The Wild West Activities Crafts and Printables

Wild West Activities, Rhymes, Printables, and Wild West Book Suggestions

Cowboy and Cowgirl Camp Dramatic Play Area

Set up a dramatic play area in the classroom with a cowboy/girl camp theme. Make a pretend campfire by stacking logs or blocks and decorating them with paper or cellophane flames in orange, yellow, and red. Place some beach chairs around the campfire and stock the area with a frying pan, some old tin pie plates for dishes, some tin cups, some empty bean cans, spoons, and an old coffee pot. Place a bin with some instruments near the campfire so children can sing songs and play music. Suggested instruments include a ukulele, a triangle, a harmonica, and a toy guitar. Decorate the ceiling above the play area with stars hanging from string. Hang some cowboy hats along the wall for children to wear while they act out being cowboys and cowgirls camping under the stars. 

Wild West Snack Idea

Cowboy Franks and Beans

Preschool Activities: 

Media Root

What you need:

Hot dogs or tofu dogs
2-3 cans of baked beans
Sauce pan
Bowls
Spoons

What you do:

Slice hot dogs or tofu dogs into small half-circle pieces. Place the beans in the sauce pan and cook according to directions. As the beans heat up, add the sliced hot dog pieces and stir to combine evenly. Cool after heating and divide into bowls. Serve.

Wild West and Cowboy Printables, Coloring Pages, and Resources

Cactus Coloring Page	In the Desert Drawing	Cowboy Coloring Page	Trace the Horse and Draw a Cowboy or a Cowgirl

Cowboy and Cowgirl Movement Activities

Stick Horse Craft
Craft description available inside our KidsSoup Resource Library

Let children create these simple stick horses and pretend to be cowboys and cowgirls riding their horses. 

Preschool Activities: 

Media Root

Barrel Racing 
Set up three chairs in a triangle in the center of the room. Then, show children how to run, gallop, trot, prance, etc. around them.

Stick Horse Racing
Line children up at opposite ends of the playground and hold up a red bandana. When you wave the bandana, two children can race at a time.

Cowboy/Cowgirl Song:

I'm a Little Cowboy/girl 
Original Author Unknown
(Tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little cowboy/girl.
Here's my hat. (Point to hat.)
Here are my spurs. (Point to spurs.) 
And here are my chaps. (Point to chaps.)
As soon as I get up,
I work all day (Pretend to have a lasso in one hand.) 
I get on my horse (Pretend to climb on a horse.) 
And ride away. (Gallop in place.)

Five Little Cowboys/girls 
Original Author Unknown

Five little cowboys get up to dress.
The first one buttons up his vest.
The second one wears tall boots with taps.
The third one laces up his chaps.
The fourth one ties a big bow tie.
The fifth one tips his hat. Good-bye!

Horseshoe Game 

What you need:

Plastic horseshoes 
Stake 
Tape

What you do:

Set up a horseshoe game area outside. Show children how to throw the plastic horseshoes to catch them around the stake. Determine a point system based on children's ages and abilities. For older children, throwing a horseshoe near the stake could earn one point, having the horseshoe land touching the stake could earn two points, and circling the horseshoe could earn three points. Decide on an appropriate distance from the pole for children to stand and put down tape to mark the spot. Let two to three children play at a time.

Tie-Dye Bandanas

What you need:

Bandana-sized squares of white cotton cloth

Rubber bands

2-3 packages of colored dyes

2-3 large containers for mixing dyes

Access to water

What you do:

Prepare dyes in two to three colors according to package instructions. Give each child a bandana-sized square of white cotton cloth (inexpensive white cloth napkins may work well). Have children bind parts of the cloth tightly with rubber bands. Provide help as needed. Let children take turns soaking their bandanas in the first color, which should be the lightest of the two or three selected colors. Have children wrap additional rubber bands tightly around their cloths before soaking them in the second and, if desired, third colors. Follow instructions on dye packaging for how to rinse and clean cloths after dying. Remove rubber bands and hang bandanas up to dry.    

Lasso Art Exploration

You'll need: Different lengths of rope and string of varying thicknesses, paint, paper plates, and craft paper.
Fold paper in half. Demonstrate to children how to drag the different ropes and strings through the paint. Then, have them place the rope or string inside the folded paper, close the paper, and pull the rope or string. Open the paper to reveal the art. Repeat with different lengths of ropes and different colors.

Fine Motor Skills: Knot Tying
Talk with children about how cowboys and cowgirls need to know how to tie knots because there are many things that need to be tied or tied down. Let children brainstorm a list of things such as horses, bandanas, cargo on wagons, etc. Provide children with different sizes and lengths of strings and teach them how to make knots.