Garden Party Ideas - Childrens

A beautiful flower garden is the perfect place to host a variety of occasions, especially a child's birthday party. There are a lot of themes that are well suited for a garden. And there are a lot of ways to incorporate a theme and enhance the natural beauty of the venue.  

Themes - Children's Birthday Party

Children, particularly little girls, love flowers and everything frilly and fragrant. For the little lady who is interested in all things feminine, the garden party is the perfect solution. There are a lot of themes that will couple brilliantly with the garden setting.  Here are a few popular ideas. 

Alice in Wonderland

The timeless children's tale of the sleepy and curious girl, Alice, who falls down a rabbit hole is a fun and festive theme with a garden setting.

Invitation

There are several iconic symbols associated with Alice in Wonderland. You can use these symbols to create memorable invitations for your child's party. 

• A deck of cards -  The Queen of Hearts is a major character in the story. Consider ordering a personalized deck of cards to use as an invitation for an Alice in Wonderland party. You can order a deck for cards for around $20 from companies such as Shutterfly.  The standard deck of cards will come with a personalized back which can be created with an image and text inviting guests to the party. 
• A clock - Don't let your guests be late for a very important date by creating a memorable invitation. Use a clock theme to display party details. You can pick-up inexpensive watches at dollar stores to attach to a printed invitation or you can use clock clip art to create a custom invitation.
• Read Me Please... - You can use a generic store-bought invitation and can make it more theme specific by simply printing a quote from the story on the envelope.  "Read Me' is a famous line from the story that is perfect for this themed party. Hire a caligrapher to white this statement on this envelope to add a touch of elegance and whimsy. 

Decorations

Enhance the garden setting with some Alice in Wonderland specific decor items.

• Large playing cards - Create large playing cards out of large pieces of foam core, which can
  
  be purchased at dollar and craft stores. Draw and paint the Queen of Hearts image on the foam core. You can also create other cards.  Then lean the large cards against tables or trees or suspend them with invisible thread from tree branches. 
• "This Way, That Way..." Sign - Create a rustic sign out of rough wood that is in the shape of arrows to greet guests. Write the famous words from th ebook, "This Way," "That Way," "Wrong Way," "Go Back," and "Tea Party" on them. This is a  great decor piece to place at the party entrance and to help direct people to the specific location of the festivities. 
• Large Clocks - Find, buy and borrow every clock you can find. The rabbit in the story provides us with a very famous quote:"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date" and clocks are the perfect way to represent this. You can also cut circles out a card stock and foam core and paint your own large clock faces to use as decor pieces. 

Food

No party is complete without some refreshments and marrying the theme to the food makes the party extra special.

• Tea - Alice was invited to tea with the Queen of Hearts, so serving a variety of teas in a logical drink choice for an Alice in Wonderland themed party. Serve the tea in beautiful, china cups and offer a variety of flavors. If you are inviting younger children who might not like tea, consider serving lemonade from a pretty teapot. 
• Food Embellishments - No matter what types of food you choose to serve, from cupcakes to cake pops, you can embellish them with playing cards or labels that say, "Eat Me" to help tie in the theme.
• Other Beverages - No matter what beverages you choose, you can help tie the theme in through custom tags and  labels. Create cute little tags that reference the story by stating "Drink Me" to hang from the necks of glass bottle sodas or water bottles. You can also create custom labels for your drink of choice by removing one and measuring it. Then create a custom label in a graphic program that can be printed, cut and glued to the bottles.  Consider printing, "Drink me to Grow Smaller" and "Drink me to Grow Bigger" on the drinks to reference the drinks that Alice had to consume in the story. 

Activities

Party games is a great way to keep children entertained and theme specific activities will show guests that you have put a lot of thought into your party. Always provide adult supervision for party activities and games.

• Hat Decorating - Provide guests with plain, white paper top hats such as these from Discount School Supplies, and some paints, ribbon, sparkle and silk flowers so guests can create their own fun and festive party hat.
• Croquet - A game of croquet is a great way to engage a group of children. A standard croquet set is sufficient, but consider finding or painting a set in your theme colors. 
• House of Cards - Provide a deck of cards for each guest and ask each one to create a house of cards. This activity is best done if there is no breeze that could potentially blow the house of cards down. You could also create teams to create the house of cards. Award a prize for the guest or team who creates the best house or give each participant a gift. 

Fairy party

Whimsical and mischievous little fairies are popular with young children and provide a perfect theme for a garden party. Choose a specific, popular fairy or choose to feature generic fairies.

Invitations

• Scrolls - Create a rustic looking invitation by printing the party details on light parchment paper and roughing up the edges. Roll the invitation and tie it with twine and finish it off with a fresh green leaf.
• Fairy Wand - Print the party details onto card stock and cut it into a heart or another fun shape. Then glue the shape onto a painted dowel stick. Add ribbon and some glitter to create a fairy wand invitation. 
• Tiny Print - Create an invitation suitable for a fairy by using a small, but legible font. Use a size five or six size font for a great effect. Then roll the paper into a scroll and tie it to a magnifying glass (available in the party favor aisle). 

Decorations

Fairy parties can be enhanced by theme appropriate props and decorations.

• Tree Door - As fairy enthusiasts know, most fairies live in the woods, Find a flowering tree in the garden and attach a cute little door to the truck. You can create a door out of wood or foam core by cutting out a door shape and painting it. Don't forget to attach a small Styrofoam door knob. Attach the door to the trunk of the tree by resting it on the ground and securing it with duct tape. Create a circle with the duct tape so the sticky part is out and put it on the back of the door and press firmly against the tree. 
• Fairy Houses - Create an activity station for little party goers by covering a table with a delicate table cloth.  Then fill the table with small bird houses and provide brushes, paints, glitter and glue, stickers and even some silk flowers. Invite guests to paint and decorate their own fairy house. Once the houses have been decorated, you can hang them from trees or set them on tables as decorations. By the time the party is done, the houses should be dry and ready guests to take home.
• Fairy Wings - Buy fairy wings from a dollar store or party supply store. Hang the wings from trees with ribbons to create a festive look.  You can also attach wings to the backs of chairs and allow the guests to remove them from their chair and wear them at the party. 

Food

Even fairies need to fuel-up, so provide your guests with yummy and theme appropriate goodies.

• Miniature Menu - Serve mini treats to your guests to enhance the fairy theme. Frost Cheerios or another "O" shaped cereal, add sprinkles to create mini-donuts appropriate for fairies' small hands. You can also serve mini-pizzas made from Ritz crackers with a little tomato sauce and some cheese on top or slider burgers, Serve food on small doll sized plates. Be sure to have other, full sized foods, available to satisfy hungry tummies. 
• Sugar Cookies - Serve butterfly and flower shaped sugar cookies. Embellish the cookies with pink frosting and edible glitter (available at baking supply shops).  You can also allow guests to decorate their own cookies which will create an activity for guests.
• Fairy Wands - Use skewers to create fairy wands to enhance the theme. Stack cubed fruit such as watermelon and other melons, strawberries and grapes on a skewer. You can add a star shaped kiwi or flower cut from a watermelon on the end. Use caution when serving skewer food to young kids.  You can also create a fairy wand from a cake pop, shaped Rice Krispie treat or by dipping a straight pretzel in frosting and adding sprinkles. 

Activities

Parties are usually full of fun and fanciful activities. Create some memories by involving your little pixies in some fairy games.

• Fairy Wand Station - Provide dowel sticks that have been painted white and some fun foam shapes. Allow the guests to glue a shape to the end of dowel or for younger children, have it done before the party. Have glitter, ribbons and other embellishments for the children to decorate their wands.
• Capture a Fairy - Let the guests capture their own fairy to take home as a favor.  Buy small fairy dolls or find some fairy stickers and mount them on card stock and cut around the perimeter. Then use clay or Super Glue to attach the small fairy doll or cutout to the inside lid of a jar. Add some small, artifical flowers, a little glitter and some greenery to the scene and then put a jar over the top and screw on the lid. You can tie a ribbon around the neck of the jar or glue the lid on should you choose to do this. 
• Fairy Obstacle Course - Create a maze or obstacle course fit for a fairy in training. Set-up various stations that the guests must go through in order to complete the maze. Possible stations ideas include blowing bubbles, sprinkling pixie dust (glitter), and jumping rope with vine of artificial flowers. The person who can complete all the tasks in the shortest amount of time could win a prize. 

Peter Rabbit

Peter Rabbit, the lovable character of Beatrix Potter books, is a perfect theme for a garden party. A Peter Rabbit theme can be used to celebrate an event for either a little boy or girl and is popular as a first birthday party theme.

Invitations

Give guests an idea of what they have to look forward to at the party with an inventive invitation.

• Bunny Shape - Cut white paper into the shape of a bunny and print the party details on the paper. You can enhance the invitation by putting cotton balls or a white silk carnation as the tail.
• Cards - Create an old fashioned looking postcards featuring the image of Peter Rabbit. Find the images on stickers at gift shops or online. You can also blank cards online such as these cuties from the Beatrix Potter shop, 
• Book Pages - Buy an inexpensive copy of the Peter Rabbit story and use the pages as invitations. Pull out a page, paste some pastel paper that has been cut into the shape of a rabbit onto the book page. Write the details about the party onto the card stock. 

Decorations

Dig into your Easter decoration items to deck out your garden for a sweet Peter Rabbit themed party.

• Rabbits, Rabbits, everywhere - Look around your little ones' toy box and your Easter decorations for little white bunnies to use as table decorations and to place around the party venue. Also shop around Easter time for other rabbit decorations. With a little forethought, you can even shop after Easter clearance sales.
• Books - Find some vintage copies of Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit to use as decorations. You can use newer copies with beautifully illustrated covers as decor pieces as well. Lay the books around the party venue for a cute look. 
• Baskets of Carrots - Old-fashioned wicker baskets full of carrots (prefereably with their greens still on them) are great decor pieces. These decor pieces will add a whimsical look and some color to the decor. 

Food

Little party bunnies can get pretty hungry running away from Farmer McGregor so be sure to provide some yummy treats.

• Fresh Veggies - Peter was often tempted by the fresh veggies in Mr. McGregor's garden. Provide the same fresh veggies for your guests. Use baby carrots and other veggies that are cut into bite size bits. Serve ranch dressing or another dipping sauce along with the veggies.
• Carrot Cake - Cake is integral part of party menus. Consider serving guests carrot cake or cupcakes to further the theme. Use a cream cheese frosting and carrot deorations to embellish the cake. 
• Candy Carrots - Create candy carrots using clear plastic baggie cones sold at hobby stores in the cake/cookie/candy making aisle. Fill the baggies with orange jelly beans. 

Activities

Keep your little bunnies busy and out of Mr. McGregor's carrot patch with engaging activities.

• Rabbit Petting - Bring a few little furry rabbits to the garden for children to pet and play with. Create a sign that says, "Meet, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter" to put up near the bunnies. 
• Pin the Tail on Peter - Create a "Pin the tail on Peter" game as a variation of the traditional "Pin the tail on the Donkey" game. You can print-out a game poster at Nick.com  You can enhance the tails by gluing cotton balls on the tails. 
• Book Reading - Choose a nice setting, perhaps a nice chair under a shady tree, and invite the little guests to hear the story of Peter Rabbit. Be sure to read it in a lively and antimated way to engage their interest. 

Whether you choose to host the party in your own garden or at public garden or park, remember to bring sun-screen and plenty of water to help keep guests safe and happy.