I have thrown two cowboy parties for my little buckaroos. One of my sons was three for his party and the other was four years old. Both parties were very fun and perfect for our target age group. Each was a little different, so I’ve included photos and ideas from both. Yee-Haw!
Invitation
Isn’t this the cutest little cowboy invitation you’ve ever seen? You’ll need cardstock, yarn, and a paper clip (to secure the head to the vest). It’s all just taped together. I drew the boots, head, and vest- then made copies, cut them out, and taped it all together.
Activities
Cowboy Up!
As our guests arrived, we made sure everyone looked like a cowboy or cowgirl right away. We painted on mustaches (with washable marker) and passed out cowboy hats, bandanas, and vests. I made vests and bandanas for all the little kids. One year I made them out of felt so I didn’t have to hem them. I just drew my own pattern on a newspaper- a back and two front pieces. The other year, I made much fancier- cowboy printed flannel vests with an actual Simplicity pattern. Tip- The felt was much easier.
Wanted Poster
We made this wanted poster and had all of the kids pose for photos when they arrived.
Stick Horses
The first year I just gathered a few stick horses and put them in a bucket (the corral) for use during the races. The second time, I made a stick horse out of a swim noodle for each guest. The kids all got to take them home at the end of the party- so they loved that. My kids helped me make them. Search on Pinterest for “stick horse swim noodle” and you’ll see tons of pins with patterns.
Shooting Practice
We lined up paper cups. The kids had to knock the cups over with water guns. They all loved shooting them down.
Snake Jumping
We used two ropes as snakes. We put a person on each end of the ropes and they wiggled them wildly as the kids tried to run and jump over them without touching the snakes. –Simple and exciting game for little kids.
There’s a Snake in My Boot!
The older kids had to stand on a ladder and drop plastic snakes into cowboy boots on the ground. The younger kids sat in a saddle on a straw bale and dropped the snakes into a cowboy hat.
Tie-Down Roping
We put a big brother on a bike with a picture of a cow’s head taped to the handle bars. The kids tried to “rope” the cow by throwing hula hoops at him as he rode by. This was probably not the safest activity, but it sure was funny. –And the riders thought it was fun too.
Rodeo Races
We made two rodeo chutes out of refrigerator boxes from a local furniture/appliance store. We cut off one side and one end, then made a door out of the other end. The cowboys lined up in the chute with their horses for the races. The MC announced the cowboy and horse’s names… “Here comes Black-Eyed Jake riding Wildfire against Crooked Kurt riding Zeus.” The chute door flew open and off the cowboys rode.
Our first race was just running down to the fence and back, riding the stick horses. The second race was barrel racing. We let the kids barrel race a couple of times because they loved it so much. I’m sure you could add some more races, but we were entertaining 3-4 year old kids so we kept it simple.
Wheelbarrow Races
Every kid loves to be pushed in a wheelbarrow. We recruited some uncles and older cousins to push/race the wheelbarrows, giving each child a turn as the rider.
Jail Tag
Choose one or two kids to be the sheriff. The other kids are the bandits. This game is basic TAG. The bandits go to jail if the sheriff touches them. If another bandit can get to the jail, and touch one of the prisoners, that prisoner gets to break out of the jail. The game ends (or restarts) when all the bandits are in jail. I made our jail out of quilting frames and long strips of black fabric tacked to the boards
Searching the Haystacks
One year I bought a few large bags of pet bedding (used for hamsters and bunnies) at a pet store. It cost about $20. The next time, I bought a bail of straw at the local IFA (Intermountain Farmers) for $5. Both times, I put a tarp on the ground, then we pulled the straw bail apart (or dumped the bedding). We hid wrapped candy and small toys in the straw. This made for a great candy hunt. We gave everyone a brown lunch bag to collect their cache.
Snacks
This party wasn’t at meal time, so I just provided big bowls of popcorn and pretzels, and an unlimited supply of root beer (root-tootin’ sarsaparilla.) –And really, what’s a party without root beer?!
Cake
Our cake was a horse’s head. It was made out of one 9 X 13 cake.
I can’t tell you how much I love this party for little cowpokes. It’s a sure winner!