that cause harm to the environment.