Birthday Parties: Cheap and Simple: Explorers

My Affectionate-Bulldozer of a youngest daughter had what was deemed 'the best birthday ever' near the end of 2013. It was her Explorer Party for her 4th birthday.

I'll admit that it wasn't her choice of party, but it was chosen based on what she loves. And it was simple, and affordable, and fantastically fun.

We're not a family of great financial means. But we are a wealthy family in terms of creative thought and enterprising use of available resources.

The basics of our Best Birthday Party Ever was that we met out at a favoured area of local bushland, gave each child a very basic, open ended 'explorer kit', and set them loose allowing the children to lead us according to what interested them, finishing with a picnic lunch.

The explorer kits were basic drawstring bags made from scrap fabric I had on hand, each with a length of ribbon to hang over the child's neck (many of which are still being used by the children 12 months on).
Each kit contained:
* a cheap set of play binoculars
* a notepad
* two coloured markers
* two chocolates
Party blowers may have come out during the picnic lunch.

That was it. That was all it took to turn children into brave explorers with independent purpose and to realise the spirit of their own adventurous potential. We had a couple of magnifying glasses too.

No prescriptive games requiring rules or complicated resources.
No litter
No decorations
No pre-booking
No deposit of funds equal to our weekly groceries
No strenuous preparation of perfect delicate little details to become the envy of everyone on pinterest.

I subscribe to the concept of only inviting about as many children as the age my child is turning. Any more than that is overwhelming when they're little. Though the first birthday is all about the mama so invite whoever you want :)

I minimise organised party games. Children only really start enjoying party games from about 5-6 years. And I'm not a fan of needing winners and losers at birthday parties. Children get a lot more fun out of playing according to their own whim. When we control their play we miss the opportunity to see what amazing joy they can create for themselves.

In our adventures we tested out our binoculars, we looked at small things up close with our magnifying glasses. We studied kangaroo poo, and discovered sun-bleached dry animal bones that fitted in against each other. We found a dry tortoise shell and saw the bone structure within. We followed wallaby tracks. We found frog spawn clinging to bullrushes. We touched velvety soft fungus growing in a tree stump. We peered into hollow logs and guessed at what might live there.

 We drew our ideas in our mini adventure journals. We shared our discoveries verbally and by handing treasures from friend to friend. We marvelled at our world and were surrounded by some remarkable scenery and perfect Australian skies.

We played hide and seek around big fallen logs. We poked waterholes with sticks. We climbed and ran and balanced and slid around on an old wooden sheep run by an old shearing shed.

We had good quality simple fun. No bells and whistles. No fancy expensive play centre. Just children, a wild space, and Adventure.

We keep our cakes simple too: a map on a chocolate brownie