What You’ll Need

• Pencil
• Paper plate
• Scissors
• Markers or crayons
• 2 paper lunch bags
• Colored paper
• Glue

What to Do for the Cowboy Hat

1. To make the hat brim, draw a circle 1½ inches from the edge of the paper plate.
2. Draw a cowboy hat in the center of the plate, with the bottom of the design touching the circle. Then color your hat with markers or crayons.
3. Cut away the area between your hat and the circle, leaving the bottom of your hat attached to the brim.
4. Bend the cowboy hat part forward, and add your name!

What to Do for the Cowboy Boots

1. Cut off the bottom of two paper lunch bags.
2. Trim the bags to have curved edges.
3. Cut stars from colored paper and glue them to the bags. Decorate your boots with markers.
4. Put the boot on by carefully sliding one foot through each bag.

Extend the Fun

Younger kids: Take a trip to your local library to pick up books about cowboys and cowgirls. Encourage your kids to look for books that show what cowhands do, where they live, or what they wear. Ask the children’s librarian for book suggestions, and look for both fiction and nonfiction books. (Titles to try: The Cowboy, by Hildegard Muller; Cowboy Boyd and Mighty Calliope, by Lisa Moser;  B Is for Buckaroo, by Gleaves Whitney.)

Older kids: Your child is probably going to develop a cowboy persona in this hat and these boots. Encourage him to make up a story about a cowboy or a cowgirl. Ask questions to help him develop the story: Who is the main character? What is the name of the story? Then encourage him to write what happens or dictate the story to you. Provide enough paper so your child can put the beginning, middle, and end of the story on different pieces of paper. Then he can add drawings. With your assistance, have him tape or staple the paper together so that it becomes a book. Make sure he puts his name on the cover as the author. Then he can read it to family and friends.