Down on the Farm Party

Plan two or three lively activities for a two-hour party. Choose extra so you're prepared for the unexpected. Alternate them with quieter activities, such as a crafts project or reading aloud, to keep the party from becoming too wild.

You can fill a pinata yourself with candy, small prizes, coins, or whatever you'd like. At most parties, plan to blindfold kids before letting them take a swing; preschoolers, however, might need to see the target.

Ages: 3 and up

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Playing time: 10 minutes

Players: At least 4

What you need:

• Large cardboard box (such as from an appliance store)
• Red paint
• White tape or paint
• Scissors or utility knife
• Music and player
• Prize

Before the party:

1. Turn the box into a barn. Use a knife or scissors to round the flaps on the longer sides of the box. Fold the shorter flaps in at an angle to support the longer flaps. Cut a large rectangular door on the front and back (big enough for children to crawl through). Paint the outside of the box red. Use white paint or white tape to mask around the door and to decorate the barn.

At the party:

2. Put a helper in charge of the music. Line the children up one behind the other in front of the barn.

3. When the music starts, the first child crawls through the opening and out the other side. The next child in line follows. This continues until the music is stopped. The child who is in the barn when the music stops is caught, and out of the game. If desired, give each person who is caught a small consolation prize, such as a sticker.

4. Stop and start the music periodically until all the children except one have been "stuck in the barn." The one remaining is the winner.

This is a simpler version of "Stuck in the Barn."

Ages: 4 and up

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Playing time: 10 minutes

Players: At least 3

What you need:

• About 1 yard of brown butcher paper or equivalent amount of brown paper bags; or chalk or tape
• Country music and player

1. Lay the paper on grass, tape it to carpeting, or mark off an area with tape or chalk. This is the "mud." It should be about 2 feet by 3 feet (big enough for a child to fit onto).

2. One at a time, the children must cross the mud while you play music. When you stop the music, the piggies that are "stuck in the mud" are out. The last one to escape being stuck is the winner.

Ages: 3 and up

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Playing time: 10 minutes

Players: At least 2

What you need:

• Hay
• Small plastic farm animals
• Quart-size berry baskets or other containers as desired (optional)
• Tarp or old sheet (optional, if playing indoors)

Before the party:

1. Pile the hay loosely. Hide plastic farm animals in the hay. If you decorated with a hay-filled little red wagon, you could put the animals in that hay. For an indoor party, put the hay in an area without carpeting (so you can easily sweep up afterward) or put an old sheet on the floor before you make your haystack.

At the party:

2. Tell the children that the farm animals have gotten lost in the hay and it's their job to find them. Give each "farmer" a container, if you wish, for corralling the animals they find.

3. The game continues until all the animals are found or the players get tired of romping in the hay.

Ages: 3 and up

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Playing time: 10 minutes

Players: At least 3

What you need:

• Brown or white balloons
• Black permanent marker
• Old newspaper or clean flyswatters
• Prizes (optional)

Before the party:

1. Inflate a balloon for each child. Use black marker to draw blotches on each balloon to make them resemble a cow hide. Be sure to make several spares in case a few pop.

2. Mark start and finish lines. If inside, masking tape works well.

At the party:

3. Hand each child a balloon and several pages of folded newspaper. When you give the signal to start, each child uses the newspaper as a swatter to bat their "cow" down the course to the finish line. The first child to bat his or her cow across the line is the winner.

4. Play several rounds, or add a twist by making the children sit and pop the balloons when they cross the line.

5. If you give prizes, hand them out to the winner of each round and to the overall winner of the most races.

6. This game can be adapted to be a two-team relay race.

Ages: 3 and up

Preparation time: None

Playing time: 10 minutes

Players: At least 4

What you need:

• Raw eggs
• Plastic spoons
• Prizes (optional)
• Lots of paper towels or wet wipes to wash up with after the game

1. Mark two lines a few yards apart in the grass.

2. Divide children into two teams. Members of each team line up one behind the other at the starting line. The first child on each team places a raw egg on a spoon.

3. The first two children walk or run to the goal line, touching only the handle of the spoon. Then they must turn around and walk or run back to their team and give their spoon to the next player in the line. If an egg drops, the child must stop and pick it up. If the egg breaks, supply a new one.

4. When the last member of one team crosses the finish line with an unbroken egg, that team wins.