Wild West January 16-20

We headed out on the range to the Wild West.

There were horses to ride and cows to wrangle.

We wore cowpoke hats, boots and bandannas.

We cooked over the campfire,

strummed our guitars and laid our sleepy heads on our bedrolls as we looked up at the nighttime sky. We sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Home on the Range".  

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam

And the deer and the antelope play

Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

We read Cowpokes by Caroline Stutson. We each picked the cowpoke we would want to be...

As we galloped around the room, we chanted:

Giddy up horsie
Goin’ to town
Careful cowpoke
Don’t fall down!
 
We chanted this fingerplay:

Ten galloping horses came to town
(Hold ten fingers up)

Five were black

(Hold five fingers up on one hand)
Five were brown
(Hold five fingers up on the other hand)
They galloped up
(gallop fingers up)
They galloped down
(gallop fingers down)
And then they galloped out of town!

(gallop fingers behind back)

We had cowpoke beans to scoop, stir, pour and measure.

Reading Matthew the Cowboy by Ruth Hooker,

we learned about brands. We used branding irons (potatoes on a stick) each with our own brands (the first letter of our name and our handprints) and decorated bandannas or kerchiefs to wear out on the range, to keep the dust out of our noses and mouths.

We also learned about lassos, so we practiced using our own lassos to rope some strays.

A barrel in the middle of our circle gave us the opportunity to practice barrel racing. As we galloped around the barrel we sang,

We’ll be comin’ around the mountain when we come.
We’ll be comin’ around the mountain when we come.

We’ll be comin’ around the mountain,

We’ll be comin’ around the mountain,
We’ll be comin’ around the mountain when we come!

Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett became one of our favorite books of the week.

Harmony Jean's fancy cowboy boots gave us some good ideas; we designed our own cowboy boots and hats using pastels.

The Buffalo Bill Museum was an interesting place to visit. We got to ride on a pretend horse and try to lasso a calf. There were cowboy hats, chaps and boots to try on. We even got to stand in a tepee.

It gave us a feel for what the wild west was really like.