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Contact_FullName: thelma pate Contact_Email: swpreschool@msn.com date:: 3-10-03 Area: western/cowboy -misc Idea: Take a bale of hay, turn it on its side, place a stick horse in one end for the head and a mop end in the other for the tail. Don it with a saddle and wah-lah you're ready for a horse ride. Don't have a saddle don't fret, partner, just use a blanket. we dressed up as cow-boys/girls and took pictures while riding this magnificent animal.
10-16-00Panning for Gold Paint a handful of rocks with gold paint and mix them with sand in the sensory table. Add enough water to cover the sand, resembling a stream bed. Give children aluminum pie plates and allow them to swish the water/sand mixture in a circular motion. The heavier "gold nuggets" will remain in the bottom of the pan.
9-30-00Panning for Gold: Talk about the Gold Rush with the class. Ask the children to collect some small rocks from the playground or to bring some from home. Use gold spray paint to paint the rocks to resemble gold nuggets. Put the rocks in the sand at the sand table. Give the students sand sifters like those used at the beach (shaped like pans). The children can pretend they are panning for gold. They get so excited when they find those "gold" nuggets.
8-29-00During rodeo theme week I added "cowboy and cowgirl" props to housekeeping. These included "real" items, many donated by parents...chaps, boots, belts with rodeo winner buckles, handkerchiefs, hats, vests, entry numbers, etc. Outdoors the children had a stagecoach, horse and bull rocking playground equipment and did barrel racing with their stick horses. The children and parents loved this week since we are in a "Rodeo" town.
8-22-00We have a rodeo in February when some trail riders come through our town. In my December parent's letter, I ask each child to save a Christmas wrapping paper tube. For our rodeo, each child colors a picture of a horse's head. (Poster board works good because it is more sturdy than paper). I staple each head to the end of a wrapping paper tube, and we have stick horses. You can then have relay races, barrel races, etc. I have done this with 1 year olds and 4 year olds and they both loved it.
5-6-00We have a western unit and we make horses to ride. We use newspapers rolled up for the body of the horse. We make a head from oak tag. Add yarn for a mane and use yarn for the halter.
Date: 3-30-00Make your own horse. Using poster board, cut out a horse shape about 4 inches long with NO legs. Use pinch type clothes pins for legs (2 of them). They can be colored with markers. Add yarn mane and tails. Write the name of the horse on the back. These horses will stand up and can be played with.
Date: 3-6-00We made sure none of our children had allergies and then converted the house center into a barn, complete with straw. We also borrowed a saddle from a local stable and put it on two wooden carpentry horses. We added a stick horse to the front and the children had a great time riding. We cut a cardboard cow out and secured it to the side of the slide (a table could also be used) and then we filled a rubber glove with water, tied the top and poked holes in the fingertips. The "udder" was then placed appropriately on the cow with a pail underneath to catch the milk. The kids had a great time milking her.
Date: 2-9-00Wanted Posters: For each child, get one sheet of beige paper. At home, burn the edges and maybe a circle out of the corner. Print "WANTED" at the top, a photo of the child in the center and the child's name at the bottom. Children can add stickers or twine, etc.
Date: 2-9-00Horse Shoes: Cut several horse shoe shapes from sturdy cardboard. Allow children to trace around the shape on heavy paper and cut out. Have aluminum foil strips ready for them to wrap around their cut out; They can even play a game of horse shoes, indoors or out, with their project.
Date: 2-6-00Sheriff's Star: Cut a star from shiny metallic contact paper with round "knobs" on each point. Children can cut the star out and peel off the backing to stick on their badge.
Date: 2-6-00Covered Wagons: Cut brown construction paper in half. Use an entire sheet of white construction paper for the "covered" part by gluing onto brown paper, keeping it rounded at the top. It will be folded in half, but not creased. Add yellow "straw" from paper (or the real thing) at each end of the white paper. Add a brown strip for the part that attaches to the horse.
Date: 1-31-00I'll try to explain this as best as I can... To make a cowboy/girl vest, use a brown paper bag. Put it upside down on a table and cut 2 holes on each side for the arms (not near the opening of the bag, but near the other end). Now, start at the opening of the bag, in front, in the middle and cut upwards all the way to the top. Then, cut a circle in the bottom of the bag (this will be for the neck). You're pretty much done after that. You can make the opening in front larger if you want by cutting it, and you can also make fringes on the bottom by cutting the bag. Hope this is understandable...
Date: 1-31-00I untied a hanger and worked it through a very heavy yarn. I then twisted it back to form a circle, but left several feet of yarn at the end. This made a really neat lasso.
Date: 1-27-00For a Western theme language activity I made a puppet theater out of a cardboard box. Using McDonald's Toy Story characters, the children had fun acting out their own story. This center had a lot of activity!
Date: 1-19-00Allow the children to have nap time in sleeping bags around a pretend campfire. Date: 1-15-00During my western week, I sometimes put on western music. Two songs I found are from Roy Rodgers: West Is In My Soul, and Whenever Stars Drift Over The Prairie. Date: 1-15-00In your dramatic play area, put cowboy boots, jeans, jean shirts and skirts, cowboy hats, Stuffed animal horses, scarves, etc. Date: 1-15-00I made some little "old west" buildings to play with little cowboy figurines in the block corner. First, I took a small block of wood, and hot glued a smaller block of the same width on the bottom to make a front porch. Then, I painted it to look like buildings of the old west. I made a bank and a motel. The kids had lots of fun with them. Date: 1-15-00These are not my ideas, but I got them from this site, tried them with my kids and HAD to put them in this category! In the dramatic play area, I taped tent poles to a table and covered them with white butcher paper. This made a great covered wagon! In front, I made a pretend horse with a bench and a broken stick horse head that I had. Then, I made a campfire with rolled up newspapers that I taped with masking tape, painted brown and put yellow and orange tissue paper in the middle. To finish it off, I put picnic blankets and pretend food. The kids had a blast!
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