Invitations

• General Invitations - Use one of the general theme invitations, or the plain invitation and punch holes where indicated, tie with a red & white check ribbon. The same idea can be used for Thank you cards.

  Food - Drinks & Desserts

• "McDonalds" what can be easier?
• Scoop out a watermelon and fill with melon balls
• Cut up veggie tray with ranch dressing
• Cow Punch - chocolate milk
  note: a cowpunch is someone who works on a farm or ranch. 

• Cupcake Critters from Domino Sugar

• This Little Piggy Cake from family.com

• Cow Cake - frost cake white with brown spots.

• Little Red Barn Cake from Pillsbury.

Fact: If someone says, “You eat like a pig!” you should say, “Thanks”. 
This is really a compliment.  Pigs do not overeat and they have mostly a human diet.

  Decorations

• The guests themselves ...  Have everyone dress in rolled up blue jeans, overalls, plaid shirts.
• Provide each guest with a straw hat or cowboy hat as they arrive. 
• Music – Square dance, country, banjo or fiddle. Recommended CD "Singing in the Bathtub" by John Lithgow (Third Rock from the Sun), Includes: I Had a Rooster, The Codfish Ball, Inchworm and more. Children will love this!

  Activities

• Balance The Fruits & Veggies – Line the children up, give each of them a plastic fruit or veggie.  Have them balance this on top of their head as they make their way to the finish line. (There could be many variations to this game – play in teams, relay race…)
• Chicken Egg Race – using either hard-boiled eggs or plastic Easter eggs (put something inside to weigh it down) – have a relay race where the child balances their egg on a spoon. 
  Fact: Almost everyone gets chicken pox except chickens. Ha Ha!
• Duck – Duck – Goose - an all time favorite.
• Cow Tipping – Place one or two plastic milk jugs on a card table. Have each child try to knock over the jug with soft beanbags. 
  (Cows can sleep standing up. If you were to push on one it would just fall over. Of course this is very dangerous and not very nice. It would be better to ask them to Moo_ve over!)
• Pen the Pigs - Before the party blow up about 25 medium sized pink balloons (pigs).  Tie the ends and attach and curl about 6" of pink curling ribbon for curly tails.  Store the balloons in large trash bags.  At the party, divide the children into 4 groups, giving each child a fly swatter.  In a large area outside, dump the 'pigs'.  Assign each of the 4 groups of children a corner of the area for their 'pen' (you may want to put a sheet or towel down at each corner)  The children must now work as quickly as possible to shoo as many 'pigs' into their pen as possible, using only their fly swatter.  The group with the largest number of 'pigs' is the winner.
• Square Dance 
• Barnyard wordsearch

  Goodie Bags

• Basket of Apples - Place several small treats in the center of a red square of fabric (about 15"x15") or a red bandana.  Bring up two of the opposite corners and tie.  Bring up the opposite corners and tie.  Place all 'apples' into a large basket.  The guests are invited to select an 'apple' on their way out.
• Individual boxes of animal crackers.
• Small cow bells on a brown package - string as a necklace or bracelet - place treats inside the bag.