Do your kids sit glued to the TV screen, yelling ‘MAP!’ and ‘BACKPACK!’ at the top of their lungs and answering every question Dora the Explorer throws at them?
The crazy-voiced figure and her strange friends have become one of the biggest hits in children’s entertainment history. If your child is obsessed with Dora, why not arrange a spectacular Dora birthday party for them? Muy bien!
Party Decorations
Divide the kid-themed party area into distinct Dora the Explorer-inspired settings. Attach many blue streamers to fans so that they swirl around for Windy Valley. Cut a bunch of blocks out of construction paper and tape them to the ground for Rainbow Road.
Fill a kiddie pool with water and floating crocodiles, or lay a blue sheet on the floor and set every crocodile or alligator toy you can locate, buy, or borrow for the infamous Crocodile Lake. Hang green vines and balloons overhead for the Spooky Forest.
Remember to place signs in each region of the kid theme party to ensure that the kids know where they are (and appreciate it). You can also use arrows to indicate to other regions.
Set up the kid theme party area like a Fiesta in terms of general décor. Tissue paper flower bouquets, streamers, and balloons in red, yellow, purple, turquoise, and orange are hung.
Turn a Sombrero inside out and tether balloons to the inside of the cap on the tables. Place any Dora-related toys on the table for a more festive display if your child has any.
“Feliz Cumpleanos!” banners can be hung all throughout the house. (“Happy Birthday” in Spanish) for a “Dora-like” effect.
You can use brown paper to construct a meandering trail into the kid theme party area, and green crepe paper to hang “vines” in the doorway.
Make large animal footprints on your driveway and along the path to your front door with chalk. You can use construction paper animal prints to direct the children to the party area and various Dora the Explorer settings.
Icebreaker Activities
Take the kids’ “passports” when they arrive, stamp them with a special birthday stamp you can make ahead of time, and get them started on one of the following activities:
Dora’s Bracelet
String yellow beads onto elastic string with the help of the kids. They can also make a bracelet like Dora by putting a flower bead in the center of the string.
Binoculars Craft
Take two toilet paper rolls, styrofoam cups, or other similar items and glue or tape them together. They can use stickers, glitter, stamps, and other embellishments to personalize their binoculars. They can then cut out cellophane circles (or colored saran wrap) and glue or rubber band them to the carton rolls. After that, you can add yarn for a lovely neck strap.
Shakers Noisemakers
These are wonderful noisemakers for a kid’s theme party to march around the house with! Serve beans, rice, macaroni, or buttons on plain white paper plates.
Fold a paper plate in half and staple the edges halfway up. Allow them to stuff a couple scoops of beans inside before completing the stapling (you should tape the staples to avoid any poking ends).
Allow the children to decorate them using markers, crayons, stickers, glitter, and other materials. (If your children are too small to use staplers, make them ahead of time and let them paint them.)
Instead of folding the plate in half, turn it upside down and staple it to the first around the corners to form larger shakers. (Rice in empty film cases also makes a good noisemaker.)
