How to Plan a Dora the Explorer Birthday Party

If you have a little one that is having a birthday party soon, you are sure to please all with a Dora the Explorer birthday party. Here's how:

Four weeks in advance of the party, purchase, fill out, and mail invitations for the party. You can buy these at any local department store, such as Wal-Mart. I bought 8 Dora invitations in a package for $1.92. They came with Thank You cards that I filled out with my daughter so she can learn to thank people for her gifts. I also bought Dora stickers and let my daughter put them on the outside of the envelopes after I had addressed them. She loved decorating and helping with the invitations.

Start thinking about what games you would like to have the kids play once they arrive. We had coloring time, in which I had printed pictures of Dora, Boots, Tico, Swiper, and the rest of the gang from the Nick Jr. web site, www.nickjr.com. Nick Jr. has made available some awesome printables on their web site that is sure to make planning your party much easier!

We also had a piñata that I purchased from Wal-Mart for $18.99. It was in the shape of Dora, and it was so fun to watch the kids try to hit the piñata to open it and see all the candy fall out! They were so excited!

For a final game, we played Pin-the-Tail-on-Boots, in which I took a picture of Boots to the library and had it blown up, and then made tails with tape on the end that the kids had to try to stick onto Boots in the right place. (I didn't want to use tacks for fear the kids might get hurt.) They had so much fun, and since they were three years old, we didn't even have to spin them around beforehand, and it was funny to watch them stick the tail on the nose and different places!

We decorated inside and out with pictures we printed from the Nick Jr. web site, and of course, balloons and streamers that we bought at the store. We had a table set up for the presents that served as decoration all by itself.

For food, I put a table outside with all the makings for a Taco lunch. I let the kids make their own tacos. They went wild with the taco meat, lettuce, and cheese, and I didn't have to worry about cleaning up the mess afterwards because it was all outside!

I ordered a cake from Wal-Mart that had Dora, Boots, and Swiper on the top, and the kids loved watching the birthday girl blow out her candles and especially loved eating the cake and ice cream. (We ate cake and ice cream outside, too so it was okay if the kids made a mess!)

The Nick Jr. web site can also help you plan other parties, like Diego, Blue's Clues, The Wonder Pets, and all the other Nick Jr. kids' shows.

We finally opened birthday presents and let the kids play with all the toys the birthday girl received, and afterwards, they were so worn out that they were just about falling asleep! I hope you get some ideas from our party, and I hope your party turns out just as great as ours did!

:o)