Little People Birthday Party Ideas

An invitation to a Little People birthday party will be met enthusiastically by young kids.

Here are some ideas to help you plan your special event. Remember to take lots of pictures!

Resources:

Invitations

Make your Little People party invitations using a picture of the birthday child. "Paste" it onto a group image of Little People characters (so it looks as though your child is one of the Little People). Print copies of the image on the front of white invitation cards. Write Little People birthday party details on the inside. Decorate the cards with theme stickers, and mail them to the guests.

As a variation, you can use Little People activity books. Get your child to color the pages. Then take the pages out, fold them in half, and write your party details.

The wording of your invitations can say "You're invited to (your child's name) Little People Birthday Party! Little People, we like to work and play! Little People, we make friends every day!" Then include the rest of your party details.

Decorations

Use blue, red, yellow and green as primary colors for your Little People party decorations. Hang lots of paper streamers and balloons in those colors inside and outside the house. Play Little People theme or country music in the background.

Guest Arrival and Introductory Activities

*Farmers for a Day: As your Little People birthday party guests arrive, tie bandanas around their necks to transform them into farmers! You can also provide the kids with straw hats, work gloves, and boxes of animal cookies so everyone has some "livestock."

*Animal Mural: Tape a wide sheet of butcher paper on the lower portion of the wall so the kids can reach. Spread out pictures of farm animals for ideas. Provide the kids with crayons and markers, and get them to draw their mural masterpieces as they are waiting for others to arrive.

*Farm Animal Magnetic Craft Activity: You can get Farm Magnet Craft kit from a party store. Have the kids design their favorite farm animals.

Favors

For Little People party favors, give out such items as plush animal toys, Little people blowouts, sticker sheets, animal figurines, crayons, bubble solutions, activity books, straw or cowboy hats, and so on.

Little People Birthday Party Games

*Pin the Tail on the Cow: At Little People birthday party, you can have some fun with classic Pin-the-Tail game. Have your guests pin the tail on the cow where it belongs.

*Barnyard Surprise: For this game, you'll need plastic eggs that open (one per child), farm animal stickers or little animal drawings, and a large bin filled with straw or raffia.

Gather the children for a special egg hunt. Before everyone arrives, place a sticker or drawing of a different farm animal inside each egg. Next, hide the eggs in the raffia-filled bin, and invite the guests to find an egg, open it, and see what their surprise animal is. When all the kids have opened their eggs, form a circle and make sure that the kids know their animals. Then, sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," with children sounding and acting like their animals.

*Duck Pond: During this Little People party activity kids get a chance to win prizes. You'll need a waterproof marker, rubber or plastic ducks (one per each guest), prizes (or favors) in separate bags (one per guest), tub or kiddie pool filled with water, and colander with handle.

Draw a different number with a marker on the bottom of each duck. Next, write matching numbers on each prize bag. Place rubber ducks in the water. Let each child take a turn using the colander to scoop out a duck. Match the duck's number to bag's number for the child's prize.

*Sheep Herding: Inflate two white balloons before your Little People birthday party. Attach pieces of black curling ribbon for the sheep tails. Next, draw sheep faces on the balloons with a black marker.

Divide the kids into two teams. Provide each team with a broom. Line the teams up in the yard. Get players from each team (one by one) to herd their team's sheep with a broom across the yard and back. The first team to herd their sheep across the finish line wins. Provide extra "sheep balloons" in case they pop.

*Animal Parade: Play "Little People Birthday Fun" CD (available at a party store) and invite the kids to form a human train that moves from room to room, in time for the music. Have a leader make animal moves that the rest of the line can follow (hopping like a bird, galloping like a horse, rolling on the ground like a pig, etc). Pick a new leader every minute or so. Keep playing until it's time for a new activity.

*Animal Sounds Contest: Let the kids have some fun with imitating the sounds of barnyard animals. Award prizes for the funniest, loudest, shortest, longest (etc.) animal noises - so everyone can win!

*Duck, Duck, Goose: This classic game fits well for Little People birthday party.

Have the kids sit in a circle. One player is the Fox. She goes around and taps others saying "Duck". As she exclaims "Goose" and taps somebody, the Goose gets up and chases her around the circle. She has to sit down in the vacant spot (previously occupied by the Goose). If she does, the Goose becomes the Fox.

*Musical Barnyard Animal: For this Little People birthday party activity, you'll need stuffed farm animal (or other toy), lively music and bag of treats.

Invite the kids to sit in a circle. Play music CD. Ask the players to pass around the animal while the music is playing. When the music stops, the person holding the animal wins a treat and goes out of the game. (Have some coloring pages ready to occupy the kids when they leave the circle.) Continue playing until everyone has won a treat.

*Farm Field Trip: Before the Little People party, invite your guests to come dressed for a trip to a farm or petting zoo. Choose a place ahead of time and ask about scheduled activities and tours. Find out if the children can learn hot to milk a cow, feed chickens, gather eggs, etc. Since they can only be allowed to watch, plan an activity they can be involved in - riding a pony, sitting on a tractor or enjoying a hayride. On the way to the farm, set the mood by telling a farm animal story, passing out Little People coloring books, or singing "Old MacDonald."

Little People Birthday Cakes:

*Little People Cake: Bake a rectangular or round cake. Get a picture of Little People characters, and put a piece of waxed paper over it. Next, trace the outline with various colored melted chocolates and frost different sections of the Little People cake accordingly.

*Barnyard Bonanza Cake: For this Little People birthday party cake recipe, you'll need 1 cake mix, graham crackers, green and red frosting, pretzel sticks, crushed chocolate cookies or instant cocoa powder.

Purchase or make your own sheet cake. Frost it green for "grass." Use graham crackers to build a "barn." Frost the barn red and sprinkle the top with crushed cookies or cocoa powder to resemble "dirt." Create a corral with pretzel sticks and frosting. Top the cake with animal figurines.

Little People Birthday Party Food Ideas:

If you are throwing a party for a very young group of kids, serve food that is not too difficult to bite (e.g., baby food, steam vegetables, soft fruit, etc).

*Farm Animal Sandwiches: Make sandwiches using the birthday child's favorite fillings. Cut sandwiches into various animal shapes (cow, chicken, horse, cat, dog, duck, etc.) using cookie cutters or butter knife.

*Happy Haystacks: For this Little People party recipe, you'll need two 3-oz cans of chow mein noodles and one 12-oz bag of butterscotch or chocolate chips.

Melt chips in a saucepan on low heat, then stir in noodles. Spoon out small mounds (haystacks) onto waxed paper, cool and serve.

*Vegetable Garden: You'll need a variety of veggies (baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, green beans, snow peas, zucchini, etc.), dressing for dipping, serving tray and a bowl, colored pens or markers, tape, paper and scissors.

Choose a dressing and fill a bowl for dipping. Line up vegetables in a row on a tray. Create little signs on paper for each type of vegetable. Tape the paper pieces to toothpicks and push the toothpicks into a vegetable slice at the end of each row, so that all the rows are labeled.

You snack tray will have the look of a real vegetable garden. Invite the kids to eat their veggies by picking them out and dipping in the dressing.

*Ice Cream Piglets: To make this Little People birthday party treat, you'll need cherry or pink bubblegum ice cream, chocolate chips, black decorator gel, pink jelly beans or other small colored candies.

Scoop a large ice cream ball onto a cupcake wrapper (for each guest), and place on a cookie sheet. Add 2 chocolate chips for the eyes. Use the melon ball scoop to add a second ice cream ball for the nose, adding 2 more chocolate chips to form nostrils.

Next, push in jelly beans for ears and create eyebrows with decorator gel. Finally, twist pipe cleaners into spiral pig tails and insert 1 into the side of each piglet. Store in freezer until serving time.

*Corn on the Cob
*Farmer's Soup (your child's favorite soup)
*Hotdogs
*Ice Cream
*Chocolate Chip Cookies

Little People Birthday Party Drink Ideas:

*Moo-Moo Milkshakes: To make this Little People birthday party drink, you'll need 3/4 cup of milk, 3/4 cup of berries and a ripe banana. Blend milk with banana and berries. Add 3 scoops of frozen yogurt and blend some more.

*Brown Cows (chocolate milk)
*Apple Juice