For our daughter's first birthday threw a Western Hoe-Down party.  Guests were invited with an invitation that a good friend made.  The front had a red barn with 2 doors that opened -- one to reveal a cow and one with a chicken. The inside had a poem that included the time, date, etc, and we used a western font that looked like a lasso. We decorated the yard with hay bales for seating and games, picnic tables with red and white checked clothes, cacti and balloons. The drive entrance had a western flag to mark the party site. I tied bandanas around the tray of my daughter's high chair so it would look festive for "first birthday cake" pictures.  Guests were encouraged to arrive in western wear, but I also provided bandannas and sheriff badges (clip-ons without pins) for adults and kids.  I used barnyard themed napkins and plates for the cake and dessert. Lunch centered on picnic fare -- hamburgers, hotdogs, BBQ beans, cold salads, veggies and fruit. I made a cow cake (familyfun.go.com) plus brown and white iced cupcakes for dessert, for which I used barnyard themed napkins and plates.  Tables had chips and whole peanuts as munchies with metal buckets for the shells, and we had lots of country music playing.  To entertain the children (ages infant to 14), we planned several organized games.  We broke up a hay bale for the children to hunt for small party prizes (bubbles, balls, etc). They had a great time with the hay even after all the prizes had been found.  We had 2 small wheelbarrows which I filled with stuffed animals for a relay race.  Children had to race down the lawn pushing their wheelbarrow full of animals, round a cone and return to hand off to the next racer on their team.  If they dropped animals along the way, they had to stop to put them back in the wheelbarrow.  Another game was called "clean your barnyard". We blew up pink balloons attached pink curly tails with ribbon and drew pig snout faces on them. We did the same to make a cow – only white balloons with black tails and cow faces, of course. Two teams were set up on opposite sides of a line of hay bales.  The balloons were handed out evenly to both sides to start the game. Players have 30 seconds to try and hit as many balloons to the opponent's side as possible.  The team ending the game with the least balloons in their "barnyard" when time is up is the winner.  No prizes were given out for the wheel barrow race or the barnyard game to avoid hurt feelings. To keep children busy, we had a table set up with assorted western and barn animal themed coloring and activity pages. My husband drove his tractor around the yard and took kids for a ride in a cart.  We had a small moon bounce, set up the volleyball net, and put out footballs and soccer balls too. When the children got hot, we handed out popsicles.  Since we had such a large number of children (over 40), I did not do typical treat bags.  Instead, I used an old box to cut out and paint the entrance to a General Store. We set up a corner of the garage with tin bins full of prizes and candy, and my older daughters decorated it with their artwork. Upon departure, children were allowed to visit the General Store and choose several candies (Jolly Ranchers, Cow Tails, Beefy Jerky and assorted other sweets) and a toy (water guns, plastic farm animals, animal notebooks, handcuffs, mini John Deere tractors, harmonicas, etc). That way the kids all went home with a few prizes, candy and their bandanna and badge. It was quite a memorable first birthday party, and perfect for early summer.