Please help me plan a woodland party for dd. I'm stuck for ideas.

[TheNurseryCryme]

Dd wants to have a party in the woods. I'm thinking of building a den, having a treasure hunt, maybe a camp firewith marsh mallows.

Dd is also keen for pass the parcel (!)

What can I do for a picnic and how?

What games do you think would work?

dd is 7years.

For the picnic could you do individual lunch boxes. I've seen various cheap boxes (chinese takeaway style like you see on American tv shows) on the internet. Or use brown paper bags and decorate with cut out leaves etc. What about a scavenger hunt - if there are enough when we've done this before they seem to prefer being in teams. This Martha Stewart party idea might give you some ideas - the crowns looked fun, perhaps you could take them undecorated and the girls could then complete them using things they'd found. www.marthastewart.com/274390/outdoor-party-themes/@center/276960/kids-birthday-parties#205907

Not sure at 7 if this would be too babyish but could you sneak into the wood an hour or so before people arrive and plant a "teddybear's picnic" for them to discover? Extra points if her favourite teddy is there!

My DD (5) is having a camping party on Saturday. I've booked the campsite and discussed day visitors with them. The site has woods. They will be having a treasure hunt, play parachute games. A scavenger hunt. A lunch of sandwiches yoghurt tubes fruit mini rolls and CAKE.

Then I was just going to let them run around. They are more than capable of amusing themselves. If I can be arsed manage I will put up a swing or light a fire (depending on behaviour)

Good luck. For me it's infinitely better than soft play or similar as those places bring me out in hives.

Food...

Could you do a fire and have hotdogs? Or take along a portable or diposable BBQ? Otherwise finger foods like sausage rolls, chicken bites, etc rather than sandwiches.

Games...

A minibeast hunt? They have to find ten different beasts from a checklist?

Pass the parcel could work with a bundle of leaves? If any of your trees actually have leaves that is; ours are just coming in to bud here

Hide and seek would work. Also musical tree stumps/logs if you can find enough to sit on?

We're doing a teddy bear's picnic for DD's 6th birthday and are going to have a treasure hunt to find little Lindt chocolate bears (though DS1 is worried that dogs might either eat them or pee on them). Having the picnic set up and "finding" it it a brilliant idea Yonibotts

We did a party in the woods for dd3 4th birthday. It was fab. We took barbecues because we were feeding the adults too.
One great game that went down well, was a home made piñata that we tied to a tree.
Parachute games, bubbles, footballs, den building. Assault courses. General running around as children should!

We took a gazebo with us, lots of blankets and I strung up some bunting.

football
parachute
bark rubbing
treasure hunt
hide and seek
animal/bird spotting games?

We went to one that had a fairy/elf theme as it was in the woods.

Similar suggestions to above included BBQ, sanwiches in the shapes of fairies, stars etc but also a fairy hunt where pictures of fairies were hidden and they had to be found and leaf rubbings.

Also there was fairy juice (pink lemonade) and elf juice (blue lemonade) which was hugely popular! I suppose you could colour water if you didn't want fizzy juice.

Hi Nursery, how are your plans going for your woodland party? I'm also planning a woodland party, for my son who will be five in July.

So far I have planned a summer scavenger hunt: www.naturedetectives.org.uk/download/play_summer_scavenger_hunt.htm

Also, building a den: visitwoods.org.uk/en/visit-woods/things-to-do/Documents/den-instructions.pdf

In the woods near where we live you can hire a BBQ so we're doing that and cooking chicken and sausages with salad bits and other nibbles, water to drink and birthday cake!

For party bags I've bought brown paper bags which we plan to paint a stencil of a woodland animal on and fill with woodland foam stickers, some woodland colouring in scenes to decorate, and pop in a piece of birthday cake and maybe something else.

There's also a play area back at the BBQ so plan to do the den building and scavenger hunt first when all the children arrive and then come back and get them the food. Then they have the play area to play in afterwards.

To make them fun, perhaps cut the sambos in the shape of stars or flowers (cookie cutters - feed the birds with crusts). Make cupcakes into magic mushrooms with red icing and white dots. Marshmallows on sticks, esp if have any fire/BBQ. "Rabbit poop" (or any other animal you wish) - chocolate covered raisins. Don't forget digestive or marie biscuits for marshmallows. And a bowl of woodland berries (raspberries, blueberries etc).

Can you get a 5l bottle of water, to make up fruit squash in? (They usually have a handle to carry them, and plenty of drinks might be needed for running around). Or even wash out a couple of 2l or 3l milk cartons to use.

Maybe a few sheets with nature things to hunt for as well as any treasures you bring yourself - different types of leaves, flowers, birds etc. And some colouring sheets of nature/woodland things (there are lots of free printables online - I find them all the time and forget to bookmark, but google is your friend).