Raising Veg Kids
FOLLOW US!
  • Blog
  • Veg Pregnancy
    • Veg Baby Shower
  • Veg Babies
  • Veg Kids
    • Fun Activities/Products
  • Animal-Friendly Vacations
    • Animal Sanctuaries
  • Holidays
  • Contact Us

Throwing a Vegan and Eco-Friendly Birthday Party for Kids!

9/11/2014

3 Comments

 
Many parents are faced with a dilemma when trying to plan their child's birthday party. They want a party that is not only fun, but one that doesn't contribute to the suffering of animals, harm the environment or include products made using unethical labor practices. This is the birthday party of the future. Read below for some suggestions on how to do this...
Picture
Charlotte standing under her homemade decorations in her party outfit from the local thrift store!
As parents, we're all extremely busy. If we can share ideas it will make our lives much easier, and we won't have to reinvent the wheel every time we do something like throw a birthday party. Let's work together to create a party that considers our kids, animals, other people, and the environment. I hope other parents are able to use some of these great ideas...

As a current student of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE), I recently attended residency in Maine. I gave a presentation about how to throw a MOGO (Most Good, Least Harm) birthday party. Together, with my peers, we came up with tons of creative ideas on how to do this. I was able to use many of these ideas for my daughter's party this past summer.

The venue was a pavillion at the beach. We covered the picnic tables with fabric tablecloths and scarves that my mom had in her closet, instead of using disposable, plastic tablecloths that would end up in a landfill after the party, not too mention which are full of potential nasty chemicals.

Decorations
usually consist of balloons, streamers, and other one-time use items that are just thrown away at the end of the party. I used one of the many ideas from my IHE classmates, and decided to decorate with what was available in nature. With my parent's help, I gathered sticks and vines from their yard. I found an old bag of colorful pipe cleaners in my craft bin, and we twisted those around the branches. My daughter was able to help with this, which made it that much more special! We hung these one-of-a-kind pieces of art in the pavillion; they looked beautiful. We also had flowers on the tables. More ideas for decorating the space from my classmates include: having the guests at the party paint pictures to hang up (or having your child do this beforehand), create centerpieces using flowers from your yard, found objects, painted rocks, or recycled materials, and make confetti using a hole puncher and old wrapping paper or greeting cards. You can also use old wrapping paper for tablecloths. Hang kites, wind chimes, pinwheels, and shells and see them flutter in the wind . If you end up buying a set of decorations, reuse them again the following year.


Picture
Nature Collage.
The food at the party was all vegan. No animals harmed in the making of this party! We had chips, veggies, homemade hummus, and salsa. I just couldn't get my act together this year (1yr old at home!) to make everything homemade, so we ordered Chinese food for the main meal. In hindsight, it wasn't the most eco-friendly option. While the Chinese food was delicious, it came with a lot of plastic packaging, so next year we'll get back to the basics and make our own food. Live and learn. Now onto the birthday cake! We had a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting from Whole Foods; my daughter requested that Merida from the movie Brave be on it. It was delicious and everyone--vegan or not-- loved it! My Mom spoiled us with a homemade vegan peach and strawberry cobbler that we topped with soy whip cream. We also had vegan chocolate chip cookies and fruit.

For plates, cups and utensils we used the pink, non-toxic, compostable, renewable, and made in North America, Susty Party brand from Whole Foods. For an outside location, it's harder to use real silverware and plates, but of course if you're able to do that, it's the best option. 

Goodie bags and Party Favors are a staple of kids birthday parties. Most are filled with junky, fluorescent, toxic, plastic toys made in China that get used for about 10 minutes on the car ride home. After that, they end up in the landfill... along with the tablecloths and decorations! Just think about the amount of birthday parties per year, and how many goodie bags are given out. That's a lot of stuff! Such a waste. For my daughter's party, I combined the goodie bags and the activity, which was a great recommendation from my friends at my IHE residency. I reused brown paper bags from Whole Foods by cutting them down and attaching a handle made from the scraps of the bags. Each child was given a bag to collect whatever they could find in nature. The kids came back with grass, twigs, acorns, rocks, sand, and other interesting items. They used them to make a collage on construction paper covered cardboard. They took their finished masterpieces home with them; this served not only as an activity, but also as their goodie bag. Other ideas for party favors include thrift store toys, homemade vegan treats (kids can make them at the party), or any other craft made before or during the party. One of my classmates suggested decorating old oatmeal containers (or any type of round container), and using them  as drums. When finished, kids can have a drum circle. Another classmate suggested buying stuffed animals from a thrift store and playing a habitat station game at the party. At the end, each child gets to take home their animal. For the actual bag part of the goodie bag, you can use recycled paper bags, cloth bags, or even old t-shirts tied with shoestring or ribbon.

Charlotte had a wonderful birthday party this year-- and the guests did too! Having a birthday party that's fun for everyone, and good for the planet and those who inhabit it, is the birthday party of the future. Birthday parties are just one example of an ingrained system that we can change... family by family. Each year we can learn from the year before and find a way to do it even better. I hope you'll join me in helping align birthday parties with our values to create a more sustainable and compassionate world for all!

HAPPY birthday....for all!

If you have any more ideas, please share them in the comment section below...I'd love to hear them!


3 Comments
    Picture

    About Me

    Robyn Moore is a mom to two kids, whom she and her husband are raising vegan. She has a master's degree in elementary education. She has a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University and a certificate in Humane Education from the Institute for Humane Education. She has organized the kids area at the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival since 2013, and is the organizer of NYC Vegetarian & Vegan Families Meetup, a book reviewer for VegBooks, and has taught English in Nepal, volunteered helping animals in South Africa, and lived abroad in Switzerland.

    Picture

    Archives

    November 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    August 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

    Categories

    All
    100% Pure Kids
    21 Day Vegan Kickstart
    50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals
    Alicia Silverstone
    Alternatives To Coloring Eggs
    Alvin Ailey School
    Animal Friendly Vacations
    Animal Rights Coalition
    Animal Sanctuary
    April Dechagas
    Babe
    Battery Cage Hens
    Blackfish
    Blinders
    Books
    Books About Animals
    Bunnies
    Camp Kindness
    Catskill Animal Sanctuary
    Celeste Hill
    Chicks
    Chloe
    Chloe Coscarelli
    Chloe Jo Davis
    Christina Burke
    Christine Dorchak
    Christmas
    Coconut Whipped Cream
    Colin Campbell
    Coloring Easter Eggs
    Compassionate Kids
    Cow
    Crazy Rumors Lip Balm
    Cruelty Free Easter
    Cynthia King
    Cynthia King Dance Studio
    Dairy
    Dairy Cruelty
    Daisy’s Greyt Escape
    Dallas Rising
    Dog Racing
    Donny Moss
    Ducklings
    Easter
    Eco Birthday Party
    Eco Kids
    Egg Industry
    Eggnots
    Elephants
    Elizabeth Forel
    Ellie Aaron
    Empathy In Children
    Environmental Camp
    Equine Advocate
    Eric Hopf
    Factory Farming
    Factory Farms
    Friendship Soup
    Fruits
    Fruit Turkey Centerpiece
    Fur
    Fur And Feathers
    Fur & Feathers
    Garlic- Onion- Beet- Spinach- Mango- Carrot- Grapefruit Juice
    Gentle Living
    Gingerbread House
    Green Birthday Party
    Gretchen Primack
    Grey2k Usa
    Greyhound Racing
    Greyhounds
    Halloween
    Happy
    Healthy
    Healthy Eating
    Healthy Eating Kids
    Heart
    Heidi Rogers Mystic
    Help Animals
    Hillary Feerick
    Horse Collapse In Nyc
    Horse Cruelty
    Horton Hears A Who
    Hospcotch Nail Polish
    Hsus
    Humane Books
    Humane Education
    Humane Educators
    Humane Kids
    Humane Society Of The United States
    Ihe
    Ingrid E. Newkirk
    Ingrid Newkirk
    Institute For Humane Education
    Isa Chandra Moscowitz
    Isa Chandra Moskowitz
    Jeff Hillenbrand
    Jeff Repanich
    Jennifer Medley
    Jenniffer Gannett
    Jessica Almy
    Jill Fehrenbacher
    Joel Fuhram
    Josh Latham
    Kate Skwire
    Kathy Stevens
    Kc Theisen
    Kia Robertson
    Kidlicous
    Kids
    Kids And Animals
    Kids Book
    Kids Books
    Kids Gone Raw
    Kids Helping Animals
    Kim Korona
    Kind Kids
    Kindness
    Liz Longacre
    Lottie Hanson
    Lush Bath Bombs
    Maddie Sobel
    Marsha Rakestraw
    Meatless Monday
    Meet Your Meat
    Michelle Carr
    Michelle Schwegmann
    Milk Cruelty
    Mitch Spinach
    MOGO
    Moon Cake
    Nathalie Vanbalen
    New Year
    Nora Kramer
    Nyc Horse
    Nyc Vegetarian Food Festival
    Owen Ford
    Pcrm
    Pele
    Peta
    Peta Kids
    Rainbow Food
    Rainbow Kit
    Raising A Vegan
    Raising A Vegetarian
    Raising Compassionate Kids
    Raising Vegan Kids
    Raising Veg Kids
    Robyn Moore
    Rory Freedman
    Ruby Roth
    Sarah Gross
    Seaworld
    Skinny Bitch Bun In The Oven
    Social Justice Kids
    Star Cupcakes
    Storytime
    Susty Party
    Switch Witch
    T. Colin Campbell
    Teaching Kids About Animals
    Teachkind
    Terry Hope Romero
    Thanksgiving Kids Crafts
    That
    The Coaltion To Ban Horse Drawn Carriages
    The Rainbow Bunch
    The Rescue Princesses
    The Secret Life Of Mitch Spinach
    The Seed A Vegan Experience
    These Little Piggies Have Tofu
    Tilikum
    Today I Ate A Rainbow
    Tumeric Dye
    Turkey
    Vegan African Safari
    Vegan Babies
    Vegan Bake Sale
    Vegan Baking
    Vegan Ballet Slippers
    Vegan Birthday Party
    Vegan Camp
    Vegan Candy
    Vegan Christmas
    Vegan Christmas Cookies
    Vegan Classroom
    Vegan Conference
    Vegan Cookies
    Vegan Cooking With Kids
    Vegan Crafts
    Vegan Cupcakes
    Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World
    Vegan Dance
    Vegan Dye
    Vegan Easter
    Vegan Easter Cookies
    Vegan Easter Eggs
    Vegan Eggs
    Vegan Families
    Vegan Family
    Vegan Food
    Vegan Food Coloring
    Vegan Gift
    Vegan Gift Basket
    Vegan Gingerbread House
    Vegan Girl
    Vegan Goodie Bags
    Vegan Halloween
    Vegan Household Cleaners
    Vegan Icing
    Vegan Is Love
    Vegan Kid
    Vegan Kid Necklace
    Vegan Kids
    Vegan Kids Books
    Vegan Kids Crafts
    Vegan Kids Gifts
    Vegan Mac And Cheese
    Vegan Macaroni And Cheese
    Vegan Parent
    Vegan Parenting
    Vegan Party Decorations
    Vegan Party Favors
    Vegan Personal Care
    Vegan Pregnancy
    Vegan Present
    Vegan Product Guide
    Vegan Products
    Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes
    Vegan Recipe
    Vegan Safari Vegan Kids
    Vegan Soup
    Vegan Sprinkles
    Vegan Teacher
    Vegan Teen
    Vegan Teenager
    Vegan Thanksgiving
    Vegan Treats
    Veg Babies
    Vegbooks
    Vegetables
    Vegetable Soup
    Vegetarian Babies
    Vegetarian Camp
    Vegetarian Easter
    Vegetarian Family
    Vegetarian Kid
    Vegetarian Kids
    Vegetarian Safari
    Vegfamily
    Veg Family
    Veggies
    Veg Kid
    Vegkids
    Veg Kids
    Vegkins
    Veg Parent
    Whales
    Whole Foods
    Wooden Eggs
    Yea Camp
    Your Time Travels
    Youth Empowered Action Camp
    Zebra
    Zoe Weil

    RSS Feed

    Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly
Photo used under Creative Commons from dcysurfer / Dave Young