Nearly a Zero Waste Birthday Party: we did it!

We had my son's 2nd Birthday party this past Sunday. My family and I have been taking baby steps to live a greener life this past year and we really wanted to continue that into our children's birthday parties. My inspiration came from Heather and Renee's birthday parties for their kiddos. This was our first attempt and it was amazing!!

What did we do differently? We used no paper/plastic anything. We used regular kids' plates/cups that I already had, and since I recently ruled out paper towels in my house, we just used our normal cloth napkins. We also made the game for the kids to play. My husband cut out a couple of circles in a piece of plywood and I attempted to paint train tracks and the "tunnel" to throw bean bags into. I made the bean bags out of fabric that I already had and stuffed them with rice. This game was a huge hit! 

We also had a no gift party at our home. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about this at first and almost decided not to do it because I didn't want to deny my little ones the joy of opening new presents at their party. I'm over it now and I have to say, the party was even better without gifts! I can't tell you how less stressful it was to not have to sit my 2 year old down to open presents for a half-hour! We had cake and ice cream, played, had a great time and didn't even miss the presents.

We did note on the invitation that instead of gifts for Dexter, we would be collecting books to donate to the daycare where my kiddos go for a few hours each day. My son got to carry the bag of books into his daycare yesterday and even though he is only 2, he seemed so proud! The best part was, my daughter (who is 4 1/2), said that she can't wait until it is her birthday so she can give something away too! Yay!  Now -- that is success! 

I am so excited to start this new trend in our home! Have you thought about or attempted a no gift/zero waste party? If so, do you collect donations of some sort? Do you have ideas for local charities/places where the kids can actually help deliver what they have collected?