Planning a Green Bday Party for Son

[capsgirl08]

Hi there. My son is turning 2 in May and I was wondering if anyone has thrown a "green" party. My thoughts so far are to use reusable plates, utensils, cloth napkins, etc, and we are asking guests not to bring gifts.

What about activities for toddlers that would be fun and not involve plastic or tons of sugar?

Thanks so much for your ideas.

[zoebird]

what sorts of things does your toddler like to do?

for our DS's first birthday, we went to a park (not playground, but nature). i made food, wrapped in paper that could be composted, carried in my usual re-useable containers. food was local and organic.

DS did have gifts, but they came unwrapped because he didn't care, and each was minimally packaged anyway (being all natural and locally attained).

[marimara]

You could always do a craft activity, like painting (finger painting or water colors).

You could get small terracotta pots, some potting soil, some seeds or seedlings and have a planting Spring party.

You could make ribbon streamers (wooden dowels, ribbons) ahead of time and give them to the kids to run around outside and have fun.

Blowing bubbles.

Stuffed animal garden tea party

I'm trying to think of something more typically boyish but I'm coming up blank, I have princessy girl , she would love nothing more than to have stuffed animal garden tea party wearing her princess dress




2 year olds are pretty easy to please, anything would fly by them I'm sure !

[capsgirl08]

Thanks so much! Those are all GREAT ideas! N does love to paint and play pretend. It would just be a matter of having smocks for everyone or just letting parents know we'll be getting messy. Never thought of a planting party, which is very cool, but I did think about sending the kids home with some seeds.

Yeah, we skipped on gifts because the grandparents insist on giving LOTS of stuff that is way more than enough for the year. DH and I considered doing a book swap where each little one brings a used book and then swaps it for one he/she likes. We'd probably provide several extras to the pile so that the choices are more than just 1:1.

Anyway, thank you very much!

[Biscuits & Gravy]

If you need an idea for favors, I gave reuseable snack bags as favors for DS's 4th birthday. They were a big hit!

[talia rose]

my friend did a "pin the tail on the racoon" forest themed game that was really great. Some artistic talent helped I'm sure!

we made our own pinata (great craft fun anyway) stuffed it with honey sticks, smooshed fruits and useful things like pencils instead of silly plastic toys from china...

used reusable plates, ect

[LaughingHyena]

How about home made play dough, it's a hit with pretty much all the toddlers I know. Make a big batch to play with at the party then send each child home with a ball of it.

For cheep rolling pins I've cut wooden broom handles into sections. A little sanding of the edges and you are good to go. I think we got about 6 from each handle.

We have a bubble machine that we bring out for parties, again it has always been popular. Since you will have lots of adults maybe just have bubbles on hand.

For DDs 4th birthday the kids made bread, I made the dough before hand and the kids rolled it and shaped it. We had a quick snack while it cooked and they took home warm bread as thier goodie bag.

We have a set of plastic plates and cups which we use for parties, it seems better to me than paper stuff. We got cheep ones from IKEA and they have lasted several years now.

For decorations I made a felt birthday banner which we can use year after year.