A Fairytale Party

Fairytale Birthday Party

We celebrated my daughter’s 3rd birthday with a fairytale birthday party last weekend. Everything went perfectly! And nature was a big part of it!

Nature has been a part of my daughter’s birthdays since the beginning. Her first birthday party theme was jungle animals. Her second birthday party theme was farm animals. She has been in love with animals all of her short life. So, why do a fairytale theme this year? And how is that related to animals and nature? Easy…

You might say telling fairy tales is as natural for human parents as teaching a chick how to behave is for the mother bird. Fairy tales are a very old form of communication that is passed down from adult to child in order to teach the child how to behave. Many of these stories had harsh consequences when the lead character did not act appropriately. Of course today, we’ve watered-down and “Disneyified” these stories so that the lead characters always act perfectly, therefore only good things happen to them in the end. But you can be sure that humans have been telling fairy tales with important life lessons in them for as long as we’ve been able to communicate. Fairy tales have long been an important natural part of a child’s education on how to be a good person.

Treasure Hunt

Our party wasn’t strictly a Disney-esque fairy tale, though. I added a few nature promoting touches to enhance the fairytale party. We held the party at a shelter in a park. In the invitation, I called it a magical cottage in the woods where fairies were known to visit. (As a side note, I learned that the park actually has “fairy” hikes.) The children were invited to dress in fairytale costumes if they wanted. My daughter was a fairy in a bold blue and purple dress with wings and a matching wand. We also had a Peter Pan, several princesses, other fairies, and more!

Fairy Meadow Seed Packet

We used butterflies in a lot of our decorations since many fairies seem to have butterfly wings, and butterflies likely inspired many fairy sightings. With the tables elegantly decorated as they should be with a fairytale theme, we also added a nature fairy keepsake for each family to take home. It was a packet of seeds to plant a fairy meadow. The seed mix included a variety of flowering plants perfect for attracting fairies; I mean butterflies.

Fairytale Grass Seed Planter

In addition, instead of the usual gift bag, each child received a small planter with grass seeds to grow and take care of at home. Each little pot had a picture of a fairytale character on it to keep with the party theme. Plus, as a nature educator, I thought it would be a perfect introduction for three year olds to learn how plants grow. It’s small; the children can set it in a window sill and watch it grow. They can also take care of it by watering it and cutting the grass as it grows.

And of course to satisfy the little fairytale-loving children, a well-known tinker fairy was invited to play with them. Half of the tinker fairy’s activities were done in the great outdoors with a treasure hunt, face painting, and pictures. So the kids were able to spend some time engaged with nature, even at a fairytale themed party this past weekend.

It was a perfect day! The weather was beautiful. The kids had fun! The parents enjoyed all of the details. And my little fairy was crowned the newest three-year-old, fairy princess!

But most importantly, every parent should enjoy telling their children fairy tales. That may be one of the most natural things you can do with your children, and it will teach them how to be good people!

Waiting for Grass to Grow