Coolest Kid Birthday Theme Party Ideas

Howdy there pardner!!! Lookin' to have a Rootin' Tootin' HOOT of a Western birthday theme party?! Well, you've come to the right place…

With just a bit of creativity mixed together with colored papers, markers, a good photo of the birthday kid, and a touch of glue, you can put together one heck of a WANTED poster invitation for your Western birthday theme party.

Take a black and white picture of your child (possibly wearing a cowboy/cowgirl costume) and print it out (or glue it on) brownish or yellowish paper.

Feel free to spill some coffee or tea on the invitations and burn the edges a bit to give them that authentic Western look.

Write something like: "Outlaw (kid's name with a Western twist, for instance Bronco Bill) WANTED for eating too much candy, having a messy room, etc"

"Howdy partners, we be needin' you towns people buckaroos to help celebrate Outlaw (kid's name) *th Birthday; Y'all get ready for the hoe-down at (address) on the (party date) at (party time); So jump on your horse and mosey on over for some tasty grub and boot stompin' fun!! Yee-Haw!!! Give us a holler at (phone #) to RSVP. Don't forget to dress for the West…. y'hear?!?!"

If you don't want to use a Wanted poster, you can always have your kid dressed up as the Sheriff inviting everyone to come. Or, you can make cowboy, boot, horseshoe, or hat-shaped birthday theme party invitations. Let your creative spirits loose!

An excellent way to start is to find some pictures and clipart that'll give your imagination an artistic boost. (Here's wagon-full of Wild West pictures and clipart to inspire your do-it-yourself birthday theme party invitations and decorations…)

In the entrance to the party area, create your own Saloon door (cut out of cardboard), or use this saloon door curtain...

No matter where you're having the Western birthday theme party (home, park, nearby stable or farm), you can construct a cool Old West town out of refrigerator boxes and other big boxes (best bet is to go to a nearby furniture or appliance store).

Place the different-sized boxes one beside the other and connect them with duct tape. This'll be your Western town - just like they're built on the movie sets. To transform it into a "real" town, cut out windows and doors and write stuff like: "Best Western Hotel", "First Bank of the West", etc. To create "Stinky Pete's Saloon", cut out two doors opening saloon-style. And, what's a Western town without a "City Jail"? Wrap paper towel rolls with aluminum foil and tape them on the inside of the window to look like bars for the jail. You can also cut out people-shaped characters (wearing cowboy clothes) and cut holes for the face so that kids can put their faces in and be photographed.

To top it off, cut out cardboard cacti, spray paint them green, draw the cactus needles with a black marker, and attach them to a fence, gate or any other suitable place.Place a sign on the front door saying something like: "By order of the Sheriff, NO GUNS ALLOWED. Leave all weapons here!" Or "No Spittin', Chewin' or Drinkin'".

Post all kinds of other Western-slang signs around the birthday theme party area. You can also have a sign for every area, for instance near the food a sign saying "Grub"; near the drinks "Waterin' Hole"; where the bathroom is "Outhouse", etc. Post WANTED-type posters of your kid or other family members and friends (each with a crime and bounty; also give them names such as "Wild Bobby Smith" or the "Coyote Kid").

Decorate the house or yard with ropes, old cowboy boots, old wagon-wheels, horseshoes, bandanas, haystacks to sit on (which you can find at a local or neighboring farm) and place stuffed farm animals around the party area.

Put up lots of balloons and streamers all around the birthday theme party area and try to rummage around for camping or storm equipment such as oil lamps, lanterns and cooking pots to add to the theme's atmosphere. Decorate the tables with red and white-checkered tablecloths, fill old cowboy boots with eucalyptus or cacti for table centerpieces and use bandannas as place mats and napkins. You can also soak the labels off root beer bottles and use the bottles as candleholders.

Here are some great icebreaker activities that'll help you get the kids into the Western birthday theme party mood:

First, to warm them up as they arrive, hand out Sheriff Badges, bandanas, cowboy hats and vests. You can also hand out "edible" badges in the form of star cookies and have the kids decorate them.

*Vests: Have them create their own vests for loads of fun! Beforehand, prepare a bunch of brown Supermarket bags cut as follows: Cut down the center of one side of the bag. This is the vest's front opening. Then cut out a circle in the center of the bottom of the bag (necks aren't as big as you think, so watch out or you will make the hole too big) and trim the front edge of the neckline out a little (the neck front is always lower than the back). You can taper the neckline into the front opening in a v-shape if you want. Cut armholes in each side. Fringe the top of the bag (bottom of the vest). Give the kids markers or paper and paste to decorate their vests.

*Gold-Making: Give each kid a cup-full of pebbles and have them paint the pebbles with a gold color and glitter. Use these golden nuggets for the "panning for gold" activity as described in the Wild West games section. Another idea is to spray-paint old horseshoes and other cowboy items with gold and have a gold hunt later on in the Western theme birthday party.

You can use a boot or hat-shaped cake pan or sculpt any one of a variety of western shapes from a rectangular cake. You can also make a chocolate cake with white "cow-spots" icing.

Another idea is to make a rattlesnake cake. Bake a smooth bundt style cake and cut it in half vertically. Place the two ends together and frost so that the snake looks like it's curved in the shape of an "S". If you want a longer snake - make another bundt cake and connect it also. Nowadays, picture cakes are a big hit and you can take the same picture from the Wanted Poster invitation and have it magically scanned onto a cake at most of the local bakeries.

Birthday Theme Party Food:

Tip: have a good ol' barbeque and use cowboy hats or straw baskets with a gingham napkin or bandanna to serve corn, potato chips, trail mix, popcorn etc.

And now to the "real" stuff:

*Buffalo wings
*Bronco beans
*Horse Feed (shreded lettuce)
*Barbeque chicken, beef, ribs etc.
*Haystacks (shoestring potatoes)
*Cornbread
*Chili n' chips
*Weiner roast (hot dogs)
*Potato, Coleslaw and green salads
*Sausages
*Corn on the cob
*Wagon-wheel pasta
*Roast foil-wrapped potatoes on an open fire (if you can have one)
*Mashed potatoes and gravy
*Watermelon (and you can have a watermelon seed spitting contest-this can be great fun!!)

Birthday Theme Party Drinks:

*Root beer
*Ginger ale
*Cactus juice (Lemon-lime soda. When you're about to serve it add scoops of lime sherbet and watch it bubble! You can also make green ice cubes with green food coloring to add to the whole cactus effect.)
*Sarsaparilla (Before the party, drop cherries in each ice cube slot and freeze. Then, at the party, put one tablespoon of grenadine syrup into each glass, drop a frozen ice cube, then pour cream soda over the ice and watch a pinkish foamy drink appear).

Tip: Put up a bevarge outpost (could be your kitchen counter). You can call it the Birthday Saloon. Have a dressed-up parent or sibling be the saloon keeper and serve soda pop in tall mugs.

Birthday Theme Party Treats:

*Golden nuggets (chocolate ones)
*Sugar cubes
*Bugs - chocolate covered raisins.
*Golden goblets (caramel popcorn)
*Smores (marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers)
*Trail mix
*All kinds of potato chips (maybe with barbeque flavors) with salsa
*Rattlesnake eggs (jelly beans with spots on them)
*Shelled peanuts
*Jell-O Jigglers (cut with cookie cutters) in the shapes of cowboy hats, boots, horse shoes, ponies, etc.

After throwing such a great Western birthday theme party, you'll want to send the kids back with a bunch of cool favors which can include Jolly Ranchers, water guns, sheriffs' badge, a whistle, rubber snake, harmonica, wild-west stickers, chocolate golden nuggets, fake handcuffs, and more and more!

You can put all of your birthday theme party favors inside bandanas or in cowboy hats. Tie them with twine or raffia and add a cowbell for that real Western feel.

*Pinata: Prepare your own pinata beforehand (click here for instructions) or if you're short on time here are a few cool choices:

And... Here's an entire page with the coolest ideas for Wild West birthday party games, such as Milk the Cow, Watermelon Seed Spitting, Rattlesnake Stomp, Shooting Gallery and more. You'll also find some VERY important tips to help you survive (and enjoy) game time.

"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam. And the deer and the antelope play"… And to that I say YEEEEEE---HAAAWWWW!

Take your coolest party ideas, add a few colorful photos and you've got a "PARTY TALE ".

Many of the ideas you'll find on this site have been sent to us by people around the world. These people are an inspiration to this site, helping make this site an inspiration to others.

Once your party is over, we'd love for you to send us your own PARTY TALE and we'll create your very own theme party page and photo gallery that's hosted on our site! (Family, friends and just about anybody will be able to find inspiration from YOUR CHILD'S birthday party AND comment on YOUR ideas!)

Here's a chance for you to peek at other people's PARTY TALES and find even more ideas:

Click here to find more of the best deals on
Western birthday theme party supplies...

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Coolest Ideas for a Western Birthday Theme Party

WANTED: Pioneers, prospectors, cowboys, outlaws and even in-laws!!