It was our 2nd Pony express day/Wild West play date. Both years we had a cowboy cookout of hot dogs, cornbread muffins, and baked beans. Last year we colored western themed bookmarks picked up at Hobby Lobby on clearance, and had a pony express race. We divided the kids in two teams, little kids and big kids, and each group had a hobby horse to ride along with a stack of "mail" to deliver. I made mail pouches out of large grocery paper bags (just scrunch it up and roll down the top), and the mail was just large colorful envelopes I had in my stash with city names written on them along with stickers used as stamps. The kids had to ride the hobby horse and deliver the mail as quickly as they could. The older ones had a great time, but the littler kids had a hard time holding onto the horse and mail.
This year, we still had the cowboy cookout, and colored any of the leftover bookmarks, but we also made cowboy vests out of large paper grocery bags. To make these I just cut a thin block off the front going all the way up the bag, and cut a hole in the bottom of the bag to make a neck hole. I then cut 2 smaller holes in the sides for the arms, and cut the front into corners. The kids got to decorate these however they wished with markers. After we were done making out vests we painted horse tracks. I picked up a package of 10 sponges from Dollar Tree, and cut those into a horse shoe shape. I then mixed brown and black paint in paper bowls for easier clean up. Because we had this at a park, and you always need to factor in wind, I taped a piece of drawing paper in front of each kid. They then dipped the sponge in the paint and pressed it on the paper, leaving tracks all over. They all had a good time. The day was topped off with a run through the splash pad to wash and cool off!
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