Rodeo Party!
By Sandra Steen and Susan Steen • Illustrated by Chris Demarest

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Invitations
Fold a half sheet of construction paper in half so that the shorter sides meet. Draw a boot shape on the fold and cut out the shape through both layers. Write "Howdy, Partner" on the front of the card. On the inside write: "Ride on over to our Rodeo Party. Dress in western gear (jeans, bandanna, cowboy hat, boots -— whatever you have)."

Write the date and time of the party along with your name and location.

Decorations
Horses
Decorate your classroom, cafeteria, or school yard to look like a corral. Cut out cactus plants or fence sections from large pieces of cardboard, and paint them. If you have hay bales, you can place one or two here and there.

Change your chairs into horses: blow up several balloons, draw a horse's face on each, and tape on paper ears. Attach a yarn bridle, and use it to tie or tape the horse's "head" to the back of a chair.

Fasten a yarn or rope tail to the front of the seat of each chair. Pin the tails with tape or tie them to wooden, plastic, or metal chairs.

Centerpiece
Make a lasso shape out of rope and place it in the center of the table. Put a cowboy hat in the middle of the lasso.

Lasso Placemats
Use construction paper for placemats. Glue brown yarn in the shape of a lasso about an inch in from the edges of the placemats. Put a paper plate in the center of each.

Place-Card Straws
Draw flags on small pieces of paper. Write each student's name on a flag, and tape it near the top of a straw, leaving room for the person to sip from the straw. Place the flags beside the placemats.

Games
Clown Masks
Clowns help protect the cowboys during a rodeo. Have your students make clown masks for the Clown Dress-up Contest (see below).

Gather the following supplies: yarn, paper plates, crayons or felt pens, pompoms, scissors, and glue. First, cut out holes in the paper plate for eyes and a mouth. Next, decorate the face. Add yarn hair and a pompom nose.

Glue a wooden ice-cream stick or tongue depressor to the bottom of the mask to hold it in front of your face. To wear the mask, poke holes in the sides of the mask and add yarn ties.

Clown Dress-up Contest
Before the party, fill two laundry baskets with separate sets of adult-size western wear: jeans, cowboy shirt, belt, scarf or bandanna, work gloves, and boots.

Divide players into two teams. Have the players tie on or hold up their clown masks. At a signal, the first player on each team runs to the team's basket, puts on the western wear over his or her clothes (putting down the mask if it's not tied on), yells "yee-ha!" and then takes off the dress-up clothes, drops them into the basket, and runs back to the team. Each player takes a turn. The winning team is the one that finishes first.

Horseshoe Pass
Round up the horse chairs in a circle. Each player sits on a horse. Turn on country music. As the music plays, players pass a cardboard horseshoe around the circle. Then stop the music. The player holding the horseshoe is out. Remove his or her horse chair, and make the circle smaller. Start the music again, and repeat the game until one player remains. You might award this roughrider a prize.

Tumbleweed Words
Give each player a pencil and a list of scrambled words that have to do with the West or rodeos. (Below is a list of possible scrambled words and their answers.) Set a time limit. The player who unscrambles the most words in that time wins a prize.

Answers: saddle, bull, cowgirl, horse, champ, steer, calf, chaps, barrel, ranch.

Grub
Hot Dogies
Serve grilled hot dogs on a bun. Add mustard, ketchup, or salsa.

Chuck-Wagon Chili
Heat up chili, and top it with sour cream or plain yogurt.

Black Bull
Put two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a tall glass or cup. Slowly pour root beer over the ice cream until the foam reaches the top of the glass.

Grazing Greens
Toss together lettuce, your favorite raw vegetables, sprouts, and ranch dressing.

Pull your horses up to the table, put on some country music, and chow down, partners!