5th Birthday Cowboy Round-up
For my son's 5th birthday party this year he had a Cowboy Round-Up. I ordered off the internet blank printable cowboy invitations from Color by Design and printed them on my computer. They were really cute. It had a cowboy hat, horseshoe and cowboy boots going down the side and rope that went around the whole invitation. The invitation read: Howdy, Howdy! Come one, Come All! To the rottenest, tootinest roundup of them all! We're celebrating Landon's 5th Birthday with the horse's in the barn, Come join us for a party at the Salter's Farm. Saturday, September 14, 2002 11:00 - 1:00pm. Say "Yee-Yah" by September 8th and bring the whole herd! When the children arrived they were given a cowboy hat and bandana by my two nieces who I had recruited for helpers. We had two horses saddled up with two wonderful friends that let the children ride with them. Since we had invited my son's whole K-4 class I knew that I needed other games to keep the children occupied while waiting for a turn. We had plenty of room for the children to run around and go from game to game. We had a watermelon seed spitting contest. I thought the kids would love to eat watermelon and then get to spit the seeds without getting in trouble!! We also had hay bales in the shape of a horseshoe and put toys on the ground and covered them with hay. The children would be blindfolded and would crawl around and feel for toys. There was apple bobbing and horse roping too. I put a bale of hay on saw horses and made a long tail for the horse out of rope, and stuck a stick horse in the front. The children would take a hula hoop and try to ring the horses neck. The hula hoop made it easier for the children to ring it. At each game I had an adult there to help and after they would play, they got to choose a prize out of the basket. I had gotten lots of cheap toys and candy from Oriental Trading for the prizes. I had bendable cowboys, plastic horses, sling shots, gold coin gum, small plastic snakes, bendable farm animals, harmonicas and candy. We also had a boot piņata that I found a Party City. The children were given their goody bags so that when they broke the piņata they would have something to put their candy in. The goody bags were just plain brown gift bags that I had gotten from Oriental Trading. I put their name on the bag and used a horse stamp that I found at Wal-Mart. I used black craft paint to stamp the horse with and had their name written real cute in black as well. I used raffia to tie on the handle. There were a few things already in the goody bag too. There were bubbles and gold mine gum that I had gotten from Oriental Trading. We then gathered all the children and had a hay ride. While the children were gone on the hay ride that gave me time to get their lunch ready. We had hotdogs, chips, pickles and cowboy trail mix. I used galvanized buckets lined with bandanas to put the chips and hotdogs in. I also had mini hay bales and cowboy hats to decorate the table with. When they got back from the hay ride they were ready to eat. I had used a wheelbarrow to put all the drinks in and had it outside so parents and children could come by and get drinks at any time. After lunch they had birthday cake that was decorated with boots and rope that matched the plates and napkins. I had decided not to let my son open his presents at the party because there was so much to do in such a little time. I think all the children and parents as well had fun. My son's said it was the best party he had ever had (well he is only 5)!!
