Party time

It’s that time of year again :-) We have Little B’s birthday party at the start of December even though he is a late December baby. This means his little friends can come along easily rather than being away around Xmas.

Last year I focussed on ensuring the party was both eco-friendly and allergy friendly. And these are my main focuses again this year but I am also aiming for the food to be as whole and nourishing as possible, while still being party food.

Decorations

We will be re-using our home made bunting and paper lanterns from last year. I bought a variety of paper lanterns last year (to cover all our birthdays throughout the year) and the green will suit our Jungle theme. We are also putting up our solar lanterns as bright decorations out the front of the house.

Goodie Bags

Last year, I made fabric bags from some party theme fabric I found at the op shop. This year I’m using recycled paper bags. In these will be a home-baked choc chip cookie, a wooden toy and a little crafty something extra.

Entertainment

I believe in a lot of unstructured play for kids, even at parties. I have a few Montessori games up my sleeve, revolving around the Jungle theme (like “The Waterhole”) and we will be doing some strewing (like a jungle park in the sandpit) and some strategically placed toys around the garden. I’ve also set up some drums for some African drumming sessions ;-)

Food

I have been inspired for our party food mainly from Jude Blereau’s “Whole Food for Children”. We are having jelly boats (from pear & mango juice with agar agar), fairy bread (with sourdough, labne and allergy friendly sprinkles), home-made tzatziki & pinto bean dips with spelt crackers, and finally a gorgeous fruit platter. Little B’s cake will be a spelt butter cake, decorated with Hullabaloo food coloured icing.

I’ve asked our guests not to give Little B any plastic toys. I’ve also asked people to be as environmentally conscious as they can be in their gift choices.

** NB: If it’s raining, we’ve organised for 3 separate play spaces in the house. One following the strewing jungle theme, one with some jungle inspired playdough and craft and one for freeplay (with a big dress up box provided for inspiration.