Fun will bloom at your children's parties when you make it a garden gala. It's a special event for children of all ages and it's easier for you than hosting a kid's party in the house. There's less mess and clean up involved and it's easy to carry out the theme. If weather won't permit an outside party, you can still use many of the following ideas to create an indoor garden party.
Plant the Idea
Make out a guest list and get ready for your garden party. You and your child can make simple invitations garden-themed invitations. Take construction paper folded in half and cut out shapes of butterflies, flowers or bugs. Include a notation in the invitation that children should come dressed in “gardening clothes” so parents won’t be upset if they get dirty.
Decorations don't have to be fancy to carry out your garden party theme. Cover the picnic table with a grass green plastic cloth and decorate it with plastic bugs or tiny flowers. A bouquet of colorful balloons planted in a terra cotta pot makes a cute centerpiece. Faux butterflies tied to tree branches with nearly invisible fishing line will add a touch of fantasy to the festivities.
There are many ideas for refreshments that will blend in nicely with your garden theme. Ants on a log, which are actually celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter and dotted with raisins, are nutritious appetizers and frozen berries and grapes are cool and refreshing treats. Green paper cups filled with chocolate pudding topped with Oreo crumbs are the perfect place to plant some gummy worms and make great edible decorations at each place setting.
A caterpillar cake is sure to be a big hit with your young guests and is easy to create. On a jellyroll pan or a sturdy piece of cardboard, make a curvy line of cupcakes covered in green icing striped with yellow icing. M&M’s make perfect eyes and pieces of licorice whips topped with a ball of icing are jaunty antenna. Place gumdrops at the sides of each cupcake and his many feet are suddenly visible. The ideas are numerous when you take time to give it a little thought.
Harvest the Fun with Garden-themed Activities
There are almost as many ideas for garden party activities as there are plants in your garden. Depending on the age of the children, activities can range from pinning the bee on the flower to painting their own flowerpots. Each child can then fill the pot with soil and plant a flower in it. Flower face painting, with a bloom on the cheek and a bee on the nose, is always a popular activity or you can create a simple flower ring toss. Just fill a clean plastic two-liter soda bottle with no labels with water and add green food coloring. Cut several flower shapes from colorful fun foam you can buy at the hobby store. Cut a hole in the center of each flower and let the kids see if they can toss the blossom on to the soda pop stem.
A garden scavenger hunt is always fun and it costs you nothing to create. Give each child a bag and a list of things to find in the garden. The list could include a pinecone, a white rock, a brown leaf, a feather or an acorn. Look around the yard and see what might be simple for the kids to find and add it to the list.
Letting your kids have a garden party is an easy way to increase their love of the outdoors. The happy memories of the good time they had will always make a smile blossom on their faces and you will know you have planted one more seed of love in their hearts.
Delores Baugher - Dee Baugher, more formally known as Delores E. Baugher, is a freelance writer who lives in Kokomo, Indiana. She is interested in a wide ...
