At our Devon boarding school, we are surrounded by beautiful grounds that always remind us how lucky we are to be so close to the joys of the natural world.
If you’re seeking new ways to enjoy the great outdoors with your family, an outdoor party offers some great opportunities to have fun in your own garden. Whether it’s for a birthday, special celebration or a holiday treat, a garden party will help you make the most of the spring and summer sunshine!
Why Host an Outdoor Party?
It’s no secret that children can be messy, and your garden or patio is a lot more forgiving of spilt drinks and crumbs than your carpets. Clean-up for a garden party can be somewhat easier than other themed parties that take place indoors.
Garden parties and events can also allow you and your child to get more creative with different themes and party game ideas. You may think about new ways to approach decorations or activities in an outdoor setting.
Plus, if there’s a chance to enjoy the fresh air and good weather, why wouldn’t you want to take the party to your garden?!
Tips For Throwing a Children’s Garden Party
Organising an outdoor party is much like hosting an indoor one:
- Pick a theme and base your decorations, activities and food around it.
- Try to opt for eco-friendly decorations.
- Send out any party invitations with plenty of time to respond.
- Be realistic about how many guests to invite.
- Get your child involved in coming up with party ideas and the planning.
- Make a backup plan in case the weather takes a turn, and you have to move inside.
Stuck for some ideas? Here are some of our favourites to get everyone outside and enjoying the day. No matter the size of your garden, you can make these simple ideas work and change them to suit your family.
1. Traditional Tea Party
A tea party with colourful cups and excitingly decorated cupcakes is sure to make a fun day. You could even theme it around the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland and embrace decorations or costumes around this. This theme can be easily adapted for different age groups, with differing themed menus and tea party games.
2. Teddy Bear’s Picnic
Like a tea party, a picnic is a relatively easy event to set up, and there are plenty of ways it can be adapted to suit the child or age group. Summery picnic decor and teddy bear motifs will make for a memorable day. Teddy bear-themed crafts could also make the party extra special.
3. Mini Olympics & Obstacle Course
For kids who love sports and getting competitive, an Olympic or game-themed party would work especially well. You could set up different stations around your garden for the different sporting events, incorporating various activities depending on the size of your garden.
An obstacle course can also provide hours of fun. Get your child’s input when creating the route and obstacles – this could also be themed by creating different zones along the course. There’s plenty of opportunity here to let your imagination run wild.
4. Scavenger or Treasure Hunt
Like an obstacle course, treasure hunts are a great way to get your child and their friends exploring the garden in a new way. You can use homemade props and maps to make the hunt more exciting and, again, theme it around something particular (pirates make the obvious choice!) to make it extra enjoyable.
5. Camping
Building dens and setting up a garden campsite is loads of fun, ideal for various age groups. Whether your party guests will actually be sleeping outside or just making camp for the day, you can have loads of fun trying bushcraft activities and telling stories around the ‘campfire’.
6. Safari
If your child is an animal lover, a safari theme may be ideal. Here you could incorporate stuffed animals and animal-print decorations for a wildlife adventure. You might even begin the day at a zoo or animal farm before returning to a fully decked-out garden safari, ready for animal-themed games.
Ultimately, there are endless possibilities as to what you could do when it comes to organising a garden party to remember!
