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MacMadison's Farm -2yr- List of Chores

July 2003

Leah in San Angelo, TX USA

Special Mention

YOUNG MACMADISON'S FARM was the theme for my daughter's 2nd birthday! I started planning early so I could find everything I needed and get things as they went on sale.

INVITATIONS: I bought plain brown cards w/ envelopes (Hobby Lobby) and made them into barns with doors that opened. The front read "Young MacMadison's Barnyard Birthday Bash" and the inside read "Quack, oink, cock-a-doodle-doo Young MacMadison is turing two! So dress up in yer barnyard best 'n trot on over to her farm out west. Saturday, April 12th is the date, Ya'll come 'round thru the gate! Fer cake, games, 'n fun galore, Her shindig lasts from two 'til four." 

DECORATIONS:(I went a little overboard on this one, but I had so much fun!)I took cardboard, painted the front of a barn on it and placed it over our fence gate. I put a hay bale in front of it and decorated it with a  sunflower arrangement and a large stuffed teddy bear dressed in denim. I placed hay bales around the backyard for guests to sit on and covered them with old quilts.

I covered the cake table with an old quilt and put a clear plastic tablecloth over that to protect it. My father-in-law brought some cow feed and we set them up against the trees. I strung a clothes line and hung some of my daughter's denim jeans and shirts up on it. I painted (on cardboard) some farm animals and stuck them in the ground with a wooden stake. Two of the animals were outside our fence placed like they were walking to the party. I put a gift bag in each mouth to look like they were bringing a gift to the party.

My favorite decoration was the cardboard horse we set up with 2 hay bales behind it. My husband's grandfather brought a youth size saddle that we placed on top. It looked like a real horse! We placed each child up on the "horse" and took pictures. We sent these pictures in the guest's thank you notes.

GAMES: As the guests arrived they were to take a list of "chores" I had made up for them. The "chores" were the games. Because 2 year olds don't do well with organized group games, I came up with games that they could do individually and set it all up carnival style. The "chores" consisted of . . .

"Pig Round Up"-I painted plastic balls pink and painted a face on each one. They had to take a fly swatter and make the "pig" go into the pig pen. (They loved this one!),

"Go Fishin'" --I painted a fish pond on a trifold cardboard and my husband made a fishing pole out of an old broom handle and some string. We used a clothes pin for the hook. The kids had to cast the fishing line over the cardboard and fish for a prize (a plastic bag of goldfish crackers),

"Gettin' Crafty" --along with the parents, the kids made a farm animal magnet (Oriental Trading)to take home with them, and

"Pin the Tail on the Donkey" --the parents were responsible for this one. The one who was the closest one a 5lb. sack of potatoes! Instead of a pinata, I made a haystack and hid some large vinyl farm animals. Each child had a turn to find one animal.

CAKE: I made the barn cake from the Wilton 2002 yearbook. I placed it on top of a sheet cake and put small vinyl farm animals around the barn. I served cake to the kids in metal pie plates. For drinks, I wanted to serve "Milk Chugs", but figured that was too much drink for 2 year olds, so I put juice boxes in a galvanized tub with ice and they helped themselves.

GOODIE BAGS: I spray painted coffee cans white and painted black spots on them. My husband drilled holes in them and I made a handle with wire. I put a cow bell and a note that read "thank you for coming" one the wire with raffia ribbon. I put a red bandana in each one and filled them with farm stickers, putty-eyed farm animals (hilarious)(both from Oriental Trading), and crayons.

I made personalized coloring books on my computer. Each one had a barnyard scene on the front with the title "Young Mac_______'s (child's name)had a Farm". The inside pages were each of a farm animal and it's name and sound typed on the side. I had them bound at Office Depot. They turned out so much cuter than I thought they would. Had I done them first, they would have been the only party favor. I ended up spending more on them than planned, but oh well, they were worth it!

The party was a complete success! I had so much fun planning it and can't wait until next year

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