Enchanted Forest: a fairy birthday party, planned

The look: soft pastels, moss green and fairy lights

Moss and leaf greens make the forest, and soft pastels, blush, lilac and pale yellow, make it a fairy one. Warm fairy lights do more than any other single decoration, so draw the curtains a little and let them glow.

Choose one corner as the fairy glade: a canopy of sheer fabric, a rug, cushions and a ring of paper toadstools. It is where the story gets read and where the cake comes out.

• Paper or painted-bowl toadstools in red and white, dotted along the skirting and the table.
• Faux moss and real twigs as a table runner, with tea lights in jars for the grown-ups' end.
• Paper butterflies on fishing line so they move when anyone walks past.
• Tiny fairy doors stuck to the bottom of walls and tree trunks for the children to discover.
• A pastel balloon garland wound through with ivy or paper leaves.

The invitation

Write it as a message left by the fairies, in curly lettering on a leaf or a scroll. Say whether wings are welcome and whether any of the party is outdoors, and ask about allergies in the RSVP since fairy food leans on honey and nuts.

You're invited

Enchanted Forest

The fairies have sent word: you are invited to a birthday in the enchanted forest.

✓ Going? Maybe✗ Can't

Woodland food and the toadstool cake

Small portions on leaf-shaped plates feel right for the theme, and suit small appetites.

• Fairy bread: buttered white bread with sprinkles, cut into triangles or stars.
• Toadstool eggs: halved hard-boiled eggs with a tomato cap and mayonnaise dots.
• Acorn treats: chocolate kisses stuck to mini biscuits with a dab of icing, checked for nut allergies.
• Berry cups: strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in paper cups.
• Fairy dew: pink lemonade or elderflower cordial in small glasses with a flower ice cube.
• The cake: a moss-green cake with a red and white toadstool on top, or a white cake covered in edible flowers and butterflies.

The wand table and gentle games

The wand table is the main event and can run for half an hour. The games around it are short and none of them has a loser.

• Wand making: sticks or dowels, ribbons, star cut-outs and stick-on gems, with an adult on the glue.
• Fairy door hunt: find every tiny door in the house or garden and leave a paper flower at each one.
• Flower crowns: pre-made headbands with silk flowers to add.
• Musical toadstools: like musical chairs, but nobody is out; the toadstools just get shared.
• Fairy story time in the glade while the cake is lit in the kitchen.

How the two hours run

1. 0:00Arrivals through the fairy door, and a flower crown for each guest.
2. 0:15Wand making at the craft table.
3. 0:45Fairy door hunt around the house or garden.
4. 1:00Woodland food.
5. 1:25Musical toadstools, then story time in the glade.
6. 1:40Lights low, the fairy lights on, and the toadstool cake.
7. 1:55Wands go home as favours.

What to buy

Pack sizes are for about 15 kids. In PartyPal the list sizes itself to your headcount.

Common questions