Hosting an authentic Western party?  Get your hoe down moving with one of these games! Great for outside!

Pan for Gold

Early settlers scanned the Western frontier for gold.  Honor the history and tradition of what brought people West with this game.  Fun for kids and adults.

Ingredients

• Sandbox

• Plastic or Mesh Strainers

• Trays

• Toys

• Coins

• Crystals

• Polished Stones

To Play

• Fill the sandbox with kid friendly sand.

• Bury the toys, coins, crystals, and polished stones in the sand.

• Give everyone a strainer and tray.

• Guests scoop out sand with the strainer and bring it to their tray to sift through.

• Each guest keeps his or her treasures.

Haystack Search

Similar to the pan for gold game, this game has everyone searching stacks of hay for a prize.

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 Hay Stacks

• Wrapping Paper

• Toys

• Gifts

To Play

• Purchase little toys and gifts related to a Western theme party.  Fun ideas include: toy water guns, bag of gold coin candy, hot sauce, Western Glassware, Johnny Cash CD’s, and other Country Western musicians.

• Wrap all of the gifts.

• Break apart the haystacks so it isn’t all in one block and place into one large pile.

• Strategically place the gifts in the haystacks, so that your guests will have a difficult time finding them all at once.

• Gather your guests around and invite everyone to participate, although those with allergies may decide not to play. Can you blame them?

• Set a timer for five minutes. Guests have five minutes to find prizes in the haystacks.

• If all of the gifts are not taken in the first five minutes, then do another round.

• Those who don’t find anything in the haystack, give them a consolation prize like blinking Western beads.

Tin Can Target

Practice this game just like the cowboys do, except without real guns, please!

Ingredients   

• Empty Cans

• Water Guns

• Water

• Wall

• Score Card

• Rope

• Chalk

To Play

• Set up on a wall a long row of empty cans and behind the wall for extras.

• Purchase enough water guns for your guests.  Buy all of the same kind so that everyone has a fair chance. Make sure that the guns shoot far otherwise the cans won’t get knocked over.

• Prior to the party fill up the water guns with water.

• Draw a line with chalk or use rope to create a dividing line between the wall and where everyone will stand. 

• Have everyone line up about six to seven feet in front of the cans, one person per can, and handout the water guns.

• Everyone shoots at the cans.  When someone knocks it over they get a point.

• Do a few rounds.

• The person with the most points wins a prize.

Horseshoes Obstacle Course

We’ve adapted the classic Western party game, however you can play it as it has always been played. 

Ingredients 

• Horseshoes

• Posts

• Rope

• Log

• Water Guns

• Empty Cans

• Table

• Chalk

To Play

• First of all, make sure you have enough of the materials needed for all of your guests to play. Set up the following in their own areas horseshoes and posts, rope and tall log, filled water guns, empty cans and table.

• To set up the cans follow the instructions for the Tin Can Target game except on a table and you’ll only need one row. For the rope and log, tie the rope into a lasso, guests will have to lasso the log. If you want to get really creative you can make a horse out of cardboard.

• The idea is that everyone has to go from task to task and complete it in the least amount of time. You can divide everyone into teams and have each team complete each task. 

• Have your guests start at the water gun targets when they knock over the can they go on to the next obstacle.  At the rope and log, they have to lasso the log or horse. Then they end at the horseshoes, whomever gets the horseshoe over the post is finished.

• The winner is the one who finishes first.

Other Western Party Game Ideas

• Rent a Mechanical Bull or Rodeo Roper.

• Hire Square Dance Callers and have a square dance off.  Find out which one of your friends can square dance all night.

• Host a real Wild West show and performance that gets everyone involved.

• Instead of Square Dancing there is always Line Dancing.  Why not a line dancing contest with a few judges?  Divide the party into teams and have everyone do their best “Cowboy Boogie.”

Prizes

• Barbeque Gift Basket with Hot Sauce, A Few Recipes, Dry Rubs and More

• Cowboy Hat

• Country Western CD

• Western Movies: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Unforgiven, Stagecoach, Tombstone

• Popular Country Western Singers CD’s

• Horseshoe for Good Luck

 For great western theme party ideas check out our Western Party Planning Guide. 

For great decorating ideas for your Western Theme Party visit Western Decorating411.

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