What better way to get everyone looking forward to Spring than to have a gardening party! In this article, you’ll find step-by-step tips, tricks and planning ideas to help you through. It’ll be like tiptoeing through the tulips!
Scheduling: The best times for a party is 1 to 3pm or 2 to 4pm as there is no need for a full meal as children rarely eat much at parties other than cake. Whichever time you decide on, the most important point is to determine and stick to an ‘end time’ to your party. Wrapping up your party before you, your kids, or your guests become worn out will ensure its success.Guest list: The traditional guideline for the guest list is if the birthday child is under age eight, invite as many children as the child’s age. E.g. 4th birthday = 4 guests. However, you may find it just doesn’t work with your family or group of friends. Don’t worry! Your party will still be a success. You will just have to plan carefully and have a few adult helpers to keep the party organized and the activities moving along smoothly.Invitation: Be creative. Send a mystery package of seeds to each guest in a small envelope. On the outside, write the pertinent party information: time, date, RSVP, etc. Make sure there is no mention of what type of seeds they received. As each guest comes to the party - if they guess which type of seed you sent them - they win a prize. Don’t count on the guests remembering to bring the seeds with them; keep a list of who got what. You might want to mention on the invitation to wear something they don’t mind getting a bit dirty.Venue: This one could get a bit messy in your home – if it’s too cool to do outside. If you spread a plastic table cloth out on the floor and give everyone their own container to work in (e.g. dishpan size to hold soil and flower pot) you can just wrap up the table cloth at the end and throw it in a handy garbage can. Otherwise, you could look at renting a room in your local community centre. You may need to book your venue well in advance, so make sure your reservation is secure before you send out your invitations. Menu: Some fun and healthy, theme-related snacks would include fruits and vegetables; a trail mix with different seeds, e.g. sunflower, pumpkin (with an allergy warning, of course); gummy worms/bugs; and other finger foods served in plastic or terra cotta flower pots as well as juice to be poured from a watering can (new and clean, of course!). Open-faced sandwiches cut with a flower-shaped cookie cutter and spread with different colors of cream cheese (strawberry, blueberry) is a fun idea and a bit more substantial snack.Décor: You can use fresh cut flowers in little vases, potted plants, watering cans, etc. Use blue streamers to look like the sky and a big cluster of yellow balloons to look like the sun. You can get mini flowerpots to put each guest’s cutlery in and a bigger one to hold napkins.Activities: The theme of the party is the activity. You can purchase cute terra cotta pots and paints at most budget stores. Start by letting each child design their own unique flowerpot. If you use water-based paints and the pots are left outside, the paint will wear off due to watering/rain. To help prevent this, you might want to use a spray varnish to seal them once dry (an adult should do this part). Once the pots are decorated, give each child enough soil for their pot and a flower or vegetable plant or a seed to plant. You can talk about what plants need to grow (water and sunlight).There’s a good action song by Raffi called,Now, you’ve got a theme and you’re ready to go. And with this step-by-step party guide, it’s a walk in the park.
Tami is one of the partners in Fun-In-A-Box Canada. The themed activity kits contain everything
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