Party Ideas: Farm Party for Kids ("It's a Barnyard Bash!")
In September, we celebrated my daughter’s 2nd birthday. I had been stuck at home since June with a herniated disc and was ready to lose whatever was left of my mind. Party planning gave me a much-needed distraction. Most kids like to jump around, dance, climb on things, etc. Mine pets animals. Seriously – if you asked my daughter where she wanted to go any day of the week, she’d pick a farm (I think she inherited her mother’s social graces). That said, it wasn’t very hard to pick a farm birthday party as our theme.
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Figuring out how to actually pull it off with 26 people – and all of them from my home state of New Jersey, nonetheless – was the real challenge, especially since my parents’ house was only designed to fit about half that amount.
STEP ONE: PICK A THEME
We started our freak-out session by focusing on decorations. Did we want reds or pastels? Farm animals or tractors? Was the party going to be inside or outside? And ultimately, how could we keep ourselves from going broke?
So I did what I always do when I’m stressed – I shop. A lot. Which I totally realize is counter-intuitive to the whole “keeping ourselves from going broke” goal, but I digress. First stop was Amazon, of course. Plastic wall decorations in the shape of a barn door? Sounds good. Mini chalkboards for the food descriptions? Sure! Farm-animal cupcake toppers? But of course! Take all my money!
A few days later, my first farm birthday party shipment arrived. I took my barn door pieces out of their bag, congratulated myself on being frugal, and tried plastering them across the front door. Thank goodness I married an engineer, because my first 10 attempts at getting the tape to stick were really something for the ages. My husband put them up in about 30 seconds and left me to buy beer while I sat and nursed my broken ego.
Next came the obvious paper supplies, where I came to the realization that spending crazy amounts of money on themed napkins, cups and plates really wasn’t worth it. Why not? Because it’s ultimately all about the first impression – which means that as long as that first napkin has your theme in it, you might as well alternate it with plain colors to get your point across without spending an arm and a leg.
So off to my second-favorite store – Dollar Tree – I went. Two red/white tablecloths, a bunch of red napkins and plates, some clear silverware, 2 pks of balloons to hang instead of float, and a few bags of red cups later and I was done – and the best part? I only spent $15. The rest of the tableware came from a single set purchased on Amazon of farm birthday party-themed plates and napkins that I interchanged with the solid ones I had just found at the dollar store (see what I did there? Just cut your tableware expenses in half. Thank me later).
STEP TWO: PULL OFF YOUR FARM PARTY
Time passed quickly with all my back-patting, and before I knew it, the day had arrived. Appetizers were simple: chips, salsa, popcorn, raw carrots, broccoli, dip, tomatoes and olives. Main course was a good-old-fashioned BBQ, catered by our favorite joint, Redbones (seriously, if you’re ever in MA, you’ve got to give them a try). Plates of food were inhaled by the mouthfuls, and while I can’t speak to how they came out in the bathroom later, it seemed like most people enjoyed them – or at least pretended to – on the way down.
Farm Party Suggested Food Names:
- Pulled pork = “Pig Pen”
- BBQ chicken = “Chicken Coop”
- Mac & cheese = “Muddy Mac”
- Mashed potatoes = “Trampled Taters”
- Dirty rice = “Rooster Rice”
- Cornbread = “Cowboy Cornbread”
STEP THREE: RECYCLE & REUSE FARM PARTY SUPPLIES
Since there were five other kids there too, we played a quick (thematic) game of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey,” which I found at my local supermarket for under $1. Yes, the donkey looked like he got caught at a Mardi Gras party with a few too many margaritas, but he was a dollar so my standards were low.
My sister-in-law lent us her blow-up bounce house (definitely ask your friends if you can borrow theirs – they might be happy it’s getting some use), which only short-circuited our electricity twice. Just kidding – we have electrical problems – but it’s fun to blame her anyway (*smooch*). And our local farm actually let us BORROW a bunny rabbit (who does that?!), so when you considered those things – plus the water table we always keep outside anyway – we were pretty set on entertainment.
One of the best parts about this farm birthday party – besides the fact that nobody killed themselves or anybody around them (never underestimate the value of that statement, especially during family gatherings) – was that I was able to reuse a ton of things we already had in our house for decorations. Case in point: this Fisher-Price farm playset became a table centerpiece, our Melissa & Doug fruit crates (which, from what I can tell, are totally useless otherwise) became tablecloth weights, and these farm bath toys were our cake toppers.
And the cake, by the way, came out REALLY well, thanks to a local bakery called LaCascia’s and a custom farm topper from Rachel’s Paper Creations on Etsy. We made some chocolate cupcakes, added those farm-themed toppers to them, threw in a few sprinkle cookies for color, and then we were done. Our favors were from Facebook Marketplace – this local woman made the cutest animal cookies and they were way less than if I had gone with an actual bakery.
It turned out to be a really nice day, and the birthday girl slept REALLY well that night – but not as well as her parents, that’s for sure!
