A simple, green, low-cost birthday party

Yesterday my daughter had six classmates over for her sixth birthday party. I've mentioned before that we've been planning an at-home, no-gift, eco-friendly party. I wasn't sure how successful it would be, given that so many children are used to high-energy, destination parties. All in all, I think everyone had a good time -- particularly the birthday girl. Here's what we did:

The most important thing: I started talking about having a no-gift party way in advance, explaining that she'll get presents from her family, but that the party with her friends would be all about fun and games (and cupcakes). Instead, we asked guests to bring used or new blankets and towels for the Oregon Community Warehouse. What makes this green? Not buying new stuff, cutting back on consumption and fossil fuels spent shopping for gifts, making use of something you already own, and donating to a non-profit that assists people in our community.

My daughter and I planned a craft project and several games. We went to SCRAP and found just a ton of cool stuff: wallpaper sample books, fabric swatches, buttons, long strips of book binding material, fake flowers, and lots of paper and card stock. Everything cost $4. At home, I sewed simple pouches using the vinyl wall covering samples and used the bookbinding strips for the strap. I cut out monkey faces and tails and simple dresses and purses from fabric and wall covering swatches, and we used the buttons and flowers for accessories. The girls picked out their outfits and accessories and glued them on to the front of their pouches. This was their take-home party favor. All of the games -- pin the tail on the monkey, bean bag toss and the clothespin drop -- were made with paper and card stock from SCRAP. (I sewed the beanbags using fabric scraps and filled them with rice!) What makes this green? All the materials we used were donated to SCRAP by businesses who would have otherwise tossed this stuff in the garbage. Reusing it extends the lifetime.

We used all durable goods to serve up home-baked chocolate cupcakes: ceramic plates, glasses and cloth napkins. What makes this green? No waste!

The simpleness of the party was an easy sell to these 5-6 year olds. I'm not sure how easy it would be to sell to older kids, but my hope is that my kids will grow up expecting their parties to focus on fun with friends rather than presents and excess. I think you can keep destination parties -- like those at the Children's Museum or a gymnastics academy -- eco-friendly by bringing your own durable goods, and having a book swap, donation of goods or other creative alternative to gifts. I spent a grand total of $8 by having this party at home, but it also required some advance preparation (which was a lot of fun) and a lot of my own energy output during the party to keep it rolling. Definitely worth it!