The weather is getting hotter and soon it’ll be blazing! Before it gets so hot that we can’t step outside, why not make the most of the present climate and have a picnic based birthday party for your child who is born in the most beautiful weather of the year – Spring!! When it’s a picnic party, it’s bound to be lots of fun! In case it’s really hot and you’d like to opt for a pool party instead, check out super-awesome pool party here. 

Considering the current weather, it would be best to have the party in the late afternoon. Don’t start too late, or you’ll have to wind up your picnic in the dark!

Picnic Theme Birthday Party Ideas

 Birthday Party Venue

 Ideal locations would be parks, but if the ones in your neighbourhood are too crowded or unsuitable, your own backyard would be great!! When opting for public places, ensure restrooms are accessible (kids are very unpredictable) and choose a spot that’s not too close to the road.

 Even if that’s not possible, have it indoors!! Just move out furniture and clear up a lot of floor space. Put plants all around, to give a ‘garden’ feel. Add a few stuffed cats or dogs and craft some colourful paper flowers to hang from the ceiling. Check out this absolutely cute indoor picnic decoration from Hoosier Homemade, complete with a tree!

 

Birthday Party Invitations

For an outdoor party, it’s best to limit the guests to just a few close friends of your child, as a larger crowd can be difficult to manage. For an indoor birthday party, however, you can have more kids. Go with a flower theme for the invitations – perfect for spring! EatDrinkChic has these really pretty invites available for download.

Or go for a picnic themed one; check out this really fun picnic invite from The Coconut Chronicles featured at Squidoo. 

 

 Essentials

 The first image a picnic brings to mind is a sheet spread out on the grass, loaded with lots of food!! A good way to do this would be to first spread out large towels and then cover it with a bed sheet. An important point to consider is the cleanup – you don’t want to leave the park littered with paper cups and straws. Take along large trash bags, preferably separate ones for organic and non-organic waste. Other important items to consider include a first aid kit with band-aids and ointments for insect bites and cuts, mosquito repellant, wet wipes, hand sanitizer and extra towels. Martha Stewart has an idea for a DIY Origami Picnic Basket here.

A picnic party is not something that can be done all by yourself, so don’t hesitate to ask for help. Maybe you can invite the kids’ mothers too if you know them well. You’ll definitely need a lot of help in carrying things to the venue, arranging them, managing the kids, taking photos and finally cleaning up and getting everyone home.

Food & Drink

The best picnic foods are the ones that travel well and don’t require refrigeration or reheating. Avoid liquid foods like curries and soups. Here is a list of foods that are great for picnics:

 1. Cupcakes without frosting

2. Sandwiches

3. Fruit

4. Cookies

5. Potato crisps
6. Chicken or veg nuggets

7. Hard-boiled eggs

8. Vegetable sticks with dip

9. Muffins

10. Mini idlis with thick chutney

Use large Tupperware containers to transport food – they’ll stay fresh without leakage. As for drink, individual juice packs are the most convenient – you don’t need extra cups and there’s no mess pouring out liquids. You can also carry small bottles of water instead of juice. Additionally, carry lots of water in a cooler – you’ll need cups for that. Here’s a cute way for packing cutlery in Love, Ink. Everyday individually wrapped in napkins; this saves time handing out forks, spoons and the like individually!

As for utensils, disposable dishes and cutlery are definitely convenient, though not really eco-friendly. Another option is using melamine ware – it’s light, unbreakable and reduces plastic waste. Choose what works for you; you could even go with a combination of both. Don’t forget straws for drinks and lots of paper napkins for clean up! If you’re going to cut fruit at the venue, carry a knife along.

 It’s a good idea to get the kids to eat first, that way the food will be as fresh as possible and it’ll be done before they get dirty.

Birthday Party Games & Activities

 Here’s the fun part! Everyone’s eaten and is ready to play. Go for simple games that don’t require complicated logistics planning, like tossing a ball, skipping rope or playing with a Frisbee. This is also a great occasion for all the jumping and singing games like Simon Says or a plain old running race. Some other great activities which require a little more preparation are kite-flying and blowing bubbles. The kids can even take the kites and bubble bottles home with them! Here’s a really easy tutorial to make your own bubble solution at home, from the blog, Do Small Things with Love

For more party games ideas for kids, see TheMomViews’ Megalist of Birthday Party Games.

 Birthday Party Return Gifts

 If you can buy or make little baskets to hold the gifts, it would be great! Else, little cloth bags made of fabric in a floral print will do. Martha Stewart has a simple tutorial for fabric favour bags here.

Fill them up with small goodies like these:

1. Flower or Bug shaped erasers

2. Smiley or Sun shaped badges

3. Floral hairclips or jewellery for girls

4. Sticker packet with a spring or garden theme

5. Jump rope

6. Yoyo

7. Candy

8. Kiddie sunglasses

 Now you’re all set to plan a birthday party with Picnic theme!!! As you may have observed, a lot of the ideas are DIY and thus really cost-effective. The only overhead is transporting everything to the picnic venue and of course, complete planning is absolutely necessary!