A friend of mine said she always struggled to find things her children wanted to do for their birthday. Options can be quite limiting if you didn’t want to have a soft play party! This is why Play & Bloom has launched Woodland Parties at our Forest School site in Charisworth Farm, near Blandford.
The ethos behind these parties is to create environmentally friendly birthday parties for children under 8 years of age, as well as providing nature education for the participants.
Play & Bloom aims to be sustainable and environmentally friendly with all the services it provides, and the parties will be no different.
Planning a children’s party can seem a really daunting and stressful affair, and then trying to be environmentally friendly as well can be overwhelming. Below are 6 ways to be more sustainable. You do not have to do all of them, even doing one or two will make a huge difference to the amount of waste created from a party.
1) Venue: When choosing your venue look at the venues environmental impact. Do they use single use plastic? Is it a big building that has a high energy expenditure? Choosing a small and local company may mean they have a smaller carbon footprint and is more likely to fit your eco-conscious ideals.
2) Invites: Ask yourself if paper invites are necessary or would an email or text message to parents work just as well? This is FREE and parents are less likely to lose the invite! One less thing to clutter the fridge too! If you do want to send a paper invite, can you make the invites yourself? Getting the birthday boy or girl to design their own invite is also a lovely idea and can get them involved in the planning process.
3) Number of children: Inviting your child’s whole class to the party can seem a bit too much! That’s a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of hyperactive children to keep entertained, all meaning more waste. Keep the number limited, a good rule of thumb recommended by Jen Gale (author of The Sustainable Living Guide) is the age of the child plus one. So if the child is 6, they can have 7 guests to their party.
4) Decorations: It is lovely to have a themed party based on your child’s interests. But these interests can change each year, meaning you may only get one use out of the themed decorations. Look on Freecyle or Ebay to see if anyone is selling a ‘job lot’ of whatever theme you are looking for. You will be surprised at how much you can get second hand, much cheaper. Avoid things that only have a single use, this includes balloons, plastic cutlery and paper plates or plastic table cloths.
Bunting or pom pom garlands are great decorations and can be re-used! Click on the link to see how you can make your own bunting or pom pom garland. Get the children involved too! Alternatively the Party Kit Network has a directory of suppliers all over the U.K where you can hire everything from plates to decorations for a party. If you are in Dorset make sure you check out Perfect Party Boxes.
5) The Food- Keep it simple. Children are far too excited to eat properly at parties. Jen Gale again recommends having something substantial like hot dogs followed by a big bowl of fruit. Simple, low cost and often means there is less wasted food at the end.
Remember, if everyone did a little to help the planet then it would make a big difference.
Further reading:
‘A Sustainable(ish) Living Guide’- Jen Gale
How To Give Up Plastic - Will McCallum
Recycleandplay- Instagram
Interested in a Woodland Party for your child? Contact faye@playandbloom.co.uk