E-I-E-I-O!
When it comes to themes, farm animals is one of the most popular for kids, from nursery decor to books to puzzles to clothing to songs, so it is a guaranteed hit for any kid’s birthday party, just adapt the activities to the age group. Plus, it’ll be easy-as-pie to find farm party supplies for everything.
You can host the party at a farm where kids can visit the barn and pet the animals, or simply at home or in the backyard and put the kids’ imaginations to work. Set the stage by inviting guests to dress up in farmer outfits and bring their favourite barnyard animal to the party!
Farm Birthday Decorations
For the decorations, think barnyard/farm fair and collect red and white checkered items, jute twine, baskets, white picket fence boxes, and small crates for displays. Your local dollar store will be a gold mine for baskets and wood boxes and a lot of other things. I covered the tables in gingham patterned tablecloths and found large juice containers to serve “Tractor Fuel” and lemonade.
For this display I found these cute mason jars with red gingham tops and straws at Michael’s craft store that I decorated with the jute twine thread and custom farm party favor tags: voila! it now fits perfectly into the theme. These cups are perfect for kids (Tip: keep them refillable by putting name labels for each guest on them).
To serve certain foods, use custom cutouts for boxes and cones. Here, I used cones and filled them with “corn” (freshly popped corn, that is).
Another great idea is to put together baggies of popcorn wrapped in green/yellow tissue paper and tied with hay to look like an actual corn husk!
I served white cotton candy “wool” in this authentic looking farm cart. How awesome is it when you stir the imaginations of kids and see their eyes sparkle with the magic of the theme.
Farm Birthday Party Food Ideas
Now I always like to think of theme-related foods, but I also like to create something new. For this party, I created these adorable marshmallow sheep, pigs and cows, using edible glue and large marshmallows for the bodies and little ones for the feet. I then used edible ink to colour the pigs pink and add spots on the cows and finished them off by gluing the toppers on with edible glue. They will hands down be the highlight of your party. The marshmallow farm animal toppers can be found here.
Another fun food item I did were the candied sunflowers. I decorated the table with some real sunflowers but I also made edible sunflowers with oreos, toothpicks, and candy corn. Each sunflower stands in a mini-cupcake which resides in a mini-gardening container with jute twine around it. Easy to assemble and ever so fun for kids to take apart and eat.
You can also put together little jars of Jello as “Fresh Farm Jam” and decorate them with custom or generic barnyard themed labels and checkered ribbons.
Offer servings of yogurt and fresh berries for kids to devour with their farm shovels, or individual cup servings of dip and fresh vegetables – keeps the mess to a minimum with the little ones. Turn the forks into “pitchforks” and the “spoons into “shovels” by wrapping the handles in twine to look like a farm tool.
Alternately, skip the dip and set up a “Vegetable Patch” platter with fresh cut vegetables.
I got creative with the drink presentation for this party and set up two stands for iced tea (aptly named “Tractor Fuel” for its color, if I do say so myself) and lemonade.
I was thrilled to find a small milk can to serve “Fresh Cow Milk”.
For the chocolate milk lovers, I decorated a large bottle with a custom square label and a barnyard topper. I did the same with individual water bottles (sourced at Michael’s). The personalized farm water bottle labels can be found here.
Instead of the traditional birthday cake, I prefer baking a batch of cupcakes for kids’ parties. Less mess and easier cleanup. For this delicious batch, I used colored icing and barnyard farm animal wrappers and toppers.
Consider these farm food suggestions for the rest of the menu.
- “Curds and Whey/Old McDonalds Mac ‘n Cheese”: recipe suggested below taken from here.
- Baked Beans
- Farm Fresh Eggs: Hardboiled eggs, or even dapple in a devilled egg recipe.
- Pigs-in-a-Blanket: Hot dogs wrapped in dough – see the frozen food section at your local supermarket
- “Hay”: Pretzel sticks
- “Chicken Feed”: Trail Mix or Chex Mix
- Fresh Picked Fruit: You can do fruit kebabs, or even set out baskets of fresh fruit.
Super Simple Mac ‘N Cheese Recipe:
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp (5 mL) salt
- 4 cups (1 L) milk
- 1½ cups (375 mL) elbow macaroni
- 2 cups (500 mL) shredded orange cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.
- Stir in the flour and salt, then pour in the milk and the macaroni. (Yes, both, at once.) Increase the heat to medium and carefully bring to a boil, stirring often to keep the macaroni from clumping together and the pot from boiling over.
- When it reaches a boil, immediately reduce the heat to low and let simmer, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, for 12 to 15 minutes or until the macaroni is tender.
- Remove from heat, add the grated cheese and stir until it melts smoothly into the sauce. Let sit for about five minutes before serving to allow it to attain the proper gloppy, kid-pleasing consistency.
And for the sweets table….
- “Lassos”: licorice
- “Cow Patties”: double chocolate cookies … yuck or yum? 😉
- “Tractor Wheels”: Oreos
- “Dirt” or “Mud”: chocolate pudding
- Cake pops: See Spa Party blog for recipe
- “Bales of Hay”: Rice Krispies. Cut them in rectangles and tie them with some twine.
Round it out with a delicious farm fruit pie for the adults and bam! Everyone will go home stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Be sure to label your plates/platters/displays with food tents to keep everyone in the loop on the theme.
Farm Birthday Party Games
If visiting a farm/petting zoo isn’t part of your party plan, there is always a wild game of Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey to be had. Kids love the thrill of being blindfolded and spun around. I assure you the excitement is real. Parents will have a great laugh and don’t be surprised if childhood nostalgia doesn’t kick in and they want to give it a whirl too. #idid #iwasnowherenearthedonkey.
Keep the giggles going with a game of “Duck, Duck, Goose” and a loud rendition of “Old McDonald had a Farm” and “Farmer in the Dell” using the animals they bring as props.
Sometimes there are rainy days at the farm, so if you find that your outdoor farm has to be moved indoors, bring it into the “Barn” and set up some fun farm crafts for the kids. Have them make animal masks; paint something from a farm (i.e. a barn, a fence, a tractor, hay) and piece it altogether on the wall; and have an egg-hunt for Mother Hen who seems to have misplaced her eggs.
Farm Party Favors
For the loot bags, I like to fill them with edibles or things a child would use more than once. For farm themed loot bags, source some brown bags and decorate them with animal cut outs or simply seal them with custom labels. The fun is in the details.
I suggest filling them with animal crackers, ”lassos”, tissue-papered corn husks, or a bag of “Tractor Wheels” and an animal-themed colouring book from your local dollar store. I love to give bubbles – always a win with kids. Personalize them with a themed label and you’re set.
Keep in mind, the key to a successful birthday party is to pick a theme and run with it. Have the guests, young and old, get involved by dressing up, bringing a party accessory, and gobbling up all that “hay” and “chicken feed”. If you believe in the theme, they’ll believe in the theme and the fun is guaranteed to be contagious. E-I-E-I-O!
Click on the following links to:
- View our barnyard party supplies collection.
- View our adorable farm birthday invitations.
Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
