Acquire enough safety pins or brooch pins for each student to have at least one and pass out small bits of craft foam in different colors. Ask students to draw an outline of an Old West item such as a horseshoe, cactus or boot on the foam and cut it out. Students can also draw their pictures on separate paper, cut them out and use them as templates. Have students use a permanent marker to draw spines on their cacti or seams on their cowboy boots, as well as embellish with small beads. Then prick the foam with the safety pin and slide it to the hinge so it hangs from the pin.
Some Native American tribes made sand paintings that fifth graders can try to replicate. Gather sand from the playground or buy it from a garden store. Instruct the students to draw a simple picture that they would like to recreate in sand. Pass out small bowls of the sand and allow students to add a few drops of paint to their bowls. The sand should be thin enough to be picked up by the children's paintbrushes, but still thick when spread on the page. Students can first spread glue on the paper to help the sand stick.
Turn your students into cowboys and ranchers by having them make cattle branding stamps out of potatoes. Give each student half a potato and let her choose what she would like her "brand" to be. Initials or simple shape outlines work best. Thoroughly instruct the students in craft knife safety before letting them cut out their design on the potato. Then let students stamp brands on their work as their signature by painting the potato design with acrylic or tempera paint.
Construct cowboy hats out of plastic containers that are about 16 ounces large, such as those from whipped cream or salsa. Use large paper plates painted brown as the brim of the hat. Paint the containers brown to match and glue them onto the brims. Glue a strip of brown paper around the container where it meets the paper plate. Students can first decorate this strip if desired. Punch two holes in the paper plate, directly opposite each other and thread yarn or a shoelace through the holes.