Celebrating sustainably and stress-free: 7 great ideas for eco-friendly kids´ party

It's that time of the year again. Your little one's big day is coming up and their eyes are already lit up in anticipation. We want to give our little ones the greatest day ever, but in a way that is friendly to the environment. Today, we share our best tips for a sustainable children's birthday - without any stress or last-minute shopping, but instead 100% sustainable and creative. 

Here are our ideas for sustainable inviting, decorating, gifting, and celebrating, to make it a fantastic eco-friendly kids party!

© Orbasics

1. Invitations done differently

The birthday begins with cards and envelopes that end up in the bin shortly after. Nobody really collects them and when it comes to a kids birthday, the invitations come from the parents and not the little ones. So why not do something completely different? Record a video of your child personally inviting her or his friends to their eco-friendly kids party. It's quick, absolutely sustainable, saves you time and what's best: the invited child can watch the invitation before learning how to read. So cool!

Photos (f.l.t.r.) by Karolina Grabowska @ Pexels and Gabby K @ Pexels

2. The ideal time for an eco-friendly kids party

Children's birthday parties almost always take place in the afternoon. But why is that actually? Moms and dads of smaller children in particular know how hyped up they can be in the evening. Winding down after an exciting birthday party is very challenging when there is still so much to talk about.

Let's just move the party to the morning! And celebrate it in a laid-back style on a weekend. If the birthday falls on a weekday, you can celebrate in a small circle on the day itself and do the second part at 11am on a Saturday. After a bit of fresh air, you can serve lunch, followed by cake. This way, everyone has time to settle in, wind down and you have the chance to calmly remove the mess and relax from the day in the evening. Sound relaxing? Well, it is!

Photos (f.l.t.r.) by Polina Tankilevitch @ Pexels and Ketut Subiyanto @ Pexels

3. These activities will make boredom impossible

Now that the overall plan for the big day is clear, let's talk about the most important thing: making it the funnest day of the year! Here are our three activities to make it the best eco-friendly kids party:

1. Batiks - From old to new: Every child brings an item of clothing that they can upcycle to create a new piece of clothing for themselves. With natural colors, batik becomes a child's play.
   
   
2. Natural bingo - Spring or winter, this game is always a winner. It combines outdoor exercise with the urge to discover and will even make adults jealous. Under this link, you can find a great description for how to set up an awesome game of natural bingo.
   
   
3. Growing vegetables in egg cartons - For this activity, you need to collect enough egg cartons in advance. At the eco-friendly birthday party, each child plants small kernels and seeds into their carton. They will begin to sprout after a few days and give a lasting memory of the sustainable kids' birthday party.

4. Long-lasting decoration and new traditions

What if we completely rethought childrens birthday decorations? In such a way that it is more sustainable and remembered longer than the actual present? Let’s turn decorations into a fun ritual! Instead of throwaway confetti or plastic garlands, let's create birthday traditions that last for many years:

• Painting a fabric garland yourselves.
  
  
• A fabric birthday crown that grows with the child.
  
  
• The Grimms birthday ring, which can be added to with numbers, animals and colourful plugs every year. These can be used by each of our children (and us adults of course), with a guarantee to be remembered. 

By the way, you don’t have to completely make do without colourful balloons or confetti. Simply use biodegradable balloons made from natural latex as an alternative. If you want to go crazy with confetti, you and your kids can easily make some with dried flowers and a holepuncher. Or you can use old newspapers and other scraps. By the way, our absolute favourite is plantable confetti, guaranteed to be a hit at every eco-friendly children's party.

Photo by Ylanite Koppens @ Pexels 

5. Love goes through the stomach

When it comes to food, preparing everything ourselves means knowing what's inside and therefore saving waste. For kids, you can never go wrong with finger food - it's easy to make for us parents, can be super healthy and offers a lot of different choices. On Pinterest, you can find tons of inspiration for delicious eye-catchers. Ready-made sausages on paper plates are quickly forgotten when you serve small tasty waffles and fruit sticks.
Speaking of paper plates - it is much more environmentally friendly to go with normal dishes instead of single-use materials, even if it creates a bit more work after. For a truly eco-friendly setup, consider using a reusable cotton tablecloth instead of disposable ones, enhancing both aesthetics and sustainability.

To relieve the stress of preparation, ask your parents, neighbours and friends if they can take over some of the cake-making. On the side, you can serve muffins made in reusable muffin cups instead of chemically coated, disposable molds. What’s not to love about that?!

Photo by Karolina Grabowska @ Pexels 

6. A goodie bag that makes a difference

Giving your guests a little gift is another great way to make it an unforgettable eco-friendly kids party. Usually, these gifts consist of individually wrapped sweets and a small plastic toy that lands in the bin soon thereafter. Those types of gifts are not sustainable at all and will be forgotten about quickly. Ask yourself: what should the present from my sustainable birthday party be used for? 

Ideally, it is a lasting reminder of a beautiful day and strengthens the bond of friendship. But how? There are a variety of sustainable gifts that children can make themselves at the eco-friendly birthday party and take home with them as souvenirs. You can place glasses with pearls and matching cords on the tables, so that the children can make necklaces for themselves. A great opportunity to spend nice time together whilst making yourself an individual souvenir. 

7. Sustainable presents when your own child is the guest

And last but not least, here is our idea for being eco friendly when your kid is the guest at a children's birthday. Let’s be honest, our kids tend to already have everything they need really. How about giving presents based on the motto “time instead of things”? Because you can really never have enough time together. You can give the birthday kid a voucher for the zoo, followed by unlimited ice cream. This way, they already have their next date set up where they will hang out!

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But enough said, now it’s your turn! We wish you lots of fun planning, inviting, decorating, making and gifting! Hopefully, our tips will bring more sustainability, fun and creativity to your little ones next birthday party! And let us know in the comments below if you have any other ideas for an eco-friendly kids party! 

If you want to find out more or if the next birthday party is still a while away, here’s some more inspiration for you:

•  Here are some ideas for sustainable gifts LINK
• A sustainable theme party LINK
• Less waste through sustainable gift wrapping LINK
• 5 Tips on throwing a party with less waste LINK

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