Western Party Games

Saddle up for fun, buckaroos! Western party games put a kick in your party! Here’s a couple ideas and games to get you going:

Musical Chairs Mexican Hat Dance

This party game is just like musical chairs, but with a Western spin, of course! Place either a cowboy hat or sombrero on the floor. Hide a small prize under the hat. Finally, encircle the hat with chairs. Provide one chair per child.

Children start seated. Tell the kids that when the party music starts, they’ll hop from their seats and circle the hat. While the music is playing, the host removes one of the chairs from the circle. When the music stops, kids must quickly find a seat. The child left standing is out for the remainder of the game.

The cycle continues with chairs being removed until only one chair is left. The child who claims this chair during the final round wins the prize hidden beneath the hat.

Water Gun Slinging Contest

Oh boy, it’s a shoot out! For warm weather use water guns, but if you’d rather not get everyone wet, silly string guns are great fun. The pistols make awesome party favors as well. Kids stand back to back and take five paces from each other. When the host says, “Turn,” the kids turn to shoot it out.

There’s no winner or looser … it’s just a great way to round up some laughs!

Gitty up Relay Race

Remember the wheel barrow relay race from when you were a kid? Kids still love this race today. One child plays the “horse” or “wheel barrow” by walking on his hands and the other child holds the “horse” by the feet.

Divide your group into two teams and have team members couple up. Create a start line and an obstacle (perhaps a bale of hay) for the kids to race around.

Each pair begins from the start line, races around the obstacle and returns to the start line. When they return the next couple from their team goes. The first team to have all players finish first wins.

Piñata Party

Ever met a kid who didn’t love a piñata party? Never! Even adults can’t wait to see what magical treats spring from a busted piñata.

Piñatas are a traditional Mexican game, making them perfect for the Western theme. The popularity of the piñata party game is growing fast, so there are many piñatas available for different theme parties.

A boot, a cactus, a hat, horseshoe or a donkey are great piñatas for the Western theme.

Best Western Costume Contest

One of the best parts of a Western themed party has to be dressing in costume. Go simple with a bandana and hat, or go all out with boots, fringed Western coats, holsters, spurs … the works. This is an easy theme for guests to dress for. Even the adults enjoy getting into the spirit!

But whose the best dressed of the West? Well, that’s a question that the contest answers. There are a few ways to have the contest. Kids can vote, the host can pick, or you can have a contest where kids must show off their costumes and their best Western moves. Whatever way you decide, it’s a great way to recognize your guests’ costume efforts.

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

We all loved this game groaning up. It seems that this traditional kids’ party game is a perfect fit for a Western theme party. You can get a free printable pin the tail on the donkey game and other printable party games at themed-party-ideas.com.

Gold Rush

There’s gold in them thar hills (well, at least in your yard). But, if you’re short on gold, print out buckaroo bucks for this fun party game.

The Gold Rush is a race to see which kids will strike it rich. Cut this printable play money into individual bills.

Next, similar to an Easter egg hunt, hide the buckaroo bucks throughout the party site. If you’re feeling very crafty, spray rocks with gold paint and hide the bucks under the rocks.

The child who returns with the most cash takes the prize. For an added adventure, you can even hide a few larger denominations of the buckaroo bucks to add excitement to the game and make counting the money even more educational and challenging.

This article was by Jennifer Scheffel of Themed Party Ideas.