Are you looking for a new theme? Or maybe want to get fresh, new ideas for a theme you already do? I have just the idea! A cowboy western theme! It is so much fun and works for any season, so it is a great one to use in between holidays or to fill a planning gap. Keep reading for 25 cowboy activities & center ideas that your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten students are going to love! And don’t forget to grab the freebie at the end of the post.
Check out the Cowboy Math & Literacy Centers, Desert Science Unit, Taco Truck Dramatic Play, and the Landforms & Habitats STEM I Can Build set for all the printables!
Grab the FREEBIE by entering your email in the box at the bottom of this post. This post contains affiliate links which means I earn a tiny commission when you use my links at no cost to you.
Fine Motor Cowboy Activities
Hay Bale Cutting Tray! Help your students develop cutting skills with a safe cutting activity that is fun and helps meet their sensory needs, too! Grab a tray, some scissors, mini hay bales (I found them at a craft store), and some crafting grass, and you are ready to cut. If your young children are struggling with cutting skills, add in some bounce back scissors to ease their struggle.
Boot Cutting Craftivity! Print the cowboy boots & star templates and cut them out ahead of time, unless your students can cut them themselves. Also, cut strips of brown paper. Students will cut the strips into pieces and glue them onto their boot. Add a star at the end to complete the project. Keep reading for more fine motor activities.
Cactus Fine Motor! I found my cactus silicone tray at the dollar store and added some tongs and pom poms for a simple fine motor activity. Your little cowboys and cowgirls can count, sort, or just fill; I just wanted them to be building their hand muscles, hand-eye coordination, and crossing the midline.
Wanted Self Portraits! These are so cute and simple! Print the wanted poster template on brown paper. Then students draw a self-portrait and write their name. You can set out name cards, if students can’t write their names independently. These would make a great bulletin board or wall art to show off during your theme!
Literacy Cowboy Activities & centers
Lasso Word Lace! Use the cowboy word cards to practice vocabulary, reading skills, and letter identification while building fine motor skills! I made a lasso with a brown pipe cleaner, and students laced letter beads to spell the words. These wild west theme activities are great for building literacy skills in a fun way.
Desert Write the Room! Get students moving and learning in this desert write the room activity. Print the wild animals word cards and hide them around your room. Give students a recording page on a clipboard so they can walk around the room, find the words, and then trace or write the words on their paper. If you don’t want young students walking around to complete the activity, you can place the cards in a sensory bin for them to pick from.
Fence Post ABC! Write some letters on popsicle sticks (uppercase letters or lowercase letters, your choice). Then, students try to put the letters in order. Simple, budget-friendly, and easy to tailor to your students’ ability levels. Only place letters A-M out, all the letters, only capital, only lowercase, or mixed case; you choose what is best for your pre-k students.
Cowboy Writing Center! Set up a western writing center for one of your cowboy activities! Put some fun western-themed paper, stickers, writing utensils, cowboy word cards, and the lasso letter lace activity (described above) in your writing center. Students can draw, write, and build vocabulary knowledge! Keep reading for more fun activities with a wild west theme.
Gold Rush Letters! To recreate this activity, print the gold nugget letters and cut them out; laminate for durability. Grab a small pan and add some dyed salt to the bottom. See how I dye salt here. Then, spray paint some flat marbles gold. To play, students pick a gold nugget, identify the letter, say the sound, and write it in the tray. I like to offer a writing utensil if students don’t want to use their fingers. There is an optional worksheet if you want your students to use that. This wild west literacy centers activity also comes with sight words and a few different worksheet options, making it great for older children, too.
Wagon Wheel Letter Build! Beforehand, dye your wheel pasta so it can dry thoroughly. Next, write letters on pieces of sandpaper. I cut my sheets in half, so they would go further. Then, students use the wagon wheels to build the letters, or they can trace them with their fingers for a sensory activity.
Boots & Hat Letter/Sound Match! Print, cut, and laminate the pieces. Then students can practice matching letters, or the letters and the sounds to make it a little harder. This literacy activities game is great because it can be differentiated to meet the needs of your students. Only place letters A-M out, all the letters to just match letters, only capital and sounds, only lowercase and sounds, or mixed case and sounds; you choose what is best for your students.
Cowboy Books! I rounded up my favorite cowboy, cowgirl, desert, and western books to give you 27 titles that my students adored! I like to offer nonfiction and fiction titles for my students to look at and hear during read aloud time.
Covered Wagon Compound Words! This cute game has students play the wheels on the wagon to complete the compound word. You can put Velcro on the wheels to make them stick, if you want.
Math Cowboy Activities & Centers
Western Measure! Give students an opportunity to practice nonstandard measurement with these western-themed measuring mats. Students can use beans, linking cubes, pom poms, or other small manipulatives to measure the objects. There is also a printable ruler included in the unit.
Cowboy Chili Graph! I just love how this cowboy chili graphing activity turned out, and your students are going to have so much fun with this math skills activity. Beforehand, mix some ingredients in a small pot. I used pom poms, cut-up pipe cleaners, and beans for the manipulatives. Students count the ingredients and place them on the graph. There is a black and white graph, too, that students could color in.
Western Patterns! Grab some manipulatives and a cookie sheet for this simple pattern activity. I am using small rocks, dyed wheel pasta, and gold spray-painted flat marbles. Students can practice many kinds of patterns while building fine motor muscles manipulating the small pieces.
Shape Lasso! Round up the animals with this cowboy shape activity. Students can pick a shape lasso and then find the matching shaped animals. They can place a manipulative, like a small rock or these wooden wheels from the craft store.
Sheriff Numbers! Draw a sheriff’s badge and fill it with numbers. Then, students can roll a die, identify that number, and place a marker on it. Students can play independently or in groups. They will practice counting, number identification, patience, and taking turns.
Western Number Puzzles! Print the number puzzles, cut, and laminate. I like to add a piece of magnet to each section, and students can put them together on a magnet board or cookie sheet. There are puzzles from 15, 1-10, and 11-20.
Sheriff Number Trace! Practice counting, number identification, and one-to-one correspondence with this sheriff number tracing game. Students pick a ten-frame card and count the badges. Then they find the correct number on the large badge and trace it. You can laminate the boards or use a wipe and write pocket so students can use dry-erase markers on the tracing mats.
Pasture Shape Sort! Grab some green butcher paper and draw different-shaped pastures. Then, students can sort shape manipulatives into the matching fences. You could also set out some horses (instead of tractors) for students to trace the fences with.
Cowboy Activities for Art & Sensory
Cactus Art Freebie! Print the oval templates onto green paper and allow students to cut and glue them together to create a cactus. Then use forks and white paint to paint on the spines of the cactus. I love how everyone’s looks so different, just like real cacti.
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Snake Paper Plate Art! Use a paper plate to create a snake! I draw the spiral shape before they add the paint. We also look at pictures of different kinds of snakes beforehand, so we don’t have all brown and green snakes. After the students paint the plate and it dries, they can cut along the spiral line to make the snake uncurl.
Cowboy Sensory! To make this cowboy sensory bin, I started with a base of cornmeal. It doesn’t have to be that deep in the bin. Then I added tongs, dyed wheel pasta, rocks, small horses, mini cowboy hats, tiny cacti, pieces of twine tied in knots, measuring spoons, and a silicone tray.
Western Play Dough Tray! Grab some playdough and a tray and fill it with your favorite western manipulatives. I have mini hats, cookie cutters, play dough tools, horses, and cactus cupcake toppers.
Cowboy Activities for Science, Blocks, STEM, and Dramatic Play
Desert Science Center! Learn about the desert habitat during your cowboy activities with this science unit. Students can learn about what animals live in the desert, what makes a desert, and fun facts about deserts. There are lots of printables and worksheets to make this a complete science unit for your cowboy theme.
Taco Truck Dramatic Play! Turn your dramatic play area into a taco truck for a fun twist on a restaurant pretend area. Students can order, make tacos, or be the cashier. There is tons of learning happening in the taco truck too, like social skills, reading, writing, number recognition, sequencing, literacy skills, following directions, sorting, and more!
As you can see, a western theme is so much fun and can fit into your schedule anytime during the year. These cowboy activities and centers are loaded with hands-on learning that is going to keep students engaged and growing in the classroom. Western-themed activities are a great way for students to practice problem-solving skills, math activities, literacy concepts, and fine motor skills! Before you leave, grab the western activities printables and freebie below!
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I’m Jackie, your go-to girl for early childhood inspiration and research-based curriculum.
