Sustainable Kids Party Ideas

Keep invites digital to reduce waste

Birthday party invites are a crucial detail you’ll need to think about when you start planning your sustainable kids party. And if you want to keep everything as green as possible, digital e-invites are probably the best way to go. 

All of our party packages come with themed digital invites, so half the work is already done for you – you’d just need to get the contact information for your guests (or their parents) and send them out in plenty of time. 

There is one issue with e-invites: it takes away some of the fun. Kids enjoy handing out physical invitations to their friends at school, and if you’re just WhatsApping them to parents, you’re removing this step in the process. If you’d like the best of both worlds, you can print sustainable party invites on recycled or biodegradable paper to limit the environmental impact they’ll have.

DIY sustainable kids party bags

Party bags are a great way to keep the fun going long after your party ends, but typical party bags are filled with plastic toys that don’t tend to be eco-friendly. 

Creating sustainable kids party bags involves a little prep, but it won’t require you to completely overhaul your plans. Keep the following tips in mind to leave your guests feeling satisfied while also being kind to the environment: 

• Use paper or recyclable bags: While typical party bags are housed in thin plastic, using paper or recyclable material helps to keep them eco-friendy. You could even enlist the birthday child to colour or draw on the paper bags prior to the party, so each of them has a personalised touch. 
• Include seeds and natural gifts: While seeds might not seem like the most fun gift when compared to a colourful plastic toy, they’ll often produce much more enjoyment in the long term. Picture this: a month after your party, your guests are watching their own sunflower grow (long after a cheap bouncy ball has been lost down the sofa!). 
• Regift toys: If the birthday child has lots of toys they no longer use, this is the perfect opportunity to find them a new home (the toys – not the child!). It could be a fun activity for you to sit down with them and sort through which toy would be best for which guest, and your guests will feel more appreciated if their interests have clearly been thought about. 

Reuse decorations where possible

When planning a sustainable kids party, decorations are one of the easiest ways to go awry. Paper plates that will go in the bin after one use are commonplace, as are plastic decorations that’ll be thrown away once the party ends. 

Instead, try these eco-friendly ideas that will avoid unnecessary wastage: 

• Borrow decorations from friends and family: It’s unlikely that you’re the only parent throwing a kids party this year. If you know parents who have children of a similar age, ask them if you can borrow certain decorations to cut down on buying the same kinds of things. You could even offer to go halves on buying decorations, as you’ll both benefit from them. 
• Create your own: Instead of a fancy pre-bought plastic table covering for when your guests have lunch, you could cover an old table cloth and equip everyone with colourful, washable pens. Now, they get to unleash their creativity while you keep everything eco-friendly. 
• Keep things minimalistic: If you’re throwing a very themed party like a Halloween bash, you’ll likely want to include spooky decorations to set the scene. If you’re throwing an outdoor football party, however, do you really need lots of excessive decorations? It’s likely that your guests will remember the fun and games they enjoyed, much more than what colour streamers you put up in the morning.