My Party File - blog

Posts Tagged ‘farm’

Here’s an eggscellent idea for adding a little fun at a slumber party breakfast.  Draw silly faces on some eggs with a fine permanent marker.  The kids will get a real giggle when you open up the egg carton and ask them to choose their egg(s) for brekky.  Or let the kids draw on the eggs themselves before you fry them up or boil them (the eggs, that is - not the kids!).

Alternative:

Send kids home from your farm party with a funny faced egg.

Linking to:

Making the World Cuter

The Persimmon Perch

It’s so Very Cheri

The Girl Creative

Blue Cricket Design

You don’t won’t to be sent “quackers” when preparing food for your party - so consider this simple idea for a Rubber Ducky themed party.   Fill a punch bowl or large salad bowl with bright blue Jelly (make according to packet directions), then pop some small rubber duckies on top.  You can also place clean plastic leaves and flowers on top to resemble lily pads.

This could also be a substitute for a cake - you can even buy rubber ducky candles to place on top.

My lovely rellie, Gill, just held a Rubber Ducky party for her son Oliver - and I wish I could have been there to see the “Pluck a Duck”  game she organised.  She filled a large container with water that she had tinted with blue food colouring.  She bought a rubber duck for each guest and then wrote numbers on the bottom of each duck with a permanent marker, and then sat them in the water.  She also bought a variety of prizes and popped each one into a paper bag, and wrote a number on each bag that corresponded to each duck.  Each guest had to pluck a duck from the water, and were then awarded a paper bag with the number that matched (and got to keep their duck).  Whilst the little kids could use their hands to grab a duck, the bigger kids had to use their teeth!!!  You could also add another level of difficulty by blindfolding the kids.

This game would be a good lead into the “Rub-a-Ducky” game.  Get the kids to place their duckies somewhere, and whilst they are distracted (with a different game, or food), smother the duckies in honey, vegemite, icing or whatever you have in the pantry, and then exclaim “Oh No!  What have these little duckies been up to?  We need to clean them before you take them home!”  Give the kids some soapy, bubbly water and a face washer - you’ll be surprised how much fun the kids have cleaning their ducks!

I made these picnic baskets as goodie bags for Charlize’s Teddy Bears’ Picnic.  I loved how they turned out, but making them sure isn’t for the faint hearted!  My intention was to buy some small baskets and to top them with a piece of checked fabric - but I could not find small, reasonably priced baskets anywhere!  Once I had the idea in my head, I couldn’t give it up, so I stubbornly decided to make the baskets.  They were time consuming to make, but they were cheap!!!  I made them from weaving together “reeds” I had made from brown packing paper.  To make a “reed” I cut a piece of brown paper, then starting with a long edge, tightly rolled the sheet into a tube. I flattened the tube and used a glue stick to secure the open edge.  If weaving these together sounds a bit daunting, you could always make baskets from small boxes or cartons - or even plastic containers.  Or maybe you’ll have better luck than me at locating some real baskets (you might have luck around Easter time!).

Why not serve up these eggstra special treats at your Australia Day breakfast?  The kids will love them (after they’ve had their real breakfast, of course!).  They are also a fun party food at a sleepover or farm party.

Ingredients

• Red sour straps, fruit leather or licorice straps
• White chocolate
• Yellow chocolate buttons

Instructions
Use scissors to cut a piece of sour strap into strips.  Lay two strips of the sour strap side by side on  baking paper. Drop a blob (about a teaspoon) of melted white chocolate on the centre of the sour straps to form the “egg white”. Place a yellow chocolate button in the centre of the chocolate for the  yolk. Let cool completely before removing from the baking paper. You can store them in an airtight container for several weeks.

I made a platter of strawberry mice for Charlize’s Mickey Mouse party, but they went so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to take a photo!  Luckily, I had placed one strawberry mouse on the cheese platter, so I do have a photo to share.

For each mouse, remove the hull of a strawberry and slightly trim the side of the strawberry so it sits flat.  Push two almond slivers into the top of the strawberry for ears.   For a tail, use a skewer to make a small hole in the back of the strawberry and push a piece of licorice lace into the hole.

Alternative:  You can add a face to each mouse by pressing a mini chocolate chip or currant into the tip of the strawberry for the nose, and by using an icing tube or currants for the eyes.  Also try cutting a thin strip from a fruit strap or dried paw paw for the tail.

Kids can test their balance with this classic picnic game.  Have all the kids line up with an egg and a spoon each.  When you say go, the kids must place the egg on the spoon (and older kids should place their other arm behind their back), and then race as quickly as they can to the finish line - without the egg rolling off the spoon.   If the egg falls, that child should sit out.  The winner is the child that crosses the finish line first, with their egg still balanced in their spoon.

Alternatives:

• Use synthetic or hard boiled eggs, or ping pong balls
• Allow younger kids to put the egg back on the spoon if they drop it
• Set up an obstacle course - things for the kids to step over or manoeuvre around
• Don’t make it a race, but rather a challenge - every guest can receive a small prize when they reach the finish line  (or make it one challenge in a set of challenges and the guests receive a prize upon completion of all challenges)

A farm party can be a real hit for little kids.  The children can mix the feedstock, feed the animals (from chickens, sheep, goats and donkeys), cuddle the babies (bunnies, guniea pigs and chicks), ride the ponies and climb aboard a tractor.  You can visit a farm - as there are a lot that offer party packages - or you can bring the animals in to your yard.  Either way, the kids will have plenty of fun being little farmers!

These are sweet invitations for your Rubber Ducky Party, or use them to say thank-you to your guests for a quacking good time!  Print our  Handmade Rubber Ducky Invitation template directly onto yellow card, or print one, cut it out and trace the body and wing onto a large sheet of yellow card.  Glue the wing onto the body, but don’t stick it all down - it is much better fun if it flaps!  Cut the beak out of orange contact or paper, and stick onto the beak area.  Add a googlie eye.  Write the party details on the back (or print the details onto yellow paper and glue onto the back).

Some suggested wording:  What a lucky ducky Charlize would be, if you would join her to celebrate her very first birthday! Please waddle on over for a Rubber Ducky party.  Sunday August 19th 11:30 - 1:30. At the bathtub at 2 Splish Splash Street, Bubbletown.  Give Mother Duck, Tammy, a “quack” on 8123 4567