Eco Friendly Birthday Party Ideas

After recently attending a 5 year old's birthday party, a family friend shared some secrets to throwing an economical, eco-friendly bash, that's sure to make the kids and parents happy.

Mrs. B has two children-a boy and a girl.  For her oldest, the boy, she made flag garland to hang outside the house out of scraps of fabric and string.  She has used the same decoration now for 3 years.  She kept the colors and patterns simple-nothing themed, so she can reuse them every year.  For her daughter's 1st birthday, she decided to do the same thing, but with more feminine colors and she plans to hang these each year as well.

Photo courtesy of Sparkle Power

Mrs. B's house is right across the street from a neighborhood park.  She has utilized the playground (free of cost) for her son's birthdays, however decided this year, due to a more active child and his more active friends, not only would they use the park, but she would set up an obstacle course in her backyard with items that can be played with over and over again.  They had a hula hoop ladder, bean bag throw, and soccer ball dribble.  They also purchased a moon jump for less than $200 that they plan on using for their daughter's next few birthdays.

This moon bounce can be purchased at Walmart for less than $200.

Paint this board over and over to fit a new theme-courtsey of Pam-a-rama ding dong

Dribble the soccer ball thru the cones via The Soccer Essentials

Hula hoop hop via Learn, Play, Imagine

After the kids have worn themselves out, they go inside the house for homemade cupcakes and are sent home with a simple paper bag with some yummy sweet treats.

By timing your event effectively, you can avoid having to serve big meals items.   For example, schedule the party for late afternoon, so that you don't have to serve heavy meal items like you would during lunch and dinner hours. Instead, opt for simple snacks like trail mix (be careful for nut allergies among the children), chips and dips, and simple finger sandwiches for the adults.  Or schedule it during the late morning hours and serve bagels and doughnuts.  

For more birthday and green birthday ideas, check out our Pinterest board-Birthday Parties.