Summer is almost here and the end of the school year is just around the corner. Kids will no longer be occupied with studying and early mornings, so what better way to keep your little ones entertained than to throw a garden pajrty! Little girls will adore dressing up and inviting their friends to a summertime get-together. You can even make the party a mother-daughter event, so the girls can enjoy tea with their schoolmates while you enjoy wine with your girlfriends. With adorable ideas inspired by spring flowers, butterflies, and all things feminine, throwing a garden party is a perfect way to kickoff summer!
Invitation
Between swimming lessons and play dates, summer can be a busy time, so a fancy invitation is key to entice your guests to clear their calendar. When you think of a garden party, flowers must come to mind, so create this adorable invitation by including a poem inspired by the garden, love, and friendship.
The Garden of Your Daily Living
For the Garden of Your Daily Living, plant three rows of peas:
- Peace of mind
- Peace of heart
- Peace of soul
Plant four rows of squash:
- Squash gossip
- Squash indifference
- Squash grumbling
- Squash selfishness
Plant four rows of lettuce:
- Lettuce be faithful
- Lettuce be kind
- Lettuce be patient
- Lettuce really love one another
No garden is without turnips:
- Turnip for meetings
- Turnip for service
- Turnip to help one another
To conclude our garden we must have thyme:
- Thyme for each other
- Thyme for family
- Thyme for friends
Place the poem and a small pouch of seeds in a “flower pot” made of construction paper. In addition, place a paper flower in the pot with all your party information. The flower and seeds will instantly remind your guests of summer, and encourage them to attend.
Centerpiece
A bouquet of fresh flowers can turn into a pricey centerpiece, and when you are entertaining for kids, the money spent on a beautiful flower arrangement can easily go unappreciated. Instead, create a centerpiece that children can relate to by making a bouquet of lollipop flowers! Kids will love the lifesaver lollipops and no watering is required for maintenance. The lollipops are incredibly easy to make, and by using the favorite childhood candy, you will give your party an instant kid-approved feel. Just place a craft stick on a cookie sheet covered in foil. Place a Lifesaver on the top of the stick, creating the center of the flower. Then place six Lifesavers in a different color around the center Lifesaver. Bake at 250 for 5-12 minutes depending on your oven. I would watch them closely and once they have melted take them out and let them cool. Your garden party will surely be a hit with the little ones when they learn they can eat their sugary centerpiece!
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Entertainment
A creative activity for this party is important, and one that will burn off energy is a must. For a fun twist on “pin the tail on the donkey”, try playing “pin the bee on the flower!” The game is so easy to make by simply using construction paper to create a large flower and small bumble bees. Black out a pair of sunglasses by covering the inside of the lenses with construction paper, and then leave the rest of the fun up to the kids! When they are finished, the hostess or host can use the flower covered in bees as wall art and a fun piece of memorabilia!
As another fun activity, create a setup similar to an Easter egg hunt, but instead of eggs and baskets, use butterflies and nets. Simply hide beautiful, false butterflies around the yard and give each guest a net to hunt for their findings. The child who finds the most butterflies wins, and you can conveniently use the books from the table décor as a first prize!
Décor
A basic picnic cooler will never match the feminine style of your party, so why not transform an old wheelbarrow into an adorable cooler. Simply clean out a wheelbarrow in your backyard, or purchase one like I did from Top Ten Toys. Decorate the wheelbarrow with flowers from your backyard or leave it plain for an organic feel. Simply place ice inside the wheelbarrow to chill the children’s favorite juice drink!
Little girls can easily become restless at a long luncheon, so to keep them busy while lunch is being made, create a tablecloth made for coloring. Using a large piece of butcher paper, stencil on a big flower and outline with black marker. Place a small pack of crayons next to each place setting for the kids to color in all of the flowers. This is the perfect solution to keep the little ones busy and make clean-up super easy for you!
To further enhance your place settings, put an adorable children’s book on the table that is centered around flowers and gardening. I love the Tiny Seed not only because is it a heartwarming story, but the front cover has seed enhanced paper, so your book can even grow its own garden!
Takeaway
Even when you are throwing a party for little girls, a takeaway is still a key piece to the party. Bubbles are a fun summer activity for all kids, but simply sending home a bottle of bubbles will certainly not cause your guests to remember your party. Make your takeaway unique by personalizing a small bottle of bubbles with garden party décor. Cut out a flower from construction paper and attach it to the lid of the bubble bottle. Place cat grass in a small watering can, and send your guests home happy with bubbles and their own watering can to grow the seeds from your invitation!
