Guest Post: Birthday Parties In The Park

For Charlotte's third party, I wanted to throw her a friends party. I thought she might enjoy having people her own age to play with instead of the "family only" parties we have done so far. But we live in a small place and there is not room to host 8-10 toddlers plus their parents. So, I am planning a park party. And to help me, Lisa Kothari of Peppers and Pollywogs, Inc shared these tips. I know we will be implementing some of these and I hope you find them useful as well. Feel free to chime in on the comments with your own tips about park parties. I still have a few days left to finish everything up!

Top Tips for Planning a Party in the Park

It’s the season of planning outdoor parties and one of the best outdoor venues to hold your party is a park. It’s usually free and can accommodate large groups. If the idea appeals to you, keep these top tips in mind when planning your party in the park:

Make sure to call your parks and services board and ask if a permit is needed. Even if you do not need an official permit, you may need to let some authority know about your party. You never know until you call and ask.

For your party decorations:

• Blow up lots of balloons beforehand and anchor them - this looks festive and also marks the parameter of your party area.
• If there is a fence around the park, decorate it with streamers to make the area look festive. If you were doing a safari theme, as an example, you could hang vines off of the fence to give a jungle feel.
• Use colorful blankets in the park for the children to sit on - also adds festive color

For your party in the park menu:

Make veggie and/or meat and cheese sandwiches. You could also make PB & J, which is easy but may not be so popular given peanut allergies. Cut the sandwiches into cool shapes like stars, animals, numbers, letters, etc. depending on your theme.

Other ideas include:

• Buy self-serve packets of small carrots or other veggies for a healthy side snack.
• Include fruit leather or some other easy type of fruit.
• Have boxed fruit juices and plenty of water on hand.
• Boxes of animal or savory crackers would be great.

Put the pre-prepared lunches in a sand bucket, lunch pail, or lunch box. You could give these containers to the children as part of their goody bag at the end of the party.

For dessert, a party in the park would do well with cupcakes. They are easy to hand out and carry and less messy for the kids to eat as well.

Make sure to bring along Wet Ones so kids can clean their hands after lunch is finished.

For your party in the park activities:
Create a series of classic games that the children are sure to love, including:

Pass the Parcel
Items needed: gift wrap, small present, music
Wrap your prize in as many layers of gift-wrap as you have kids attending. Have the children pass the parcel around to one another while music plays. When the music stops, the child holding the parcel must unwrap one layer. The game continues until the last child unwraps the final layer and wins!

Candy Hunt
Items needed: candy, paper bags
Hide the candy around the party area and give each guest a paper bag. Give them five minutes to find as much candy as they can. The children can take these sweet bags home as the party favor.

Have a wonderful party in the park!

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If you are interested in more party planning ideas, you can follow Lisa Kothari on Facebook and Twitter.

Don't forget to share your own ideas and stay tuned for a giveaway sponsored by Peppers and Pollywogs!