Party! On The Farm

It’s time to swap ‘I want a pony’ with ‘I want to paint a pony!’

- Alyssa Ruane

Birthday parties are often characterized by sweaty skin, sticky hands and a day’s worth of mess for parents to tackle after celebrations subside. Rambunctious little party-goers can destroy a pre-party cleaning sweep within minutes. This year, preserve your home’s cleanliness (and your sanity) with a birthday party far, far away from your property. Skip the party-planning stress and host your child’s birthday at a nearby farm.

From York, South Carolina to Statesville, North Carolina, the Charlotte-metro area features at least 17 places to pick strawberries, pumpkins and other harvest produce. Of those 17 farms, more than half also host birthday parties. And, yes, one of them allows children to hand-paint a horse (with nontoxic paint, of course).

The ABCs of Hosting Birthdays at a Farm