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Party Planning -
Kid's Party Ideas -Barnyard Party Ideas
With an oink,
oink here and an oink, oink there your child can celebrate their special
day with a barn yard full of friends. Spend
a day on the farm, with cute
animals, a tractor, and barn. Set
the tone for your party with
a themed tablecloth, plates & napkins. Use
Bandanas
as napkins & tie with rope or raffia. Place a Barnyard
Cake shaped like a barn, pig, sheep, cow or pony on the table
as a centerpiece.
The key to pulling off a
coordinated event: Evoke your theme throughout the affair.
Whether that theme is as general as a season or a feeling, or as
specific as a special character, it should be the subtle thread
that ties everything together. Your location, invitations,
flowers, menu, cake, and favors should all cleverly reflect one
common concept. Then, get as creative as you can!
Party Slogan:
After selecting this theme for
your party, choose a slogan to use in your invitations, and to use in
tying in decorations and personalized favors to your barnyard theme.
Find the perfect slogan for your party by trying one of the following,
or by thinking of one that suits your precious child.
- ”Barnyard Bash!”
- “Fun at the Farm!”
- “Horsin’ Around Birthday
Party!”
- “Let’s make hay at Ben’s
Barnyard Birthday Bash!”
Invitations:
Choose one of the following
the invitations in the partyware patterns shown above to let your young guests know what a down-on-the-farm good
time they will have at the party:
Address each envelope to “Farmer
Jones (each child’s last name)”
As an alternative, purchase one of
inexpensive straw
Child Size Cowboy Hat for each
party guest. Attach a computer generated sticker with all the
party details to the back of the hat. Hand deliver the
invites, and ask guests to wear them to the party with farm friendly
attire…denim overalls and flannel shirts.
On
your invitations be sure to tell the kid's to come dressed like a
farmer in an old shirt & overalls.
DECORATING
IDEAS
Party Themes
When your guests arrive
present each farmer, ranch hand or cowpoke with a Bandana and
Child Size Cowboy Hat .
Outdoor Decorations:
Use helium filled
Boot Foil Balloon,
and tie to a mailbox or at the entryway,
make balloon bouquets to set on tables or to tie to a special chair
for the birthday child.
Table Decorations
Setting a table with the party ware,
including the tablecloth, cups, plates, napkins, and cutlery is the
fastest way to create a focal point in a room.
What is more
festive then balloons for decorations. This
Birthday
Balloon Bouquet
has
1- 27" foil cupcake and 6 - 11" colorful birthday balloons
and 60' of curling ribbon. Or you can create your own balloon
bouquet centerpiece using a bunch of helium filled balloons tied
with curling ribbon. Attach them to a
Straw Bale .
Anchor balloons to the inside of
Cowboy Hats.
Hats
also makes a terrific serving dish for dry snacks such as chips,
pretzels or candy.
Bandanas
make great Napkins or Overlays for tables. You can
also use the Bandanas as treat containers, just open them up, place
favors inside, pull up the four corners and tie off with raffia.
Attach a
sheriff's
badge to the outside of each for an added touch!
You could
also roll
Bandanas ,
and tie with curling ribbon or jute, and place in the center of each
plate at an angle. The
cutlery can also be added before the bandana napkin is tied. The toys will entertain the kids as they wait patiently for cake and
ice cream to be served.
Unfold a
Bandanas
or napkins, pinch each
in the center and place the center point down into the bottom
of each cup or wine glass.
This adds a festive touch while the cups or glasses are still empty.
Display your birthday cake in
the center of the table…the kids will love the close up view!
Indoor Decorations:
Swing open the doors for a good
old-fashioned barn party!
Start by covering a wall
with this inexpensive vinyl
Barn Siding (50'x 4' roll). Them add giant
5' Barn Doors. These scene setters are made of heavy vinyl
and easily attaches with Sticky
Tack.
Add a few
Straw Bales around a
split rail fence and the kids will be in
the mooo-d to party! The bales of hay can also be used as
seating for the kids when they eat, or when they need to be seated
for a party activity.
Spread straw on the floors or ground
if outside.
Use animal
piñatas
as a centerpiece for a serving table or gift table
and then bring your party to it's conclusion by letting the kid's
take a wack at the pinata. I've never seen a kid that doesn't like a
pinata.
Balloons
can economically transform any room into a festive space in
a matter of minutes.
Use a Helium Tank to fill balloons. Tie
Curling
Ribbon to balloons, and group them together. (Odd numbers
look best: 3, 5, or 7) Place groupings of balloons around the party
room.
Tie a bunch of helium filled balloons to the birthday child’s
chair, or to the back of each chair.
If you choose not to use helium, tie balloons to varying lengths of
curling ribbon, and hang balloons from the ceiling, or from a light
fixture over the party table.
FAVORS
& GIFT IDEAS
Gifts
Country
Western Music CD. Have a real old fashioned Country
Party.
Light up your Country Party with
blinking Cowboy
Boots and Hats Beads.
BARNYARD
GAMES
Dress the little farm hands up with
Child Size Cowboy Hat and Bandanas. Add a piece of
hay to each little mouth, and take lots of pictures. Take the
time to have each child pose alone, and with the birthday child
for pictures on a tractor or peeking out
of the barn. The priceless photos can then be mailed to each guest
with a thank you note at a later date. Make sure that each child
gets a turn at driving the tractor to the back forty, and plan to give
the children plenty of free time to play down on the farm. Encourage lots of imaginative play.
Animal Sounds
Contest
Have
children stand in front of the group and make their best barnyard animal
noises. For older kids use a panel of judges to later award prizes for
the best, longest, shortest, loudest, quietest, most obnoxious,
silliest, least like an animal.....until everyone wins and has a good
laugh in the process!
Pinata Fun
Bring your party to a close with a
Cow Pinata,
we’ve yet to find a child who doesn’t want to grab some goodies from
one at a party! Use a child-sized pitch fork or hoe as the
"bat", and a
Bandanas
as the blindfold.
ANIMAL HUNT
Hide inexpensive, plastic barnyard
animals or small stuffed
animals around a room in the house or in the yard.
Give each child a bag to place their animals in or make cowhide buckets
from margarine containers. Paint containers white, add black spots to
look like cowhide. Add a rope handle. These make fun treat buckets too.
Pass the
Barnyard Buddy
Play the same as "hot potato"
using a barnyard animal bean
bag. Start the music and have the kid's
pass the Animal around the circle. When the music stops the child
holding the Animal is out. Continue until only one child remains. Give a
prize to the winner.
Tommy Minds
the Farm (use
birthday child's name)
Pretend is a favorite activity for
children, so you are going to pretend that Old McDonald has to go away
for the day and that Tommy (birthday child's name) is going to mind the
farm. Start by pretending to drive to the farm. Then when you get to the
farm, Tommy is going to take a walk around the farm to see that all the
animals are happy. When you met the horse. Say, Hi, Horsey. When the
Horse answers he says " Quack, Quack! Pretend to be puzzled and say
" I thought a horse went "Neigh, Neigh"! , Then visit the
Cow. and say, "How Now, Cow". The cow says "Oink, Oink.
Continue by mixing up the animals sounds. (Pig says "Honk",
Goose says "Meow", Goat say "Rrruff", Cat say
"Baa Baa", Dog says "Cluck Cluck", Sheep say
"Buzz, Buzz", Duck says "Ribbit", Frog says "
Cock-a-doodle-doo", Turkey says "Neigh", & etc.)
Pretend to be very confused and say "Something is really wrong here
on the farm". Then pretend that you get a letter from Old McDonald
that says that the animals like to play tricks on people. Just in case
they try something funny, here is a song to help keep track of things.
Then sing "Old McDonald Had a Farm".
Barnyard Animal Facts:
Make a list of barnyard animal facts with
true/false answers. See who can get the most correct answers.
Pretzel Farm Animals
Let the kids make Pretzel Farm
Animals with the following recipe:
1 package yeast, 4 cups flour, 1½ cups warm water, 1 egg, 1 tbsp.
Sugar, 1 tbsp. Salt. In a large bowl mix yeast, water, sugar and
salt. Stir in flour. Knead on table until dough is smooth.
After the kids have washed their hands, give each child a ball of dough
to work with. Let them be creative as they shape the dough into
animal shapes. Brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with salt.
Let the kids move on to the next adventure while the pretzels bake in a
425* oven for 15 minutes or until browned. Barns on Fire
Relay -Outdoors
Set up a chair on one side of the yard with an empty wash tub or other
large container. On the chair tape a picture of a barn. Divide your
guests into 2 -4 equal teams. On the opposite side of the yard Line each
team up. Give the first child in the line a colored
plastic pail filled with water (have extra pails of water
ready),
cowboy
hat, cowboy
vest, &
Bandanas
( or you could also use a pair of overall
& bandana). The relay starts and the first child in each
group must put on the vest, bandana, & hat then grab the pail of
water and race to the barn chair. Dump the water in the wash tub and run
back to the start line. Take off the vest, bandana, & hat. Give the
empty pail to the adult to be refilled with water. The next child then
does the same until all members of the team have completed the coarse.
The first team to finish or the team with the most water in the wash tub
can be declared the winners! Give small prize to each member of the
winning team.
Variation 1: To play indoors use
blue tissue paper to represent water in the pail & the kid's will
have to throw the tissue paper into the wash tub.
Variation 2: Will need to play this one outside. Place an empty
bucket on the chair, give each team a bucket filled with water. Give
each child an empty paper cup. Place the bucket of water next to the
last person in line. When you say "Ready, Set, Fight the
Fire", the last person in line must fill their cup from the bucket
then fill the cup of the next person in line, who in turn fills the cup
of the next person in line from their cup, when the person at the
beginning of the line has their cup filled they must then, run, jump,
hop
to the bucket on the other side of the room and pour the water into the
empty bucket. (The amount of water they get into the bucket, counts more
than speed). They then return to their team and go to the end of the
line. They now fill their cup and start the process over again. Play
continues until all members of the team have placed water into the
bucket and returned to the end of the line. Each team must finish before
a winner is announced. The winner is the team who has filled the empty
bucket the fullest. Use a measuring pitcher to determine the winner.
Musical
Hats
Play this game using the same
concept as the classic game of musical chairs…one less hat than there
are children for each round. Place a pile of
Cowboy
Hats on a table that the kids must walk around while
the music is playing. When the music is turned off, the kids must
scramble to put on a hat. The child without a hat must leave the game,
and the game continues with one less hat until there is one child
remaining – the winner.
Animal Package Wrap Game
Wrap a box of animal fruit snacks
with newspaper or butcher paper. Continue wrapping layer upon
layer around the package, so that the kids can unwrap it one sheet at a
time. After you have added approximately 12-15 layers, wrap the
final layer with real birthday paper and a fancy bow. Play some
music, and tell the kids that when the music stops, whoever is holding
the package gets to unwrap the package (be specific that they may only
open one layer.) Continue playing the game until the final layer
is removed. The winner gets to give each person a package of the
fruit snacks…so everyone wins!
BARNYARD
FOOD IDEAS
Remember that kid's eat very
little at a party. Cake, Ice Cream & Moo Juice (milk) are all that
is really needed. For a light meal we suggest:
FARM ANIMAL SHAPED
SANDWICHES
Sandwiches cut into animal shapes with cookie cutters.
Spread softened butter over pieces of thinly sliced bread.
Add sandwich fillings like:
-
Peanut Butter and
banana.
-
Bologna slices
-
Ham and cheese
(thinly sliced and garnished with Dijon mustard).
-
Ham Filling: Combine 2
cans processed ham with 1/4 cup mayonnaise and 1 teaspoon mustard.
Makes 1 1/2 cups.
-
Pineapple and cream
cheese (whip together one package cream cheese with 1/2 cup cream.
Add one cup well drained crushed pineapple).
-
Cheese Filling: Beat 2
packages (3 ounce each) softened cream cheese with 2 tablespoons
grated Parmesan cheese, 2 teaspoon lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce to spreading consistency. Makes 2/3 cup.
Wrap and refrigerate the sandwiches. Shortly before serving, remove
from the refrigerator, trim off the crusts and cut out shapes
PIGS IN A BLANKET
You will each need a
biscuit from a can of biscuits and one hot dog. Take the biscuit
and flatten it with your hands. Try to make it into a rectangle
so that it is bigger than your hot dog. After it is big enough,
wrap your hot dog in the biscuit. Place the pig in the blanket
on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. As a variation try
using little cocktail sausages instead of hot dogs.
PLOWED FIELD
DIRT CUPS
Yield: 10 servings
2 Cups Cold milk
1 pkg. JELL-O chocolate pudding
1 pkg. COOL-WHIP topping, thawed
1 pkg. Chocolate sandwich cookies
10 7 ounce plastic cups
Gummy worms
Gummy frogs
Candy flowers
Chopped peanuts
Crush cookies until they resemble dirt and set aside. Combine pudding
mix and milk until well blended. Then fold in the whipped topping. Fill
plastic cups with pudding mixture alternating with the cookie crumbs.
Top with cookie crumbs. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, then decorate
with gummy worms and other toppings.
HEARTY MEAL:
If you plan on
serving a meal for your barnyard party use some of these farm
favorites.
- Fried Chicken drumsticks & wings
- Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
- Fresh Green Beans
- Corn on the Cob
- Cole Slaw
- Fresh Garden Veggie Platter
- Baby-cut carrots and sliced zucchini
- Dill pickle spears
BARNYARD
CAKE LINKS
BARNYARD
LINKS
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