Cowboy or Cowgirl Sleepover Party - Guest Post by Ryan

Whether they dream of racing through the wide open plains on a stallion or bull wrangling on the ranch, a lot of kids go through a cowboy or cowgirl phase. You can turn this period into an amazing fun filled theme party with a few easy games, like broom stick barrel racing, a squirt gun sharp shooting competition, and of course a bit of lassoing! Here are some activities that you can plan out before you invite your child's friends to come over in their best denim, with bandannas, cowboy hats, and if you are making it a sleepover, some cowboy or girl themed fun kids pajamas By the end of the party everyone should be yelling "Hee-Haw"!

1. Broom Stick Barrel Racing

This activity will show off everyone's imaginary horse riding skills. All that you need to set it up is a broom stick and several large cones or piles of stacked empty boxes. In a backyard, driveway, or nearby park, arrange the cones or boxes in a tight course that the little ranch hands will have to race around. Here is the catch - they will have to complete it as quickly as possible without knocking over any of the cones or boxes. If they do knock anything over, they will receive a time penalty of 5 seconds. To make the course more difficult, you can add balloon 'rattle snakes'. Just get some long balloons and then put a few dozen dried beans in each one so they will rattle when shaken. You can tie these off after they are blown up and place them throughout the course. Whenever someone steps on the 'rattler' they will be 'bitten' and receive another time penalty of 3 seconds. The fastest rider can get a prize, like a toy harmonica or a sheriff's star for coming in first place.

2. Sharpshooting Contest

Any cowhand worth his or her salt will know how to shoot. This activity lets the kids show off their marksmanship skills and water guns. Beforehand, freeze a few small trinkets like cowboy toys or wrapped candy in small plastic containers. Then, right before the activity, remove the blocks of ice, or just place the containers so that the opening is facing the kids. Once everyone is ready, an adult can load up the water guns with warm, but not hot, water. An easy way to do this is just to run a bathtub faucet at a warm temperature to fill up the squirt guns. Only an adult should do this step to prevent kids from getting burnt. The objective of the game is to melt the ice cubes by squirting them with warm water until the toy or candy is completely free of them. Depending on how many water guns are available, the kids can go one at a time and see who is the quickest, or they can go against each other in a head-to-head competition.

3. Lassoing a Rocking Horse

If you have a rocking horse toy in the house, now is the time to bring it out. If not, you can use a cone from the barrel racing, a tee ball tee, or any other small pole that will stand up by itself - this will be the runaway stallion that needs to be lassoed. Then, get a hula hoop and attach a length of string to it. About 10 feet away (make the distance shorter for younger children or further for older) from the 'horse', mark a line that the cowboy kiddies will need to throw from. The next step is to divide the kids into two groups. Each member of their group must get the hula hoop around the horse, and if they miss, they have to pull the hula hoop back to their side of the line using the string and throw again. The group that has each member lasso the horse in the least amount of throws wins. If there is a tie, a fun thing to do can be to have a lasso off where one person from each team throws at a time. If both make it, then the 'horse' gets moved two feet further back and the next two people go. The first team to miss loses.

From roaming the ranges to lassoing wild steer, a cowboy's life sure does seem like a fun one. By throwing a cowboy or girl themed party with activities like broom stick barrel racing, ice cube marksmanship, and a lassoing competition, you can give your child and their friends a taste of what it would be like to be a cowboy. So tell your kids to saddle up and get ready to party!

We're skipping into Spring - if only the snow would stop.



Winter



Winter has a nice quiet beauty,

Of garden work, there is no duty.

A short walk in the white outoors,

Or sit quietly by a fire that roars.



Spring



Spring is here, the world is green,

Fluffy clouds, robins and flowers can be seen.

We go for a walk and smell the fresh earth,

The sun is shining, there's been a rebirth.

We breathe in deeply of the sweet air,

And stride off briskly without a care.



Fun Things To Do On Spring Break



Arts Umbrella on Granville Island in Vancouver is a creative experience in textures and colours. There is everything from paper mache to painting, photography and jewellery making as well as music and dance lessons.



Imax Theatre at Canada Place in Vancouver has a five storey high screen with digital sound and 3-D presentations.



Omnimax Theatre and Science World in Vancouver on Terminal and Quebec. An average visit to Science World is about two or three hours.



Vancouver Maritime Museum on Ogden Avenue in Vancouver. You will learn about the fur-trading era of the Hudson's Bay Co. in the 1800's; see the R.C.M.P. St. Roche ship that traversed the arctic and the Children's Mainteance Discovery Centre.



Fort Langley National Historic Site. Fort Langley is the 'birthplace of British Columbia'. The Fort was built in 1827 to serve the needs of the Hudson's Bay Company for export of salmon, fur and agricultural products. In 1858 the Fort witnessed the arrival of 30,000 prospectors searching for gold.



Vancouver Museum and H.R. MacMillan Planetarium on Chestnut Street in Vancouver. The Museum features exhibits from around the world. The Planetarium has astronomy, laser light shows and special events.



Vancouver Zoological Centre on 264th Street in Aldergrove, B.C. The park is situated on 120 acres and features over 840 animals and 115 species.



George Reiffel Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island west of Ladner. This 345 hectare sanctuary has paths you can follow around ponds and through marsh areas and there are concealed viewing platforms. The round trip is 4.6 km (2.8 miles). If you wish to take your lunch, there is a picnic area.

Things To Do With Young Children



- Take a 'What Do We See' walk. On this walk, whether it is down a street, through a park or to the beach, the object is to look at the surroundings, listen to the sounds, smell the different scents, touch flowers, leaves, rocks, etc., and determine textures. Talk with the child while you are walking to be aware of what he is seeing, smelling, hearing and feeling. While you are walking with the child, ask questions that will spark his curiosity so he will want to learn more about things around him, i.e.: How long do you think a goldfish can live? (Answer: Goldfish can live for about 17 years but most will die because of dirty water or the wrong water temperature. One goldfish was known to have lived for forty years. Also, if a goldfish is put into a large pond, it can grow to be as long as your arm.) Also: Do you think a seahorse is a fish? (Answer: Yes. Baby seahorses are hatched inside of a pocket in their Daddy's belly.) And: Did you know about 200 million years ago when there were dinosaurs that some could be as small as chickens and others could be as big as nine or ten elephants? Did you know that nearly half of the bones in your body are in your hands and feet? Did you know that your heart beats more than 36 millions times in a year? Did you know that if you annoy a Llama, he will spit in your face?

Or go to the beach and collect seashells, driftwood, small pebbles, grasses and whatever else takes their fancy to bring home for an art object. Don't discourage them in their creative efforts by encouraging them to do what you think looks best. The same can be done after an excursion into the woods for a collections of leaves, branches, pine cones, bark and various grasses, etc. One idea is to put a piece of paper on top of a piece of bark and let children rub the paper with a crayon to get the imprint of the bark. They can do this with various tree barks to compare the different textures.



When going on these excursions, take along a magnifying glass so they will be able to view tiny insects and fine veins on leaves that they wouldn't otherwise be able to see. Look for cobwebs so that they can see the intricate miracle of nature. This is especially interesting when there are drops of dew clinging to it and early morning sunshine glimmering on the droplets.

After walks such as these, have children draw a picture of what they have seen or if they're able to, write a story about it.

When you hear, 'How much further now?' try playing the 'Let's Imagine' game. The following are some 'let's imagine' ideas:

- Let's imagine that you are lying on a large, soft fluffy cloud and you're floating ever so gently through the sunny blue sky, what do you think you would see when you looked around?
- Let's imagine that you are sitting on top of a rainbow and you start to slide down the rainbow towards the pot of gold, what colours do you think you would you be sliding through?
- Let's imagine that you are going to look for burried treasure. Where would you look? What kind of treasure do you think you would find? What would you do with it if you found it?
- Let's imagine that you are going to help the Easter Bunny hide the eggs at Easter time, where would you help him hide them?
- Let's imagine that you were going to catch raindrops. How many raindrops do you think you could catch? What would you use them for?
- Let's imagine that you are flying in the sky with the birds. Where do you think you would go? Do you think you would chirp like the birds or would they talk like you do?