Our daughter has a summer birthday, so we decided to have a Strawberry Party at a lovcal U-Pick strawberry field. INVITATIONS:  We used a Strawberry Shortcake cartoon picture with a pink and green theme, and included directions, etc.  We asked for no presents, but baby items instead so that we could donate to a local charity.  We also asked for RSVP's at least by the day before the event so we could have enough personalized favors. DECORATIONS:  The party was held outside in the picnic area by the playground. I chose tablecloths, napkins and plates in red, green and pink colors (strawberry shortcake), and used a strawberry print fabric down the center of each table as a runner.  I placed a small red beach pail (dollar store) at each place and had hand writted each child's name on the bucket with a permanent marker. Upon arrival, we greeted each child with a strawberry visor, made from a red foam visor from the craft store, with a green zig-zag cut out of felt at the top edge, and black seeds drawn on with permanent marker. ACTIVITIES/GAMES: The party was focused on the life cycle of a strawberry. I found pictures of each stage of life (seed, seedling, flower, fruit) on the internet, and created half-sheet size pages with each picture and stage and a check box, and had these laminated. These sheets were the guide" to the activities.  The first activity was the seed toss where I had the kids toss bean bags into a large plastic flower pot. When they were done with their turn each child's card was checked off for the seed stage with a permanent marker. Next we played "Pin the seedling on the roots" and had the kids wear a blindfold while sticking simple seedlings (cut out of post it notes with each child's name written on in advance) onto a piece of posterboard that I had decorated with a ground/root area and the sky above. After completing they received another check on their cards for the seedling stage. The next stage was the flower stage where we did a pull-string pinata.  I purchased a red mickey mouse pinata from the store and covered it with cut out large foam strawberries and white strawberry flowers. Inside I filled it with raisins small toys and white flowers.  When they were done they received another check on their strawberry cards.  The final activity was the "fruit" activity where we had the strawberry field owner drive the kids out to the field on a train made out of metal drums pulled by a tractor. The kids were really cute in their visors with their buckets. We then picked strawberries and the train took the kids back to the picnic area. PARTY SNACKS: We had strawberry shortcake to eat with strawberry lemonade to drink.  I put the drinks out in small pint jelly jars to go with the theme. FAVORS:  We purchased small red canvas bags at the craft store and decorated them with black puff paint dots (seeds) and green zig-zag felt at the top (stems). For each child I made a lanyard keychain with a femo/sculpey strawberry bead we had made (about an inch high each just mold red femo into a strawberry shape and poke small holes on the outside for seeds with green femo at the top for leaves and a hole through the entire strawberry for the thread and wrote out each child's name with letter beads on the lanyard. We placed the lanyard on a handle on each back so that they wouldn't get mixed up.  Inside the bags we purchased small metal garden shovels small clay pots Strawberry Shortcake small frisbee party favors strawberry scented bubbles pink and red party blowers and small packages of strawberry seeds.  We had the birthday girl hand these out at the end of the party to all the guests.  This was in addition to the red buckets with strawberries that they had picked and the strawberry visors. "