Happy Hours: Outdoor children's birthday party
Let the games begin! Without a doubt, a kids' birthday party is a very special event. Do you still remember the excitement beforehand? A whole afternoon with all your friends, lots of games, and you as the birthday child in the spotlight? That was truly something special.
But let's be honest, managing a bunch of wild little ones through an entire afternoon can be damn exhausting. Our tip: either recruit active support from family members or hire professionals. That way, you can also enjoy the birthday party and rely on experienced educators. For our current blog post, we brought Janine from "Deine Kinderbetreuung" on board as a professional and together developed a small concept for the perfect outdoor kids' birthday party with lots of action and a bit of adventure. Professionals like Janine always have a great idea up their sleeve and ensure a very individual birthday that will be remembered for many years. In our case, you could even introduce a birthday party tradition with a challenge trophy that everyone looks forward to every year.
Suitable locations include your own garden, the Elbe beach, the city park, a meadow in the countryside, or a spot in the forest. Ideally located is, for example, the Alte Ziegelei Pavilion in Elmshorn, a KOCHfabrik in-house location. Surrounded by greenery and with a spacious garden area, there is plenty of room to romp, play, and picnic. For the right decorative accessories, we recommend the imaginative products from meri meri: Whether a colorful picnic, pirate party, or jungle theme, meri meri has it.
The idea:
Instead of individual games, we set up a whole game course and hold a small tournament. The birthday group is divided into pairs competing against each other. The winner of the day is the team that completes the course the fastest.
Depending on the age of the birthday group, the course can be larger and more difficult. For a themed party, simply adapt the games accordingly. For a jungle theme, for example, the children must move like a certain animal at each station. We have designed an example course for children from six years old.
1st Station:
Balance over a beam/log
- Both players must balance flawlessly over the beam. Whoever falls off has to start over.
The expert says: A great exercise to strengthen the sense of balance and improve overall motor skills. The children are allowed to support each other while balancing, which promotes social competence.
2nd Station:
Knock down cans with a ball
- Each player gets a ball. Together they have to hit and knock over a certain number of cans with the ball.
The expert says: This game playfully promotes sensory and motor skills.
3rd Station:
Spin a hula hoop at least ten times
- Both players get a hoop. Together they have to manage to spin the ring around their hips ten times.
The expert says: The exercise with the hula hoop promotes children's coordination and mobility. Counting out loud trains language development and mathematical skills.
4th Station:
Blind ponies
- One player is blindfolded. He gets a rope in each hand. With these reins, the other player must guide him through a zigzag course marked out with ropes. The boundary ropes must not be touched. If they are, the players must start the station again.
The professional says: All areas of development are equally promoted here. In particular, emotional and social skills are required here, as the children have to work as a team and communicate.
5th station:
Apple snapping
- Some quartered apples are placed in two bowls filled with water. Both players must together retrieve five apple pieces from the water with their mouths without using their hands.
The professional says: This game is especially great because the children coordinate and communicate with each other again here and additionally train their motor skills.
6th station
Goal
- Once the players have completed the 5th station, they must run to the finish line as quickly as possible, where their time will be recorded.
The professional says: Motor and social skills are also required when running into the finish line.
The couple with the best time will be awarded a challenge trophy, a medal, or a sash, which can be awarded again to the winning couple next year.
As a special highlight and surprise of the day, we love an ice cream bike or a nostalgic ice cream cart. With the selection of ice cream flavors and the subsequent enjoyment of the cool refreshment, the kids are well occupied for a while and the adults also enjoy a nice, creamy Italian ice cream.
Completely caught up in the outdoor fever, we end the day at the campfire (grill or fire barrel also work) with stick bread sausages, mini burgers with cauliflower-cheese rösti, and freshly picked salad as well as watermelon-strawberry punch. Those who like can also make a sweet stick bread with colorful Smarties.
Our recipe ideas:
Stick bread sausages
For the stick bread dough: (approx. 12 servings)
500 g flour
1 tsp Fleur de Sel
40 g fresh yeast
300 ml lukewarm water
2 tsp honey
4 tbsp olive oil
Mix flour and salt, stir the yeast with some lukewarm water and mix with honey and oil into the flour. Knead the dough well on a work surface with wet hands, shape into a ball, and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Alternatively, the dough can be prepared the day before and stored overnight in the fridge.
For the stick bread sausages, skewer bockwurst onto sticks, wrap with the stick bread dough, and then roast over the fire.
If you’re in a hurry, frozen pretzels also work. Just thaw and wrap the dough around the stick.
Shape the dough best into a thin sausage and then wrap it around the stick. Not too thick, otherwise it takes forever for the dough to cook through. The sticks should be at least 1.20 m long and straight. Best to strip the bark off the end, sharpen it, and brush with oil.
Mini burgers with cauliflower-cheese rösti (approx. 20 pieces)
Mini burger buns
500g floury potatoes
500g cauliflower
400g Parmesan
3 eggs
120g ground almonds
3 tbsp sunflower oil
Salt & Pepper
Ketchup & Mayo
Greens (for example, loose-leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomato …)
Cook the potatoes until soft and press through a potato ricer. Grate the cauliflower and Parmesan. Mix with the egg, ground almonds, and oil. Season with pepper and salt. Portion the dough onto a baking sheet, flatten slightly, and bake in a preheated oven at 200 °C for about 20 minutes or fry golden brown in a pan.
Briefly warm the burger buns in the oven. Then fill with ketchup, mayo, the cauliflower patty, and greens of your choice and serve.
Watermelon-Strawberry Punch
1 watermelon (preferably seedless)
500 g strawberries
Agave syrup
1 bunch of mint
Juice and zest of 2 organic limes
Mineral water to fill up
Put the flesh of the melon as well as the hulled and cleaned strawberries through a blender and puree finely. If you like, strain the whole mixture once more through a fine sieve to ensure no pieces remain. Add the juice and zest of the limes as well as agave syrup (depending on desired sweetness) to the fruit pulp. Fill up the fruit puree with mineral water and garnish with mint.
A few of our favorite partners, whom we warmly recommend to you:
Cakes & Cupcakes: Cherrylicious, Instagram @cherryliciouscp
Decoration: Meri Meri, Instagram @merimeriparty
Your childcare, Instagram @deine_Kinderbetreuung
Location: Alte Ziegelei Pavilion, Instagram @alte_ziegelei_pavillon
All photos: meri meri
About the Kochfabrik
Photo: Bianca Becker
You have to celebrate the parties as they come. This is also the opinion of the two marketing experts Jennifer Driesen and Nora Döhmer. The two managers jointly lead the marketing of the sustainable premium caterer Die KOCHfabrik, around the entrepreneur Patrick Diehr. Together they are always looking for exciting new culinary experiences and surprising event concepts. Whether wedding, conference, or gala, KOCHfabrik finds the right setting with impressive cuisine.
Here you can find the Kochfabrik. Many great ideas around the topic of events. Take a look.
Homepage: www.koch-fabrik.com
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Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/die-kochfabrik