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Pinatas
Boot
Horse
Horseshoe
Invitations
Cut the invitation in the shape of a barn and write: “All
neighbors invited to an old fashioned barn raising party. We’re
bringing down
the house!”
Cakes
Horseshoe
Decorations
Color theme: red and white to match bandanas, with a bit of
yellow
You can use a black
silhouette of a cowboy
Other western and
pioneer themed decorations:
Tin wash basin
Cactus
Horseshoes
Wildflowers
Bonnets
Straw hats
Straw
Tumbleweeds (cute if you don’t really have to deal
with them)
Wagon wheels
Costumes/Dress
up
Bonnets
Bandanas
Moustaches cut from
black or brown felt with sticky backing
Games
and Activities
Gold Digging (age
3-14)
Mix gold painted rocks with some sand in a large bucket or
other sand pile and let your guests search for gold. For younger guests
make
the stones a size that easy to find and your guests can dig with
trowels or sand
shovels. For older guests, make the gold pieces rather small and give
each
guest a pie tin and teach them to pan for gold. Then turn your western party into a gold digging jamboree. Put a little sand in
the pie
tin, with a bit of water and slowly slosh out the sand, so the heavier
gold
pieces remain in the tin.
Pie
Eating Contest
(ages 3-16)
Fill mini pie tins with a pie filling of your choice
(pudding is messiest) and let the guests select a pie. Holding their
hands
behind their backs the guests should eat their pies. First one done
wins. This game will fill your guests appetite for fun at your western party.
Potato
Stamps (ages
3-16)
Cut potatoes in half and then cut out a shape, like a star,
to use as a stamp. Dip in paint and then make wonderful designs on
paper. For
younger guests you will want to have the potatoes cut out ahead of time
for
them to use.
Wheat
Gum (ages
4-16)
Try this. If you chew raw wheat berries long enough, which
you can purchase at the local health food store, it becomes gum. Not
real gum.
You can’t blow bubbles. The gluten in the wheat makes a type of gum;
it’s kind
of fun and safe to swallow. And, yes, all the cow pokes used to do this. So make sure you add it to your western party.
Make
Butter (ages
5-16)
Put cream in small containers with lids, like a clean baby
food jar, and let the guests shake the jars until butter forms. Then,
drain off
the liquid and spread the new butter on bread or rolls. You can salt
the butter
before putting it on bread if you like. But, don’t salt the cream
before the
butter is made. The salt will stay with the milk liquid, rather than in
the
butter. And now everyone at your western party will know where buttermilk comes from!
Potato
Sack Race
(ages 5-16)
If you don’t have cloth potato sacks, you can use pillow
cases. Give each guest a pillow case and have them stick both feet in
the
pillow case and hop to the finish line. Don’t let the pillow case fall
down or
you have to go back to the starting line!
Ice
Cream in a Bag (ages
6-16)
This
is a great activity for a break between more active games at your
western party. For each guest combine the following ingredients in a
pint
size Ziploc baggie: 1 Tbsp. sugar, ½ cup half and half, and ¼ tsp.
vanilla. You
could add a few berries if you like. Fill a gallon size Ziploc baggie
half full
of ice and add ½ cup rock salt—one for each guest. Place the smaller
baggie
inside the larger baggie and instruct your guests to shake their bags
until the
mixture in the smaller bag becomes ice cream. It could take up to five
minutes.
Maybe have gloves or dishtowels for the guests to handle their bags
with. Your
guests can eat it right out of the bag if they want! |
