Why not celebrate your child’s birthday with sustainable, eco-friendly party games and activities that you can easily do at home or at your local park?

Birthday parties are huge highlights for children – it’s a day to feel special, be celebrated, and have lots of treats! Unfortunately for parents tasked with organizing them, children’s birthday parties can often be stressful to host and full of disposable waste. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Here are eight ideas for easy, eco-friendly party games and activities to ensure that your child’s next birthday party is a knockout success!

#1 Ceramic Pot Painting

This is a great eco-friendly party activity for older children. To host this party, start by requesting guests either wear older clothes or bring an art smock. Then, simply set up a trestle table outdoors or on a drop sheet and give each guest a ceramic pot plant to paint and a paintbrush. Put shared paints in the centre of the table and encourage the children to get creative.

As a party favour, offer guests a packet of seeds to take home to allow them to plant flowers in their newly decorated pot.

#2 Invention Challenge

This is a fun game that will occupy children for hours and allow them to indulge their creativity and problem-solving skills while working as a team. As preparation, simply collect clean, safe recycled items such as broken toys, empty toilet paper rolls, discarded packaging, old boxes, string and plastic containers. Fill up a big tub or box, or several with items and challenge the children to work in teams to create an epic marble run or the tallest tower, or a suit of armour. Set a timer and let the children start inventing!

When they have finished their creations, allow each group to present what they have made and award each team a prize for a specific aspect of their work – most creative, biggest, most original!

#3 Clue Hunt

This is a great party concept that children love. Depending on the age of the children you can either host this party at home, at a park, or even allow the children access to a small area of your neighbourhood. As preparation, write a series of clues that direct children to the location of the next clue. So, for instance, if you plan to hide a clue in the mailbox, have the preceding clue say something like; “Where do I look for letters?”. The party guests should work together or in teams to follow the clues until they arrive at the finish.

#4 Dicey Adventure

This is a fun, low-key party game that is best played with a small group of children. To set up, give each child a pile of Smarties. Then, assign different actions or consequences to each number on a dice. For instance; rolling a one or a three might mean that you have to pass a Smartie to your left; rolling a two or a four might mean that you have to pass to your right; rolling a five might mean that you can eat a Smartie; and rolling a six might mean that you have to make animal noises until the next person rolls a six. The game is over when someone runs out of Smarties!

Another dice adventure game is to put the guests in teams and give each team a dice to use as they walk around your neighbourhood to reach a certain location. The catch is that the dice will decide which way you go! At each corner, teams must assign directions to their dice, so for instance rolling a one or two might mean left, three or four could mean right and five or six could mean you continue straight ahead. The winning team is the first to reach the assigned location.

#5 Eco-Friendly Pass the Parcel

Pass the parcel is a much-loved classic party game, but unfortunately it often involves a lot of wasted wrapping paper! Instead try using old newspaper or magazines or have a treasure box that can only be opened when the music stops.

#6 Pin the Smile on the Birthday Child

Ask the birthday child to lie on old newspaper laid flat and trace around them using a Texta or marker. Cut the shape out, glue some large googly eyes on and attach it to a window or wall using tape or Blu Tack. Then, invite guests to create “smiles” using recycled paper or cardboard and colouring them in. Attach Blu-Tack or sticky tape to each smile and blindfold guests one and a time to allow them to try to position the smile in the right spot.

#7 Dangling Doughnut Eating Race

This is a quick game, but a fun one! Buy ring donuts, allowing for one per party guest. Tie them on a long piece of string or ribbon to a branch, broom stick, or clothesline. Each guest then has to eat their donut without using their hands, and without letting it fall. The winner is the first to eat their donut!

#8 What’s in the Box Blind Guessing Game

For this game use recycled empty tissue boxes or old shoe boxes with a hole cut in the lid. Put something different in each one, such as a piece cucumber, a toy car, cooked spaghetti, a clean sock, slime, or a water balloon. Then, each party guest is blindfolded and has 10 seconds to feel the item in the box and guess what it is.

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