Ideas on how to organise a Wild West 'fun day?'

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I'm really stuck! I teach year 4 and have been given this new topic. Our school likes us to have a fun day at the end of each topic, but it has to be low or no cost and school based. It cannot be worksheets with a topic theme but indoor/outdoor tasks in groups are ideal.

Does anyone have any inspiration on this American/exploration/wild west theme?

I have my 7 weeks worth of work planned but I find this type of thing hard to do.

Also, is it a real pain for parents to ask children to come to school dressed up?

Den building (first homes)?
Orienteering?
Lassoing bottles decorated as cows (and decorating said bottles?)?
Making sherriff badges from card, cut to shape, stick on string to make their initial, then cover in foil?
Let me think...

I can also highly recommend the mathematical adventure games by Alan Parr http://websites.uk-plc.net/The_online_catalogue_from_imaginative_minds_ltd/products/maths_adventure_games.htm here but I'm not sure any fit into the Wild west theme. They are great, cheap, reusable and make children think!

Ugh, link fail. here

This sounds like great fun.

1. Tying knots. Schools usually have ropes - you can learn to lasso things (maybe a small chair or teddy bear) 8

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2) cactus

It's an amazing plant anyway - but you can make cactus plants (just need green paper) and can use bent out paper clips as spines or those brass things (can't think of name) that you fold over (they work great & less sharp).

then you can talk about cacti & succulents and other desert plants and how they have adapted to conserve water.

If your school has it the David Attenborough Life on Earth DVD has an episode on deserts which is beautifully filmed - you could watch it (1 hour) or just show highlights.

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3. Square dancing:

easy enough to download music and then teach a simple dance & a lot of fun. (some good simple tips here: www.mrgym.com/DanceandRythmic/SquareDance.htm)

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4. Country Music:

Well there's tons: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_genres - it isn't all the same thing.

Why not download a selection (instrumental as well as vocal) and let them listen.

For a laugh why not show Grandma's feather bed (John Denver & the Muppets):

Devil went down to georgia (again muppets): or original version reprised Grand old Opre:

There's lots more & you may have your favourites.

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5. Archery:

If your school has an archery set - you could shoot bows and arrows at targets?

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6. Native Americans - you could talk about tribal peoples/ traditions - you could talk about colonisation of Americas by Europe

You could make a totem pole: www.lbrummer68739.net/4th-grade/native-american-totem-poles/

Native american folktales are also good fun - children seem to love this type of story tell. There are lots here: americanfolklore.net/folklore/native-american-myths/

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So that leaves dressing up - well most kids have jeans and many have plain t-shirts or plaid shirts. You can possibly encourage some to dress as native Americans (although that might be more difficult to do from things at home).

HTH

Oh wow, some fab ideas! Thank you so much, at least I've got somewhere to start now!

Any more suggestions really welcome!

We had Wild West as a summer fair theme once, a few years ago.

Dream catchers and bead bracelets for Native American crafts.

Panning for gold (scrunched up foil??) - in water tables, using plastic sieves.

For outdoor activity, if you can find an old tyre you can have tyre rolling races/obstacle courses. Not sure why it's considered West-ish, but apparently so!