Spring Break, Day 4 :: A Nature Party!

A very special little friend of ours celebrated his 8th birthday today with a super-cool party! We met at a local state park for a day full of nature exploration and fun. The gathering was simple, yet thoughtful and so inspiring. If you're planning a birthday for a little person in your life, this idea was a big hit with all ages! Read on for details...

There were two activity stations set up - animal track stamping (with picture books on animal tracks to look at) and leaf rubbing.

The kids went on a scavenger hunt in the woods, which I heard about all day. They loved this so much! To make it manageable, the children were split into three groups by age, with the youngest having a simpler list to seek out.

In addition to exploring the nearby river and its wildlife - fiddler crabs were abundant on the bank, and a blue crab & jumping mullet were spotted in the water - the kids enjoyed a visit from the park ranger. He stopped by to welcome the party guests and let them see a baby vulture he had rescued in the park that morning - amazing! (It was then on it's way to a rescue center, being only about 2 days old!)

I couldn't help but photograph the darling serving ware... compostable bamboo plates and utensils! The utensils were wrapped in a napkin and tied onto the individual plates with garden twine (through two holes punched in the side of the plate). This made serving from the buffet so easy, even with tugging kids and a gusty wind.

We toasted s'mores over a fire, a special treat since it started out an unusually cold morning for us here in southwest Florida. And we ate birthday cake too! My girls were over the moon.

Finally, to top off a wonderful party, each guest went home with a personalized magnifying glass and a really nice set of binoculars so they can continue exploring at home. What a great time!