Cowboy Theme for Ben's 4th Birthday Party

For his birthday party this year Ben wanted a cowboy theme.

I knew from last year that The Cowboy's Handbook: How to Become a Hero of the Wild West by Tod Cody contained a lot of fun information and ideas so I brought it home from the library for inspiration.

After reading The Cowboy's Handbook, we settled on three ideas for our party.

1. Cowboys wore chaps.

Our Cowboys and Cowgirls wearing their hats and chaps.

To make the chaps, I bought heavy Naugahyde fabric and cut out the shape of chaps. We cut slits down the sides and across the top. Then we used strips of fabric to tie the legs together and also make belts.

2. Cowboys carried guns and played horse shoes.

I couldn't find indoor horse shoes so we settled for ring toss.

3. Cowboys ate beans (chili) with cornbread (and birthday cake).

Ben enjoyed the "boot" on his cake.

Everyone had fun wearing their chaps, cowboy hats and badges. We also shot a suction cup dart gun at a target and listened to cowboy music Joel found online.

Even the daddys got in on the action!

Ben's already talking about the theme for his 5th birthday. He loves to build so maybe a Lego party would be a good idea. Good thing I've got a year to think about it!