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Barnyard Party -5yr- Painted Cardboard Animals

December 2001

Molly in Connecticut, USA

Honorable Mention

Barnyard Party 5 year old. 

INVITATION: For the barnyard party invitation, you will need a piece of hay/ribbon, and red paper. From the red paper, cut out a barn shape and decorate it to look like a barn house. Then, cut out a door at the bottom, and glue the barn shape to another piece of white paper.

On the white paper, write the following information: Old Mc(child's name) had a farm E I E I O Old Mc(child's name) had a farm E I E I O And on this farm, he's throwin' a party E I E I O And your invited! When: Where: Time: RSVP: Then, when you are done, you will notice that when you open the barn door, you see the information for the party. Punch a hole at the top of the barn, and tie a bow with the hay ribbon and send it off!

DECORATIONS: The best location for this particular party is your basement or garage (preferably the garage or a floor with cement). Then, cover the bare floor with hay that you can purchase from an art supply store. Leave some full bundles around the place, stacked up in different leveled piles.

Paint some cardboard in the shape of animals and lean them around the place. Set up the table against a wall and cover it with an animal table cloth and then scatter hay around it. Play some country farm music in the background such as old McDonald or other songs that kids will recognize.

FOOD: On the buffet table, have out corn dogs, burgers, French fries, and chili to create a western theme.

For the cake, make a simple square cake. Then, spread around some white frosting and sprinkle on green food colored coconut shreds for the grass, edible candy figures for the animals, blue frosting for the pond, and add a tiny gingerbread house as the barn and smear it with red frosting. 

ACTIVITIES: The first game we played was called needle in the haystack. In a separate corner, I took apart a couple bales of hay, and spread it around, then hide a toy pig inside. I let the children have 5 minutes to dig through the hay and find the toy. Whoever found it, won it.

Another game we played was a make believe game of farmhouse. From friends, family, and the local petting zoo, we were able to get some pigs, chickens, and cows. We set up areas with animal food, and animals. The whole yard set up as the barn area and the kids had to "work" on the farm.

Before the party, we set up little jobs for them to do. For instance, we set up a fake fence around the yard, and we "broke" part of it and they had to fix it. We messed up the barn and they had to clean it, and they had to milk the cows (with help from the zoo owners), feed the chickens, and fix things around the farm.

They had fun tending to their busy tasks. This activity was the highlight of the party and parents still talk about it now.

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