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Step into an enchanting secret garden with this easy to set up Secret Garden Party! Our garden party was inspired by the Secret Garden written by Frances Hodgson Burnett and was filled with some easy & inexpensive ideas. Read on to check it out!
DECORATIONS
Turn your party area into a Secret Garden!!! If your party is indoors, bring out some flowers, greens, and faux leaves. Otherwise, set up some picnic blankets or tables out in the yard or picnic area!
We also created some printables that added to the garden vibe – Secret Garden Party Printables.
PHOTO AREA
Photo backdrops are a great way of setting a theme and double as a nice and easy activity! Pick a backdrop that functions as decorative, add a few props to the scene and you’ve got a great place to hang out!
There are some great options for some garden and nature backdrops (Enchanted Forest Photography Backdrop Fairy Garden Background, Old Stone Wall with Green Leaves Backdrop, Garden Wooden Door Backdrop). For our party, we opted to use a Green Leaves Backdrop!
Note, you don’t have to go all out with a photo backdrop stand either. Grab a few pieces of tape and an empty wall & you’re all set!
THE TABLE
Since we had both kids and adults at this party, we set up two different tables.
For our adult table, we set brown stoneware plates on top of Wood Slice Paper Placemats, wooden utensils, and Mini Lanterns at each setting. Then we used some artificial vine and sprinkled leaves and grass around the table.
For our kids table, we set out some used different shades of green and added spme faux moss balls. For each setting, we used green plates and floral plates.
PARTY FOOD
No party is complete without some party food! When our parties are inspired by books, we like to add some signs with quotes as special nods to the authors’ works! This party was no different – there’s few references to food in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Secret Garden. With food being a measure of physical and emotional health, there was no shortage of food or food references 🙂
In the book, there were references to chicken, beef, ham, eggs, bread, etc. So, we had a few dishes with those in there 🙂
ACTIVITY TABLE
We typically set up an activity table for kids to keep entertained while everyone arrives AND after all the games are done. These activities are simple and easy and typically don’t require too much supervision!
- Gardening (pot decorating & seed planting). We had a small table with a few mini terracotta pots for the kids to decorate. We also put out a few seedpackets, to plant when they got home!
- Seed Balls. We used some clay and seeds to create some mini seedballs. Note: just be careful where you place them to make sure the seeds are OK to grow in that area.
GAMES
Games! Games! Games! What is a party without a few games 🙂 We had a few simple ones that kept the kiddos busy throughout the party! Since we had quite a few crafts that we knew everyone would want to focus on, we had just a few games
- Key Search: We had a “search for the keys” game where we scattered keys around the party area. Note: in our printable set, we also have some small key images that you can hide around as well.
- Scavenger Hunt: We created a scavenger hunt with most objects being easy to find in nature.
- Treasure Hunts: We used this treasure hunt and hid the images around the party area.
- Escape Room: We created a more complex “escape room” like puzzle quest that loosely followed the story & ended in the ‘discovery’
GOODIE BAGS & GIVE WAYS
In addition to everything that our guests made for themselves, we also sent home a few thank you items. Inside our goodie bags, we created a few Thank You cards and sent guests home with some mini botanical lego sets.
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you so much for checking out our Party! Hopefully this has helped or maybe even inspired more ideas! If so, we’d love to hear it! Let us know in the comments below or follow us on Pinterest.
Also, if you’re looking for more ideas, check out our book-themed celebrations and our other parties!
Happy Party Planning!
