Eco-Friendly Woodland Birthday Party Ideas

A woodland themed party is a fun way to encourage children to bond with nature. An enchanted forest party is best hosted outside where nature’s magic is abundant… with no trace of commercialism.

Woodland parties have been trending for a while now. And for good reason. Themes surrounding nature, forest animals, fairies, and gnomes put classic themes back into party planning.

I believe all of our parties and holidays should respect Mother Nature and her resources. You can find several tips for hosting an eco-friendly birthday party here.

And, when it comes to a woodland or forest party, you’ll want to be extra mindful not to create a consumerism fest in the name of cute squirrels and foxes. Use this adorable party theme to show kids the importance of protecting these wild creatures and their homes..

Here are some adorable ways to host a fun, authentic, eco-friendly woodland themed party.

Woodland Themed Party Invitations

If you need permission not to send out paper invitations, here it is.

We host a Derby party each year, and I always make a digital invitation. I use my own photographs and online design software, and then my husband and I text it out to our friends. Other than weddings, every party or gathering invitation I’ve received in the last two years has either been an e-vite or a via text.

That said, I get that invitations for a party like this are adorable. Choose an enchanted forest theme e-vite or opt for a printable invitation like these adorable woodland theme printables from Etsy. Print it on recycled card stock.

Eco-Friendly Enchanted Forest Party Decorations

If there’s ever a fitting occasion to let Mother Nature be your decorator, a forest party is it!

Create a warm and welcoming picnic-style seating area outside if weather permits. Use what you have (notice there’s not a lot of matchy-matchy on these place settings) and forage for nature’s own decorations like pine cones, tree branches, and wildflowers.

Build the magic with specially selected decorations or ‘gifts’ from the fairies and mark a special forest trail, backyard nook, or park with woodland hints of magic.

A fairy garden adds to this party’s authenticity. Find plenty of creative and magical fairy garden ideas here.

Forest Party Food Ideas

Sure, parties are a fun time to have treats, but there’s no need for an entire table full of sugar-laden junk.

Fruits (and dried fruits), berries, seeds, and trail mixes are healthy yet festive snacks for a party set in nature. Ants on a log, pretzel sticks labeled as twigs, and chocolate acorns make super cute woodland party foods.

Woodland Party Cakes and Cupcakes

This Magical Forest Floor “Tea Cake” from Must Love Herbs is the perfect bright, fresh, and sweet dessert. The cake itself is a buttermilk pound cake. It is not overly sweet and the icing is a creamy version of traditional buttercream.

The vanilla beans add a lovely depth to the sweetness that brings it all together. The cake is decorated with foraged grape hyacinths, chamomile and phlox. The top of the cake is decorated with green colored cake crumbs to give the look of a mossy forest floor. Find the recipe in this Instagram post.

And while we don’t necessarily have the skills to DIY this one, it feels like amazing inspiration for any forest themed party. This darling hedgehog cake by KBCakes Bakery is creative, sweet, and will definitely make your little guests smile.

These darling cupcake holders are inspired by a Norwegian children’s book called “Den lille REVEN/The little FOX.” The book is about the two little foxes that live in a cottage together with their mum and dad in a place called Strawberry Fields.

Instead of plastic straws, choose these birch paper straws. Speaking of birch, how cute are the birch wood cupcake wrappers above?

Forest Party Games and Activities

Spending time in the forest is the best party activity. If you don’t live near any woods, host your party at a park where there are trails or plenty of trees. Activities can include

• a nature scavenger hunt
• leaf rubbing
• nature trivia games
• make your own nature art supplies
• hike in the woods (bring a few parents to watch out for small children)
• fairy walk

Younger children will love a fairy walk where they travel through nature to see what magical “gifts” the fairies might have left behind. On our fairy walk, we set up gifts from the fairies in advance to work as an eye-spy game to keep the young guests engaged.

The length of the trail or forest walk would depend on ages and time-frame. Our walk lasted about 10 minutes for each guest which was perfect for 4 and 5 year olds. Every 10 feet there was a gift left by the fairies.

Along our walk the fairies had left

• a tea set in an abandoned tree house built into the forest
• felt acorn capped ornaments hanging from branches
• the fairy house shown above
• wooden bird houses hanging in branches
• a bucket of wooden wands that each child enjoyed keeping
• and our favorite – the outdoor fairy door

Woodland Birthday Party Favors

While I support foregoing the goodie bag because most of the time they’re filled with junky items or candy, I know many people don’t feel a party is complete without them. And when done well, they can be a lasting memory of their special day with the fairies!

Don’t fill the bags with cheap plastic toys. Give something useful or something your little guests can play with or use to decorate their room like

• felted toadstools
• seed paper forest animals so they can grow flowers from their forest party favor
• woodland animals coloring books with crayons sets
• these forest animal bubble wands are plastic but they will definitely be a hit

Woodland parties are perhaps the most fun to plan because within the heart of every parent is a little Peter Pan. Believing in fairies and magical forest creatures reminds us of our own childhood.