Healthy Green Birthday Parties - Part 1

My son's first birthday was a big deal.  I am pretty sure that we all feel this way about our kids.  They are the most important people in our life and we want to celebrate them, show them off and shout out to the world that they are the greatest.  I love entertaining, cooking for others and socializing.  My son's first birthday was a great way to take all of those people that I had connected best with at the mommy groups and show off my skills:)  Isn't that what entertaining is all about?

I was very excited for my son's big day, but also wanted to celebrate in a way that was earth-friendly and baby-friendly, but still had a little bit of the WOW factor.  It was a struggle for me to celebrate a birthday in this manner.  I think I did a fair job and will share my experience from my son's first 3 birthdays as I start to get ready for my daughter's big day in May 2011.

I believe that the most important parts of a birthday are the cake, the food, the entertainment, the decorations and the presents.

The Cakes

As I have changed my lifestyle to involve a more wholesome diet, steering away from processed foods, artificial sweeteners and MSG, I have had my eyes opened wider than I would like.  The saying 'Ignorance is Bliss' is definitely true.  Some days I wish I could close out all of the information and just live an easy simple life without thinking about what I am putting into my family's and my body.  Unfortunately, I am not ignorant and therefore not leading that life that allows me to be happy with the free cake they give you for your child's first birthday at the supermarket.  So, the first task was to find a healthy cake that was not a total shock to my child's pure and sugar-free body.  I guess I can't really say that he was sugar-free because I had given him muffins and Mum-Mums, but he was pretty close.  I decided on the carrot cake recipe that my mom used to make for me when I was little.  It was my number one cake request for each birthday I celebrated.    So, I baked carrot muffins and banana muffins and used a yummy cream cheese icing.  For colour, I decided to use fresh fruit in place of food colouring.  I baked enough muffins to spell out my son's name and arranged just before we sang "Happy Birthday".  There was no cutting involved, the size was perfect and the best part was that I knew what was in the muffins and approved of all of the ingredients :)

His second birthday cake was another banana cake with cream cheese icing and fruit on it, but this time I used the fruit to make the train stand out.  I used blueberries on the black window and smokestack and strawberries to enhance the red engine.  The large wheel is made from a cantaloupe slice. 

As my son gets older it is tougher to keep him away from the sweets and he's not as impressionable anymore, at least by his parents.  His third birthday party came with a theme and I have to admit I went overboard with this party.  He wanted a pirate theme and his cake ended up being a pirate ship.  It was chocolate (his favourite flavour) with coca icing and I did end up adding a few drops of blue colouring for the water.  I realized after this that my son seems to react to the blue colour.  The only temper tantrum we have ever seen him have, came after a birthday party where my son had only eaten the bright blue icing on the cake.  We've also seen this behaviour come out with Fruit Loops.  Needless to say, I will be staying away from the food colouring this year.  Perhaps wild blueberries will have to do.  I used playmobil pirates (part of his present) and the mast of a pirate ship he already owned, goldfish, and fish candies. 

 

The Food

My son's birthday was 3 years ago, so it is hard to remember exactly what was fed to everyone.  I snuck a look at the photos and realized it was a really simple affair.  I decided to have his party after lunch and served snacks and cake.  The snacks consisted of Annies Homegrown Cheddar Bunnies, Cheerios (I really like the Heinz Nutrios because there is no added sugar), Graduates Puffs, fresh fruit with yogurt, fresh vegetables with hummus, Chips and Salsa.  It was very easy and toddler/baby friendly. 

It seems that each year I attempt to outdo myself with the food.  I think I will be cutting back this year, so that I can sit down, relax and enjoy my son's big day.  Isn't that what it is all about:).  For his second birthday, we served chicken breasts on ciabatta buns, pasta salad, veggies and chips and dip.  It was a lot of work and I really didn't get to sit down and enjoy myself.  The 3rd party was a bit more relaxed.  We had organic hot dogs and smokies and caesar salad with veggies, fruit and chips.  We are big tortilla chip fans and we found the most awesome chip that isn't just potatoes or corn and oil.  Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips are made from stone ground corn, high oleic sunflower oil, brown rice flour, flax seeds, evaporated cane juice, oat fibre, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, quinoa, soy flour and sea salt.  We purchase ours a Costco and get rave reviews about them each time that we serve them.  

 

The Entertainment

My son's birthday is in July, so we are lucky to have nice weather each year.  For his first birthday, we set up a few toy stations and blankets and hung out in the backyard.  There was also a water table, a pool, a blanket full of toys and a garden full of dirt to dig in.  The weather was great and we all just kicked back and relaxed.  Every birthday so far has been just as simple.  We invite a few families and then just hang out.  Our pirate themed 3rd birthday had a plank walk and buried treasure (the kids had a lot of fun with this one).  This year, I think I might do a scavenger hunt for the 4 year olds.   

The Decorations

This is a struggle for me each year.  We bought balloons for his first birthday and his second birthday.  They all popped from the heat and all I can think of is the plastic that will be entering the landfills.  We opted out of balloons for his third.  We also used streamers, plastic table clothes, disposable plates and cutlery (I did collect most of the cutlery and washed it for future use).  I am learning more each year and hope to use decorations, plates and cutlery that will not be thrown out and try to make the decorations more eco-friendly.  Flowers also make a nice bright eco-friendly decoration. 

The Gifts

We have so many toys and usually the toys we get as gifts are not quite something we would buy.  My son has gone most of his life without the magic button toys.  You know, the ones that require you to push a button and it does or says something.  Our toys are mostly of the manual variety.  They require some sort of work or imagination to operate them.  Most of the toys that require batteries have been gifts from others.  I really did not want any more toys or stuff that I would get rid of and I am very good at getting rid of stuff.  I don't hold any sentimental value to a piece of plastic that makes noise.  For my son's first birthday, we decided to ask guests to opt out of bringing a gift or to donate to the local Children's Hospital.  Only one of our friends actually did donate and some did bring gifts, but we did try.  So the next 2 years we left it and my son got to go through gift bags and tear wrapping paper.  This year, I have again decided to fight the masses and do away with the gift giving/getting.  

I did a bit of research and was amazed to find out how many charities there were that would take your money and do something else with it that was less wasteful than a birthday present.  I found a site called Canadahelps.  This is a site that allows you to make a safe donation to the charity of your choice, but they do take a percentage for administration fees.  I searched animal shelters/rescue and came up with 99 in our province.  After carefully going through the more local ones, I decided on a charity that rescues and rehabilitates small native mammals and birds and also promotes their well being in urban environments.  My husband and I had actually done some volunteer work with the Wildlife Rescue Association, so this was an even easier choice.  The main reason that we picked this specific charity is that they cater to all of the Lower Mainland, so it felt a little more local than community specific groups.  It also allows the option to donate money on their website or even foster an animal.  A small bird, such as a hummingbird or bushtit can be adopted for $25 and larger animals, like a heron or swan can be adopted for $250.  There are lots of choices in between as well.  The receiver of the gift gets a Foster Certificate with a photograph and educational information about the sponsored animal.  This way my kids will actually see how they are helping, rather than the money just disappearing.  For my daughter's Birthday in May, we have sent an evite invitation that states NO presents and instead gives the option of going to the website to donate or foster an animal or bringing a small cash donation to the party to adopt an animal. 

I will let you know the success of our next healthy green birthday party in the very near future.  We have started to create some ideas for creating a healthy green birthday party of your own on our website.  Keep looking back for more great hints, tips and ideas.  Maybe if we all join the motion, having a healthy environmentally friendly celebration won't be a challenge.  Please feel free to add any of your own ideas to our website.