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Western Round Up - Cowboys & Cowgirls

Howdy Partners,
Its time to muster up the folks for a Western Birthday Round Up!
Heres all the tips you will need to saddle up for a fun wild west hoedown!
With costume, food and decoration ideas the ranch will have never looked better!
Its time to paint the town red so saddle up for a bang up time!
Yeee-Haah
PS: keep an eye out for the Sheriff he is looking for rowdy cowgirls and cowboys to capture!

Western Roundup themed parties are so much fun and can include both boys and girls!

  1. Invitations
  2. Costumes
  3. Decorations
  4. Food Ideas
  5. Cake Ideas
  6. Games and Activities
  7. Lolly Bags and Prizes
  8. Music Ideas
  9. Gift Ideas

Invitations

When it comes to invitations you can make them as simple or creative as you like. Pre-made western themed invitations are available at some party or craft shops and discount stores, so if you prefer the simple option keep an eye out and they shouldn't be too hard to find. For those amongst us who feel more creative here are a couple of ideas:

  • Scrapbooking
    Use left over coloured card and paper and a stencil to make your invites in the shape of a horse shoe, cowboy hat, horse, cactus or sheriffs badge. Be sure to leave space to include all the relevant information.
  • Wanted Posters
    Dress your child up as a cowboy or cowgirl and take a photo of them. Make your invite to look like a wanted poster using the picture of your little cowboy/girl as the feature. These look great, remind your guests who the party is for and suggest an appropriate costume to wear.

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Costumes

Encourage your guests to come in their best "Bib and Tucker!" Its a western them so they can chose to dress up as a cowboy, cowgirl, sheriff or indian!

Cowgirl and Cowboy Costumes:

* cowboy hat 
* cowboy boots with cardboard spurs
* check or cowprint shirt
* cowboy vest (see photo to right)
* Denim jeans, shorts or skirt
* bandana kerchief (loosly tied around the neck)
* fake moustache for the boys and piggy tail plaits for the girls
* toy pistol and holster
* big belt buckle
* rope

 

 

Sheriffs Costume:

* Black Cowboy Hat
* Black Trousers
* Black Belt with Big Buckle
* Black Boots
* Sheriff's Badge
* Handcuffs
* Toy Gun and holster

 

 

   
Indian Costume:

* Native American feather headress or headband
  Feather headbands are really easy to make simply using a fabric headband, a range of colourful feathers, crepe paper and glue. Glue your feathers around the circumference of the headband (to just past the ears) as close together as possible. Once the glue has dried glue some crepe paper around the quill of the feathers so that you can only see the barbs of the feather.
* White T-Shirt - brightly decorated with fabric paints 
* face painting
* Native American clay bead necklaces
* Native American noodle bead necklaces and bracelets
* Native American Moccassins (sturdy slipper shaped shoe sewn from tanned leather)

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Decorations

When decorating your house you can be as simple or creative as you like. To help create a round up ranch use a combination of the following suggestions:

  • decorate the house using a red and white theme
  • a mix of red and white helium and normal balloons as well as streamers and ribbon
  • red and white checkered table cloths
  • toy horses and rocking horses
  • horse shoes
  • ropes (hang them across the ceiling or in a loop around door handles)
  • saddles
  • bails of hay
  • pictures of guests made into wanted posters
  • large ranch sign at the party entrance and saloon sign where party banquet will be eaten
  • cardboard cutout cactus
  • tee-pees
  • totem poles
  • toy snakes and lizards
  • a bar area where drinks are served
  • western saloon doors made from carboard to enter different rooms
  • battered tin cans 
  • cow hide fabric

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Food Ideas

Call the kids to their western style feast by banging a laddle against a metal pot. Decorate the table with a red and white checked table cloth, gold stars, rope and the following food suggestions:

  • Cook up a big bbq banquet with sausages, beef burgers and toad in the holes
  • ginger beer
  • nachos with baked beans, salsa, cheese and quacomale
  • quacomale dip with carrot, celery, cauliflower and capsicum sticks
  • baked beans and cheese on toast
  • corn on the cob

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Cake Ideas

  • horse shaped cake
  • horse shoe shaped cake
  • Sheriffs Star shaped cake

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Games and Activities

If there is one thing that children love to do at parties it's to play games. Here are a few ideas to keep the little cowboys and cowgirls entertained:

  • Tin Can Shoot Out 
    To play this game you will need a number of empty soft drink cans and water pistols. Line the empty soft drink cans along a wall. Let your guests take turns trying to shoot the cans to knock them off the wall. The child who is most accurate shooting the most cans off the wall wins.  
  • Pin the Tail on the Donkey
    To play this game you will need a picture of a donkey blutacked to a wall, a donkey tail with bluetack on it for each guest and a blindfold. Write the name of each guest on the back of a tail. Blindfold the child who will be going first. Spin them around three times and encourage them in the direction of the donkey poster on the wall. Ask the child to stick their donkey tail as close to where they think the tail is supposed to go. Continue until everyone has had a go. The child who most accurately pins the tail on the donkey wins the game.
  • Galloping Horse Relay
    For this game you will need at least two hobby horse ride ons. (Make your own using a broom and carboard horse head). Divide your guests into two teams. Line half of the team at one end of the yard and the other half down the other end. Supply each team with a ride on hobby horse. When you give the signal the teams have to race each other passing the hobby horses between team members until everyone has had a go. The team who finishes first wins. Other relay activities can follow this such as skipping, running, jumping or crawling.
  • Cowboy Hat Toss
    For this game you will need at least one cowboy hat and a number of beanbags. Place the cowboy hat brim up on the floor and line your guests up a short distance away (the distance will vary depending on the age of the children). Allow your guests to take turns trying to throw the bean bags into the hat. The child who gets the most bean bags into the hat wins the game.  
  • Pinata
    Prior to the party purchase or make a cowboy boot, cowboy hat, cactus, horse or horse shoe shaped pinata. Using soft bats and a lot of supervision let each child have a turn at bashing away for cowboy booty.
  • Hay Hunt
    Hide a variety of cowboy booty (see lolly bags and prizes) in a bail of hay. Let your guests rumage through the hay to find their prizes. Warning: this activity can get pretty messy so it is best played outdoors.
  • Lasso Practice 
    For this game you will need a rocking horse and hula hoops. Set your rocking horse up and line your guests a distance a way (the distance will vary depending on the age of the children). Allow your guests to take turns trying to lasso the horse by throwing the hula hoop around its neck. The guest who lasso's the horse the most times wins the game.
  • Sheriff and Cowboy Chasey
    This game works like normal chasey. One child is the sheriff and has to chase and catch the cowboys (the rest of the children). If you are caught by the sheriff then you are out and have to sit aside.
  • Rattle Snake Bite
    Ask your guests to sit in a circle. Instruct them that when the music is playing they are to pass the toy snake around the circle. When the music stops they stop passing the snake and the guest who is holding it is considered to be bitten and is out of the game. Keep going until there is only one child left who hasn't been bitten. 
  • Musical Hats
    Arrange a number of cowboy hats (one less than the number of guest) in the middle of the room. When the music is playing encourage your guests to dance around the cowboy hats. When the music stops they have to race to a hat and put it on. The guest who doesn't have a hat to put on is out of the game. Each round remove a hat until there is only one hat and two guests left. The child who gets the final hat wins the game.  
  • Tee-Pees and Indians
    Divide your guests into two teams. Make one team indians and the other team tee-pees. Arrange the indians in a circle and then ask the tee-pees to stand behind one of the indians. The indians sit on the floor with their legs crossed in front of the tee-pees while the tee-pees are to stand with their legs open and hands together above their heads (looking like a tee-pee). Alternate randomly between calling out tee-pees or indians. If you call indians all the indians have to crawl through the tee-pees legs, race around the circle and back through their tee-pees legs. If you call tee-pees then all the tee-pees have to race around the circle back to their indian and resume their tee-pee pose. The last guest to return to their original position is out of the game. Keep playing until their is only one guest left. Make sure children know which direction to run so there are no collisions!
  • Dance
    Teach your guests some bootscooting moves, the chicken dance or the hokey pokey and get them to perform their new dance to their parents at the end of the party.
  • Totem Pole Craft
    Totem poles were made by native indians to record important family and historical events. They are easy to make using egg cartons, glue, textas, paints, scrap card and paper, feathers, sequins and beads. Prior to the party cut the lids off the egg cartons. Using the other half of the carton glue the two edges together so that the holes in which the eggs usually sit are facing inwards. Allow your guests to go wild decorating their totem poles using craft supplies. Warning: if using paints this activity may get very messy so plastic floor coverings and art shirts may be required.

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Lolly Bags and Prizes

To make the perfect lolly bags use cowboy bandanas or brown paper bags with sheriff badges with each childs name on them. Fill them with:

  • licorice ropes
  • cowboy stickers and tattoos
  • cowboy and horse figurines
  • Sheriffs' badges
  • water pistol toy
  • harmonica
  • mini cactus plant
  • gold coins
  • bubblegum

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Music Ideas

You western party needs up beat bootscooting, country music. Some suggestions include:

  • The Hokey Pokey
  • Cotton Eyed Joe
  • The Chicken Dance
  • Achey Breakey Heart (Billy Ray Sirus)
  • They'll Be Coming Round the Mountain 

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Gift Ideas

coming soon

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