Wednesday 25 May 2011

Planning a Unique "Garden" Party for Your Kids

Fall and winter is a busy time for you and your kids. With school and after school activities, as well as the cold weather, getting outside isn't always an easy task.

The advent of the spring means that the weather gets a little more pleasant. It's not long until summer vacation. Getting outdoors is easier for everyone, with spring being the ideal time to take advantage of the mild weather and sunshine. The months of April and May are nearly perfect for outdoor activities, since the summer sun has not yet begun to heat things up to the level that being outside is uncomfortable.

Springtime is perfect for planning a garden party for your kids.

In the early spring, a themed garden party will give your kids something to do on a lazy weekend. You can plan more than just a snack or a picnic, but invite over a few of their friends and make an event of an outdoor afternoon that will leave everyone smiling.

In the old days, a garden party would have meant a very upscale event that had everyone dressed in their Sunday best. Today's garden party doesn't have to mean that at all. A garden party today can mean just that. Introduce your kids to the fun that they can have digging in the dirt and crafting their own potted garden. Give them something fun to plant that garden in by offering a simple children's craft at the same time.

Nearly every garden or specialty store will have small terra cotta pots that you can purchase for a nominal fee. Buy two for each child who will be in attendance at your garden party, along with some sponges, a few non-toxic acrylic paints, and some non-toxic spray varnish. All that you will need aside from this is a bag of potting soil and a few different packs of flower seeds.

Along the way, purchase about 8 sheets of poster paper or construction paper and have your kids help you make invitations for the garden party. Sponges which have been cut into the shapes of flowers will make excellent stamps for creating invitations for your party, which your kids can deliver to their friends at school, or take around the neighborhood with your supervision.

Stress in your invitation that the children are to wear older clothing that is well suited to a day in the garden. For the big day make simple snacks, cupcakes or finger foods that are also themed in a garden theme. Design your cupcakes with flowers and green leaves, or bake a cake that is decorated as a garden. Disposable silverware and paper plates, as well as one big trash can in the back yard will make clean-up a snap after your picnic, and you can get down to the creation of the mini garden.

The terra cotta pots have the advantage of drying remarkably rapidly when they are painted. Sponges make wonderful ways to paint them easily, dipping them into paint that you've placed on paper plates. Let the children each sponge paint two of the pots, omitting painting the bottom so that you don't seal that area and the water can drain from them.

Seal the paint with a light spray of non-toxic varnish and allow the pots to dry for about ten to fifteen minutes. If you've got a backyard discovery playset, or a swing set in your yard, it will be easy to amuse them for the few moments that your pots will take to dry.

Once your pots have dried completely, bring the children back to the table and offer each one enough potting soil to fill their pots nearly to the top. Sprinkle seeds of their choice over the top of each pot of soil and then lightly sprinkle soil over them to just barely cover the top.

Everyone goes home with their own miniature garden in lovely pots that they've designed themselves.

A Little Tip: Place a sheet of cling wrap over the top of the pots and seal it so that your guests can take their pots home without a mishap.

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