Less-clutter Birthday Party
When my recently turned 7-year-old was planning her birthday party, she wanted to invite 20 girls to celebrate. We agreed to this rather large guest list but with one condition....no gifts! The big party was a gift in and of itself because she would be able to surround herself with her friends and have tons of FUN!
Here is how we hosted a less-clutter birthday party for our 7-year-old and her friends:
Evite.com Creating an online invitation with evite.com is easy and free. I sent the invites to the parents and used the kid’s names. Then, parents could indicate how many adults and children would be attending the party. It was easy to manage the RSVPs and send out a few reminders as the party approached.
No paper invitations meant no shopping for me, and no paper for families to manage on the other end.
No gifts, donations only please.
My daughter was presented with a few charities in need of donations, and she selected an elementary school in Indianapolis. In the invitation, I included a message about the school and listed the most urgent needs.
She opened and sorted all the donations as soon as we got home. The families were so generous with their donations. She was able to deliver the donations with me, and the school staff were so appreciative and gave her a tour of the school.
This effort benefited in many ways. The school has additional resources for their students. My daughter does not have to find a home for an abundance of gifts. And maybe even most importantly, we are teaching our daughter to be philanthropic and to know the gift of giving.
Consumable/no clutter party gifts.
We held the party at a gymnastics facility. Gift bags for each guest is included in the party package, but I asked that these not be used. I didn’t want to send home a bag of clutter. So instead, we gave each girl a balloon (which also served as decorations) as a party gift. The balloon would last for a bit, and then, it could easily be disposed.
Using online party invites, requesting no personal gifts and providing a consumable party gift, I hope we made a difference by creating less-clutter for us and our party guests. My daughter LOVED her birthday party and the opportunity to play with so many friends.
What ideas have you had for reducing clutter at kid’s birthday parties?
#clutterfreebirthday #birthdayparty #evite #donations #youthphilanthropy