Throwing a Green Party for Preschoolers

Throwing a Green Party for Preschoolers

There are many ways to throw an eco-friendly preschool party. Go beyond the princesses and superheroes, and get back to nature.

Themes

• Any animal-related theme will do. Puppies, kittens and ponies would be three popular choices. Or, branch out beyond the usual to animals you find nearby, such as foxes, raccoons, hedgehogs and so on.
• You could also make it all about animals you find at the local zoo or farm. You could host a party at the zoo, or ask the farmer if they would host a party and if they had any animals to pet. As long as it isn’t harvest time, they will probably say yes.
• You could get the children to help plant a garden using seeds or seed balls. The ideal time for this is spring. In the autumn, they could help plant bulbs.

Activities

• Since preschool children are so young, it’s important to plan a range of activities to keep them busy. There should be a mix of quiet activities with more active ones.
• For quiet activities, coloring pages or printables based on the theme of the party should be available for them to color and take home. Have crayons and colored pencils.
• Animal stickers and sticker books are also a great idea. Dover Publications has small ones for less than $2 on a number of animal themes. They would make a great party favor as well.
• You can also look up puppy or kitten stickers on Amazon to see the range available.
• For more active ideas, you could have a pin the tail (or ears, etc.) on whatever animal/s you are focusing on.
• You could also do an animal treasure hunt, with clues that lead up to a (stuffed) animal in the “jungle” of your garden. Use small stuffed animals or toy animal figures and let each child have a turn at winning and taking their prize home with them. You can buy Beanie Babies and animal figures in bulk online.

Going on (Camera) Safari

Set up the stuffed animals and go around the room or garden “on safari”. Tell them a bit about each animal and its habits. Get them to pose with their favorite “animal” and download the pictures and print them out. You can have a record of a great party you can share with friends, family and partygoers online, and they can take home a copy as a party favor.

Arts and Crafts

• You could hire a person who makes balloon animals using biodegradable balloons. You could also give them modeling clay or homemade Play-Doh in different colors so they could make their own animal figures.
• Let them make a birthday card with an animal theme for your child, or a place mat for their table they can then take home. Have plastic pockets on hand to slip their drawing or coloring page in and help them write their name on it.

Animal Face Paints

Get a set of hypoallergenic face paints and choose animal designs.

Storytime

There are dozens of stories and fairy tales featuring animals. Get them to tell some of their favorites. Buy a couple of illustrated Aesop’s fables, and tell the story from one as you pass around the other so they can see the pictures. Or buy different ones and vote on which pictures they like best.

Green Awareness

Explain to the children about green issues and how it is a green party. Have them throw away their own trash, help with recycling (clean) items and so on. It’s never too early for them to learn and it helps you deal with the mess.

There are numerous ways to teach young children the importance of being green. Start them young to help keep our planet clean for generations to come!

Until next time!

 

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