If you have a little girl it’s more than likely that she just loves Dora the Explorer. After all, Dora is very popular and she adores going on fun adventures with her best friend Boots; there’s usually surprises or a twist and every show always comes with some sort of a lesson. Your young daughter might even wish she could be Dora. So why not make her next birthday party a Dora the Explorer themed party? You can dress her in a pink short-sleeved shirt, ruffled orange pants, yellow socks and white shoes and she’ll be Dora for a day! Don’t forget to give her a purple backpack and a stuffed toy monkey, portraying Boots, that she can carry throughout the party. You’ll have to put on your thinking cap though when you’re planning the party. Become Dora and use your imagination to create a party full of surprises so that your daughter and her friends will experience all of the fun that is Dora. There are many wonderful ideas for a children’s party theme that has everything to do with Dora the Explorer… come along to discover a few!
Charming Decorations There are tons of ways to give your party that adventurous feel that the kids will love. If your daughter happens to have two big jungle stuffed animals, you could place one on each side of the doorway of the party room; they will serve as greeters for the kids. Gather together some monkeys or other stuff animals and place them throughout the party site. Create various decorations from Dora’s surroundings such as Windy Valley, Rainbow Road or Crocodile Lake. For Windy Valley, make use of an electric fan by taping pale blue streamers to it and they’ll whirl about mimicking the wind. To create Rainbow Road, purchase colorful construction paper and cut out rectangle or square shapes then tape them down on the floor. Crocodile Lake can be made if you have a big waterproof tote; pour water into the tote and add float-able crocodile and alligator toys to make it appear “dangerous”. Tape vivid balloons and streamers onto the walls and place fiesta decorations around your home. Acquire a huge appliance box from a friend if you don’t have one lying around your home. Paint it to resemble Dora’s house and let the children play in the “house” during the party. Buy a sombrero and create a unique centerpiece for the party table. Fill the sombrero with Dora the Explorer toys or fasten brightly colored balloons to it. Make an “eerie adventure forest” atmosphere by utilizing butcher paper and cartons to build shrubs, trees and flowers; dangle green balloons and streamers from your ceiling; if you have any real plants in your home, scatter them about as well. Better yet, if you have a fairly good-sized garden, have the birthday party there and the shrubs and trees will work as a jungle-like ambiance. Purchase a “Happy Birthday” banner from our website; but rather have it in Dora’s native language of Spanish. It should read, “Feliz Cumpleanos!”
Entertaining Exploration Games and Fun Activities There are all kinds of great kid’s games that you can convert into a joyful adventure for you Dora party—you just have to get creative! Here are a few ideas for Dora the Explorer activities to get you going: Musical Sombreros – This game is much like “Musical Chairs” except that you use sombreros instead. Put a bunch of sombreros on a table in a circle. Be sure that you have one less sombrero than there are children; in other words, if there are ten children at the party, you should put nine hats on the table. The children should stand around the table and then walk around it—not run—as the music starts. When the music stops, the children must grab a sombrero and place it on their head. The child that isn’t wearing a sombrero is out of the game and you must remove one sombrero as well. The game continues in this manner until there’s just one child left wearing a sombrero. That child gets a small prize for winning the game. Animal Charades – Gather several picture cards that have animals on them and throw them into a sombrero. Every child, without looking, should select a card from the hat and each will have a turn to act out their animal that’s on their card—however, they must do it without speaking. For a young group of kids, making animal noises are fine; but for an older group of kids neither talking or making animal noises is permitted and you could divide the kids evenly into two teams for a bit of friendly competition. As each child acts out their animal, all the others will be trying to guess what animal it is. For the younger age group, once someone guesses the right animal, they can all act like that animal. The game continues until all the children have acted out their animal on the card. For the older age group, whichever team has the most correct answers is the winner. Dora’s Adventure Course – Boots and Dora are always running into many exciting obstacles in the forest. You can create this fun escapade with your own outdoor obstacle course for the birthday party! There’s no need to purchase anything, just use objects that you have around your home such as chairs, a sandbox and plants. Develop an obstacle course for the kids to jump over and you can use cardboard boxes for them to crawl through too. The kids will have a ball with this activity! Where’s Swiper? – Who can forget that sneaky, impish little fox that’s always in Dora’s shadow? Before the guests arrive, hide a stuffed toy fox somewhere in the party area. During the party, tell the children that they need to locate Swiper before he gets himself into a bit of trouble; give the signal and allow the kids to search for the stuffed fox. The child that finds Swiper first gets a prize. What’s in the Backpack? – This is a great game for the kids because everyone wants to know what fascinating things Dora carries in her backpack. Start by purchasing a purple backpack, then fill it with all kinds of items that have different materials and shapes such as headbands, boxes of crayons, little plastic animals, balls and other useful or fun objects. Tell the children to sit on the floor in a circle. Blindfold one child and give them the backpack—if you’d prefer not to blindfold each child, just have them tilt their head up towards the ceiling and close their eyes. Instruct the child with the backpack to put their hand inside and feel the first object that they touch and guess what it is. If the child guesses correctly, they will be allowed to keep the item. That child then passes it to the child on their right and the game continues until each child has had a chance to guess or the backpack is empty. Why not make the game even more enjoyable by letting them sing the backpack song while they pass it to the next child? Color Dora – If you’re party is for the younger age group, chances are you’re going to want to provide a quiet activity in amongst the fun-filled games. Buy some Dora the Explorer coloring books and small boxes of crayons, tear out the pages and hand one page along with a box of crayons to each child. You could even decide to pass out prizes for the neatest or most imaginatively colored pictures.
Pleasing Party Food After all that playing and coloring, the little adventurers are sure to have worked up an appetite. So here are a few ideas to satisfy their rumbling tummies: Forest Tacos – The kids will love this but you might find it to be a little messy so you may want to set this up on a picnic table outside. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, place the food on an inside table with a paper tablecloth underneath the dishes of food. You’ll need to buy corn tortillas, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, ground beef, shredded Mexican cheese, salsa, sour cream and taco seasoning dry mix. Before the party, you should dice the tomatoes, cook the ground beef and mix taco seasoning into the ground beef. Place everything in separate dishes and keep in the refrigerator—you can always warm up the ground beef mixture in the microwave just before you put it on the table. When it’s time to eat, place everything out onto the table and let the kids create their own tacos. Worms in the Dirt – It sounds gross, but they’re really tasty! Crush or crumble a couple of Oreo cookies onto each guest plate, place a few gummy worms over the cookie bed and crumble more Oreo cookies on top of the gummy worms until they’re completely covered. Monkey Sandwiches – Boots would enjoy this treat! Place a peeled banana inside of a hot dog roll and then smear some peanut butter—creamy or chunky—over the banana. You could even trickle some honey over the top if you’d like. Churros – This is a wonderfully sweet dessert that can be served in the place of cookies. What is it? It’s a delicious cinnamon fritter. They’re usually dipped into a thick hot chocolate or paired with vanilla ice cream. Your daughter and her friends will adore them! Dora Cupcakes – If you decided against having a traditional birthday cake decorated with Dora and her friend, Boots, these cupcakes will be a fun substitution that the kids will love. Find some small pictures of Dora and her friends on the internet and print them out on card stock; or you can go to your local party store and buy items with Dora’s picture on them. Once the faces are cut out, glue each of them onto a toothpick and stick them into the colorful frosted cupcakes.
Dora Party Favors All of the children have had a wonderful adventure and, sadly, it’s time for them to leave—but don’t let them go home without a Dora party bag! Purchase small Dora-printed gift bags and fill each bag with lollipops, a Dora the Explorer doll or puzzle, candy, tiny Dora toys, a story or coloring book and perhaps even a little sombrero. Everybody’s sure to have a magnificent time at this uniquely themed children’s party. Your daughter loves Dora the Explorer, but she’s sure to cherish you once you throw her a Dora the Explorer birthday party!