Cowboy Party
Howdy partner, let the Wild West cowboy party begin
Hold your horses and don't rattle your hocks as we are heading to the Wild West to paint the town red – in other words let's have some cowboy fun!
A cowboy party is great fun and it can be for boys and girls – remember Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane? Do remember though that some parents are not keen on using guns and pistols so do be a bit sensitive.
* Supplies
* Invitations
* Costumes
* Decorations
* Games
* Activities
* Food
* Favors
* Other resources
*My favourite Cowboy Party Suppliers *
* Cowboy Party Invitations *
Your invitations could go something like this:
Cowboy Billy (use name of birthday child) invites you to hit the trail for a Wild West Ho Down
Round up at the Ranch: Address
Saddle up Time:
Wear your best bib and tucker (cowboy costume)
RSVP to the Sherriff
Wanted poster Using a computer make a wanted poster with a picture of the birthday child as the "Wanted". Write the details below.
Cowboy hat Make a template of a cowboy hat. Fold a piece of craft paper in half and cut out the template design, making sure that the top of the hat sits on the fold. That way you can open up the hat invite and write the details inside. Attach a sheriff's badge to the front of the hat.
Sheriff's badge Make a template of a sheriff's badge and using craft paper, copy the template. Put the guests name on the front of the badge with the party details on the back. Attach a safety pin so that they can wear it to the party
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* Cowboy Costumes *
Ask the kids to come dressed in their "Best bib and tucker" (cowboy outfit) or to wear a cowboy hat or to dress up as Indians. You can get some great cowboy party accessories and costumes at the following places:
Jokers Masquerade (UK site)
Buy Costumes (US site)
Below are a few ideas to get you started.
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* Cowboy Party Decorations *
OK it's time to pain the town red, well not exactly as that's just a cowboy expression for having a good time!
Put up a large ranch sign at the party entrance
Print off some wanted posters. To make it more fun, get hold of some photos of the guests and put them on the posters
Place some paper or real horseshoes on the path leading to the party entrance
Create a teepee out of a large sheet and some wooden batons.
Create a large cactus (or two !) out of card or even buy up some inflatable ones
Cover the party food table in a red and white checkered cloth and hang up a sign saying "SALOON"
Place lots of plastic snakes around the place or hanging from trees
Use a real cowboy hat, turned upside down and line with a check napkin to hold chips etc.
Create a saloon bar for the drinks and prop some stools against it
Make a jail out of a large cardboard box
Put straw bails around the yard. The kids can sit on these when they are eating
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* Cowboy Party Food *
The easiest thing would be to have a BBQ and serve burgers and beans. Serve the food in tin bowls or disposable foil pie tins. Use tin mugs for the grog. Eat round a camp fire and then eat toasted marshmallows and sing cowboy songs afterwards. If you have more time, consider making other foods using the cowboy phrases below:
Bug Juice Really whisky but you could serve juice!
Calf slobbers Meringues
Chuck Food
Chuck Wagon Chicken Bacon
Cowboy Cocktail Really straight whisky!
Doughgods Biscuits
Round Browns Cow Chips
Choker holes Doughnuts
Star cookies Biscuits cut into the shape of a sheriff's badge
Quick ranch cake Prepare a basic chocolate/vanilla cake using a packet cake mix or my all-in-one cake recipe. Decorate to look like a coral by using toy plastic fencing, animals and cowboys.
More kid party food ideas
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* Cowboy Party activities *
Face painting Give the boys moustaches when they arrive
Camp fire chinwag At the end of the party, make a campfire and sing cowboy songs and tell stories of famous outlaws. Amazon have a couple of great CD's with cowboy songs that are easy to learn and to sing to. (See right).
Horse trail Hire a couple of ponies or even a real cowboy to teach the kids how to use a lasso.
Find an entertainer in your areas
Sheriff's badge Make a cardboard sheriff's badges and get the kids to decorate and put their name on them. This is a good activity whiles the kids are waiting for all the guests to arrive or especially if you don't know all the kid's names.
Coloring cowboy pictures
Other crafts
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* Cowboy Party Games *
Cattle roundup Give each child a stick and a balloon and see who can be the quickest to round up their cow (Balloon) though an obstacle course and into the pen.
Wagons and horses Wheel barrow race
Escape from Jail Divide the kids into 2 teams of bandits, each with a sheriff. The sheriff has to catch a member of the opposite team by touching them. They are then considered to be in jail and must stand still. Their tem mates can rescue them by crawling though their legs but if they are caught doing so, they are also have to stand still and are in jail. First team to catch all the other bandits is the winner.
Horseshoe toss Set up some plastic bottles filled with sand. The kids have to see if they can toss the horseshoe over the bottles. If you don't have any horseshoes, just use rubber dog rings.
Water gun shoot out See how many plastic cowboys they can knock down using water pistols
Bandit hunt Hide some plastic cowboys around the yard or the house. See who can find the most. Also hide a sheriff's badge. They can keep what they find and the person who finds the sheriff's badge can be the sheriff in the next game.
Boot Toss The children need to try and toss the bean bags into some big Wellington boots or a large cowboy hat.
Penny in a hay stack Hide pennies, small toy horses or other cowboy items in a large pile of hay the get the kids to pile in and find them
Panning for gold/nuggets Spray paint small bits of gravel in gold and bury in a paddling pool filled with a mixture of sand and water. Give each child a disposable aluminum pie tin with holes punctured in the bottom. Let them sieve the sand/water and see who can find the gold nuggets. These can be exchanged for candy or prizes afterwards although you will find that most kids want to keep the gold!!
Gold Rush Hide chocolate money around the yard or house and send the kids on a gold rush to see who can find the most coins.
Rattlesnake rumpus Make a rattlesnake out of a long sock stuffed with a rattle at the end and then padded out with newspaper. Sit the cowboys/girls in a circle and put on some music. Whilst the music is playing, they have to pass round the rattlesnake but once the music stops, the person left holding the snake is said to have been bitten and sits out of the game.
Piñata Having a piñata is always a great success at kids parties. Where to buy a cowboy pinata.
More kid party games
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*Cowboy Party Favours and Prizes *
Use brown paper bags and stick a sheriff's badge with each child's name on each bag. Alternatively, fill a bandana with the goodies and tie up with a piece of rope and attach to a stick.
Bandanas
Sheriff badge
Water pistols
Mini horse animals
Lone Ranger masks
Mini cactus plants
Plastic or rubber snakes
For plenty of cowboy party favor ideas, check out these cowboy party supplies and to start you off, have a look at my personal selction below.
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*Other Cowboy Party Resources *
Coloring cowboy pictures
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Did you know?.....Buffalo Bill whose real name is William Frederick Cody was born in Iowa, February 26, 1846. He got his nickname for supplying the Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. But he is probably best known as the man who gave the Wild West its name. He produced a colorful show called Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World, which gained an international reputation and helped create a lasting image of the American West.
Other kids party themes
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