Hot Doggies! – combine 1 pkg of Hot Dogs (sliced), 2 cans of Pork ‘n Beans, 4 to 5 Tbsps of B-B-Q sauce and 1 Tbsp of Brown Sugar together and heat. Serve over Fritos.

 Sandwiches & Cookies – Use cookie cutters shaped like cowboy boots, horses or cactus.

 Grilled hamburgers –

 Cowboy Casserole – Cook together 1 lb ground hamburger and 1 chopped onion, salt & pepper to taste. Drain.

Add 1 can Pork n’ Beans, 1 can Corn, 1 Tbsp Catsup, 1 Tsp Mustard & 1 Tsp Brown Sugar. Simmer 10 minutes.

Put into cast iron skillet; top with cornbread mix (prepared according to directions on the box) and bake as directed. Serve from the cast-iron skillet.

NOTE: The pan will be EXTREMELY hot when removed from the oven.

Hay Hash – Combine ½ cup Milk, 1 square of semisweet chocolate and 1 stick of butter or margarine in a sauce-pan.

Heat on medium-high heat until it reaches a rolling boil. Boil 75 seconds. Add ½ cup coconut, ½ cup 1-Minute Oatmeal, 1 tsp vanilla and ½ pkg of Chow Mien Noodles (optional – ½ cup chopped pecans).

Stir until all ingredients are mixed well and “shiny”.

Spoon tablespoons of the hot mixture onto waxed or parchment paper; allow to cool.

Ranch Salad – Combine 1 bag of prepared Salad, 1 can of Ranch-Style Beans, 1 cup grated Cheese (cheddar or jalapeño-jack are good choices) and one bag of Fritos. Mix well and serve.

Quesadillas – For each quesadilla, melt a dot of butter in the bottom of a frying pan.

Place 1 tortilla in the pan and cover with cheese.

Top with 2^nd tortilla.

Heat slowly, allowing cheese to melt. Flip and brown other side. Cut in quarters or eighths with a sharp knife or pizza cutter.

Serve with sour cream and guacamole.

Kids can dress up in t-shirts with sports teams names on them, numbers (homemade or not), football jerseys etc. May come looking like football players with various fun football accessories, or dressing as referees etc. Girls may come as cheerleaders, football players etc.

You could play sports themed movies or family friendly football type movies, play fun music that has a sports theme and more.

Party Food:

Sandwiches or cookies cut into the shape of footballs.

Chex Mix – either bought or home-made

Sodas, Juice, Kool-Aid or Sports Drinks (such as Gator-Ade)

Party Theme Games:

Football Distance Pass Contest – Have each guest see how far they can throw the football.

Football Accuracy Passing – Hang a tire from a tree or other supportive structure. See who can throw the ball through the hole from various distances.

Creative Catching – Throw the ball to a group of party guests. See who can catch it the craziest, the lowest, the highest, etc.

Freeze Catch – A combination of pass and freeze tag, this game has guests scrambling to catch the ball and then freezing once the ball is caught. Anyone moving after the catch is out of the game, and becomes a referee.

Obstacle Course – Place several old tires, side-by-side, in a line. Players run through the tires, placing a foot in each tire. Player with the fastest time wins.

Cheerleader Try-Outs – See who can come up with the craziest cheer and jump the highest. Remember – this is for fun, guys!

Once the outside of the large box has a well drawn on it, or if you have a booth, you can just put up a sign with “Fishing Well” posted on it with flowers on the counter of the booth. You can add any extra details like: a net, or fish and starfish to make it look more authentic and playful.

You should have 2-4 fishing poles and instruct the kids when they feel a fish tugging they can pull back their line. Some of the older kids will understand.

You should have one person or have parents to help kids place their fishing line over the edge of the booth or inside the box.

You could play a soundtrack of popular kid songs to entertain them.

There should be another person kneeling on the other side to clip a bath-time toy onto the clothespin.

It can be difficult to get toddlers to take a bath; this party makes bath-time fun! The kids must show up in bathing suits

Supplies:

• 3-4 kiddie pools

• Bath-time rubber toys, squirting toys and animals and alphabet shaped sponges

• Rainbow foaming hand soap (artsy party)

• Small fishing poles or novelty fishing poles for the ‘Fishing Well’

• A carnival booth or a large television cardboard box decorated to look like a wishing well (use large permanent markers and poster paint to draw a well on the front of the box and hot-glue artificial flowers on the front where the 2-D hole of the well is drawn.)

• Clothespins

• Bath-time toys and soaps, colorful novelty towels, small water guns or small floating sailboats for “Fishing Well” prizes

• Bubble machines/bubble blowers and individual bubbles for parents and toddlers to blow bubbles

• Silver or iridescent white or clear balloons (tied together in groups of 2 and 3 and strewn about to resemble bubbles)

• 1-2 Sprinkler systems

• 8-16 cheap hula-hoops

• 2-4 clear shower curtains cut into 4-6 inch wide strips, but still the length of a standard shower curtain

• Small colorful buckets

• Small chairs or waterproof pillows for the fishing well

Rub-A-Dub Water Park Toddler Party

It can be difficult to get toddlers to take a bath; this party makes bath-time fun! The kids must show up in bathing suits

Supplies:

• 3-4 kiddie pools

• Bath-time rubber toys, squirting toys and animals and alphabet shaped sponges

• Rainbow foaming hand soap (artsy party)

• Small fishing poles or novelty fishing poles for the ‘Fishing Well’

• A carnival booth or a large television cardboard box decorated to look like a wishing well (use large permanent markers and poster paint to draw a well on the front of the box and hot-glue artificial flowers on the front where the 2-D hole of the well is drawn.)

• Clothespins

• Bath-time toys and soaps, colorful novelty towels, small water guns or small floating sailboats for “Fishing Well” prizes

• Bubble machines/bubble blowers and individual bubbles for parents and toddlers to blow bubbles

• Silver or iridescent white or clear balloons (tied together in groups of 2 and 3 and strewn about to resemble bubbles)

• 1-2 Sprinkler systems

• 8-16 cheap hula-hoops

• 2-4 clear shower curtains cut into 4-6 inch wide strips, but still the length of a standard shower curtain

• Small colorful buckets

• Small chairs or waterproof pillows for the fishing well

Activities/Set-up

 Rub-A-Dub Water Park

Instructions:

Get the hula-hoops and saw or cut off the bottom fourth of each hula-hoop and use 3-5 for each maze for the toddlers to crawl through to get to one of the pools or “Rub-A-Dub” water park.

To Make The Maze:

After the bottom fourth of the hula-hoops have been sawed off, push the ends into the ground and space them about 2-3 feet apart. Depending on how many hula hoops you purchase, you can have between 2 and 4 maze structures. You can place them in a zigzag or curving pattern. Each tunnel will lead to a different pool. In the center should be the pools and the sprinklers, as well as most of the ‘bubbles’ or balloons and the bubble blower.

So it should look like a spider or an octopus, with each leg being the tunnels.

Once the hula-hoops are in the ground. Get the clear shower curtain strips and hot-glue them to the hula-hoops; one across the top, and one along each side to connect each hula hoop so it looks more like a tunnel, so you should need no more than 3 to give it a tunnel effect.

Arrange each pool at least 3 feet in front of the tunnel so the kids can have room to stand up and walk to the pool. Each pool can have a different theme: sailing, sea animals, bath soaps and foams, or they can each have an assortment.

The sprinkler should be positioned in the center of all the pools so all kids get splashed from time to time and to add to the water park allure.

The bubble blower will make it seem like more of a bath-time party.

Game Supplies:

• Large or Extra-Large White T-shirts (rummage sale, Goodwill, bulk/wholesale, or old unused t-shirts)

• Super soakers or large water guns. You can supply them to level the playing field or the kids can bring their own if there’s a strict budget

• Two boxes of food coloring

• A hat or bucket with a different color for each guest to draw

• Wide open space

• Whistle, bell, megaphone, bullhorn

• Awards and ribbons or novelty medals (optional)

Game Directions:

Once all guests have arrived, have the children gather and hand out the white shirts for them to put on or change into.

Have each child draw a color and go get a water gun already filled with water and colored with the corresponding food coloring. (Use a lot so it will show up on the shirt.)

Have a starting point and allow anywhere from 30 seconds-2 minutes for guests to hide.

Sound the whistle, bell or bullhorn and set a timer from 10-20 minutes. Watch to see if kids are running out of water. You may want to have another round.

At the end of Painless Paintball, gather everyone around and you and a panel of parents can select or the children can vote on who is the messiest, who is the cleanest, who was the best sharp-shooter (look at whose color is on the most people), and who was the nicest or most considerate (whose color is on the least shirts).

Hand out medals for the awards you create and let the other children have a ribbon or a novelty grab-bag prize.

Can also be used for Rub-A-Dub Party Theme for the toddlers

Supplies:

• 3-5 bottles of the foaming sanitizer or hand soap

• 1 box of food coloring

• Glitter stars and hearts or edible glitter (which will rinse off) for the girls (optional)

• Flavoring extracts ((optional) strawberry, banana, root beer, coconut etc.)

Instructions:

Open each bottle of soap or sanitizer.

Put one or two drops of color. If you put too much it could stain.

Add one small drop of extract.

Add a teaspoon of edible glitter or 2-3 teaspoons of decorative glitter.

Shake lightly or swirl around to incorporate without making bubbles.

 Rub-A-Dub Variation: Follow the same instructions, but use it with the toddlers while they are in the miniature/kiddie pools as the ‘bath soap.’

 Supplies:

• Spray bottles (approximately $.50-$1 each in cosmetic section or can be purchased from a craft store)

• White butcher paper (tape on the outside wall of your house or on the inside of your fence. It can also be spread out on the floor or ground for the edible finger painting for toddlers)

• Water

• Corn syrup if you want to thicken it slightly (1 bottle per 5 spray bottles)

• 2-3 boxes of Food coloring

Instructions:

Once the ‘wall’ has been created, lay out some paper or newspaper underneath to catch any run-off.

 Fill the spray bottles 2/3 of water and add enough food coloring to make a dark spray paint. You may add 1—2 tablespoons of corn syrup to thicken it, or add some viscosity.

 Make at least 2 of each color and have the kids share or take turns.

 This can be an activity for all children or a rotation station for a group at a time.

 If you have an artistic flair, write their names or draw characters for them to spray-paint.

 Supplies:

• Small plastic tubes with a hole for yarn or necklace (in craft or hobby stores) or small plastic containers with a screw-on top (bulk or whole-sale stores and catalogues)

• Pixie sticks (enough for each person to have 5 for the small tubes, no more than 10 per person)

How To Do It:

Pass out the containers and remove the tops.

 Hand out 1-2 of each color of pixie stick and cut off the tops.

 Have the kids alternate each color to create layers of color, which look like sand art, but it’s edible, tastier and a bit healthier than using decorative sugar.

Supplies:

• Edible Canvas (enough for each guest to have one with 5 extra for mishaps and for you to give a demonstration)

• Paintbrushes

• (5 bottles) Light corn syrup

• Food coloring

• Pixie sticks (the miniature kind)

• Paper plates

• Small wax cups/mouthwash cups

How To Do It:

Put drops of food coloring in the corn syrup to make the primary colors or any others you’d like (red, yellow, blue, orange, purple and this can be done up to 2 months in advance.)

Pass out an edible canvas, 2-3 small paintbrushes, each pixie stick color, and 3 wax cups.

Give each child a small squirt of the colored syrup in the wax cups and let them paint the ‘glue’ on the ‘edible canvas.’

Once they have finished, they can sprinkle the pixie stick ‘sand’ on the canvas in swirls, lines, or any shape they like.

Make sure to take pictures before they eat their ‘art’ out!

 Variation: Omit the pixie sticks ‘sand’ and use the colored puddings or yogurt on either the pie dough or sugar cookie canvas, not phyllo- it’s much too delicate. And use the brushes to paint the colored pudding on the cookie canvas.