Cowboy Party

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.

Cowboy Invitation

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.

Cowboy Vest

Wanted Poster

We made this wanted poster and had all of the kids pose for photos when they arrived.

Wanted Sign

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.

Stick Horses

Shooting Practice

We lined up paper cups. The kids had to knock the cups over with water guns. They all loved shooting them down.

Shooting Practice

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.

Snake in my boot

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.

Tie Down Roping

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.

Rodeo Chutes

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.

Cowboy Races

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.

Wheelbarrow Race

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

Jail

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.

Haystack

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?!

Root Beer

Cake
Our cake was a horse’s head. It was made out of one 9 X 13 cake.

Horse Cake

I can’t tell you how much I love this party for little cowpokes. It’s a sure winner!

Trip Around the World Party

We’ve held this party twice because it’s so much fun. The first time was for our seven-year-old son. Eight years later, we held it for our eight-year-old daughter. They wanted to take their friends on a trip around the world for their birthday party. –And both of them wanted to be the pilot! This was a fantastic backyard party with 10-20 kids. However, I think it would work for any number of guests. It lends itself to flexibility, as you can choose to visit wherever you want! Here is what we did:

Invitation

We sent all the kids a boarding pass with a brief note explaining the party. Ours was super simple. You can find all kinds of examples online.

The Airport

When the kids arrived, they began their trip at the travel agent’s desk. Each guest was given a passport and a Brown Paper Bag Suitcase for their souvenirs. We had them draw their own “photograph” and complete all the information inside the passport. Then they went through security. My husband and 9-year-old son put on blue suit coats and penciled-in mustaches so they would look official. They used the buzzer from the board game “Taboo” as their metal detector.

The Airplane

The guests then boarded the plane. We lined our patio with folding chairs like you can see in the photo below. One side of the plane was the brick wall of our house. The front and back were covered with king-sized sheets, and the outside wall of the plane were two long pieces of butcher paper with a plane painted on them. It was one fast jet!

After everyone boarded the plane, the pilot (birthday kid) took his seat, and the flight attendant went over the rules of the flight. My husband also played the part of the flight attendant. The kids thought it was hilarious. (They didn’t yet know he was going to play the part of several more characters throughout the evening.) We turned on the vacuum to signal take-off and landing of the plane. The flight attendant served drinks during one flight and snacks during another. Our plane made three stops.

Stop #1: Hawaii

In Hawaii, the locals taught our travelers how to hula dance. Grandma, dad, and an aunt helped with the hula lessons, congo line, and ukulele music. All the kids received a lei to wear. I was surprised how much everyone loved this stop. All the kids really loved the dancing.

Stop #2: Antarctica

In Antarctica, the kids built “snow structures”. We divided the group into several teams and gave them each a baking sheet with foam plates and bowls, white packing peanuts, shaving cream, and batting. They had about ten minutes to build a snow structure. They were very proud of their creations. (Warning: shaving cream will take the finish off of baking pans, so cover them with aluminum foil or use boxes or plastic trays. I learned this the hard way.)

Stop #3: Mexico

In Mexico, the kids met Pablo, who looked a lot like the flight attendant, security guard, and Hawaiian dance instructor. He hung a pinata in the tree and let everyone take swings at it until it was broken.

After the flight home, the kids were given some spending money to purchase a few items at the Airport Gift Shop. Then we opened gifts and had cake and ice cream. The cake was round and frosted to look like the planet earth. I stuck a little toy airplane on top. Somehow, I failed to photograph it. That happens a lot at our house. Sorry!

Favorites Party

Here’s a fabulous party idea for little kids!

If you have a child who has so many party ideas that he just can’t choose one, here is an idea for you: Throw a Favorites Party! We did this for our 5-year-old son and it was delightful. First we brainstormed with him. He told us all of his favorite things and every party idea that popped in his head. After the brainstorm, he narrowed his list to Pokemon, water fights, soccer, sugar cookies, dad’s stories, Big Band music, costumes, and balloons.

Does your party need to stick with a theme? Absolutely not! If the birthday kid is happy, it’s a great party! Finn’s party activities included decorating large sugar cookies, playing balloon volleyball, throwing darts at balloons, and playing soccer. We had his grandpa and dad play their trombones and the kids all danced to the music.

We made a Pokémon piñata and a Pokémon cake. We painted the guests’ faces and invited them to wear costumes if they wished. (The birthday boy wore a dinosaur suit for most of the party.)

Dad told one of his famous stories while the kids drank root beer. We finished off with a big water fight.

All of these were Finn’s favorite things and activities. He loved it… which made it a marvelous party! It was definitely one of his favorites!