Life as a cowboy is very exciting to little kids. Give your birthday boy a party in the old Wild West with these ideas for decorations, goodies, games, and more.

Give party guests a Wild West adventure with this birthday party theme. You won't be herding cattle, but you can still rustle up some down-home fun. Use the ideas below to help "spur" your imagination for creating a western theme.

Invitations

Printable invites are below. Print on regular paper or cardstock. Cut along the outer dotted lines and fold the inner dotted lines to form the invite. Fill in the appropriate information.

Decorations

• Decorate the walk way to your house with bales of hay. You can also use these for kids to sit on and tell a western story outside later in the party.
• Hang a sign at the entrance to the party that says, "Welcome to the _______ Ranch."
• Use a red and white checkered tablecloth, pie tins for plates, small mason jars as cups, red napkins, and white utensils.
• Decorate the party room with rope, a lantern, and burlap sacks stuffed with newspaper.
• Place a stick horse somewhere in the party room.
• Tie a gold and silver helium balloon behind each party guests chair.

Craft

Provide each party guest with a bandana. Have fabric markers and paints set out for the children to decorate their bandanas with. After they dry, the children can wear them!

Activity

Take the children outside, if the weather permits, and have the child listen to a cowboy story while sitting on bales of hay. If possible, have an adult dress up like a cowboy to read the story. It makes it more fun for the kids.

Game

Shooting Gallery

Have children try to knock down empty soda tin cans with a water gun. See who can knock down the most in a period of 30 seconds or 1 minute.

Cake and Food

Serve hot dogs, beans, and corn on the cob for chow time. Make Purple Cows for a tasty treat:

Ingredients:

• Vanilla ice cream
• Grape soda

Directions: Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a small mason jar, and fill the jar with grape soda. You can make brown cows by substituting root beer soda for grape soda.

Bake a sheet cake and decorate it with cowboys, horses, and ranch figures. You can get these by purchasing a Lego kit, which can serve as a present after the party.

Goodie Bags

When it is time for the party guests to saddle up and leave for the dusty trail, send them off with the bandana they decorated, play horses and cowboy figures, pull-apart Twizzlers (rope), Western stickers, squirt guns, toy snakes, and harmonicas.

More Great Birthday Party Ideas!