How to Throw a Dora the Explorer Birthday Party

Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer, Dora! Yes, I have heard this song too many times to count! Most parents today have this song and many other catch phrases from this adorable television show memorized. Not to mention I hear my children spouting off phrases such as Abre each time we open a door. Dora is a wonderful teaching tool for today's children. Plus, they don't even realize how much they are learning because they are having so much fun. This makes Dora a great choice for a child's birthday party theme!

Invitations
As I have said in my other birthday party articles. You need to send out invitations at least two weeks in advance. You can make your own invitations or you can purchase pre-packaged Dora invitations at any party supply store. A friend of mine made the most adorable invitations for her daughter's Dora party. She used purple construction paper and made back pack invitations. They were absolutely adorable and fairly simple to do! Not to mention inexpensive. Construction paper is very easy to get and will not cost you an arm and a leg! Also, just a reminder, many people do not RSVP as they should. So always plan for more guests than have RSVP'd to your party.

Decorations
Brightly colored streamers and balloons are the way to go here. Its a Fiesta so you will want lots of color everywhere! The great thing about this is you don't have to stick to one color, find some bright colored balloons and streamers on sale and go with those.

Food
Food is always my favorite part of the party! A Dora party makes food choices easy! Mexican food is a favorite for so many people so take the Mexican fiesta theme and run for the border! Tacos with all the trimmings, chips and queso, chips and salsa, and guacamole. Plus for the small kids you can easily make cheese quesadillas. Drinks could be lemonade, and sodas, even some flavored teas would be a great choice. A nice fruit punch would be a wonderful choice. Serve the punch in a punch bowl or in a container with a push spout. Fresh fruit and veggies are always a great option for parties, but the bright colors of these healthy foods go wonderfully with the fiesta theme!

Fun and Games
What fiesta would be complete without a Pinata? Therefore a Dora Pinata is a must!

"Catch the Stars": True to the Dora the Explorer Show, you can have the kids catch the stars. You could play music from a Dora CD while the kids catch stars. All you need to do is cut stars out of card stock and decorate them with glitter glue, paint, or whatever other crafty items you can find. Then stand on a ladder and throw the stars down for the kids to catch. Whoever catches the most stars will get a prize. You can also make a special "Explorer Star", and whoever catches that will get a prize too.

"Map Adventure": Have the kids follow Map's directions through the back yard (briefly) to get a treasure. Here is an example of some directions for the map. First jump through the rainbow---streamers hung up from trees or the tower of a playground), over crocodile lake (hula hoops placed on the ground with crocodile pictures laid inside of them), to the treasure chest (rubber maid container with streamers on it) where the kids will all get a treasure (goody bags)

Goody Bags
True to Dora form stick with 'educational' goody bags. Fill Dora themed party favor bags with a book, some Dora fruit snacks and stickers. The book could be anything from a board book, a coloring book, an activity book, or even a chapter book for older kids. You could even include alphabet magnets in the goody bags. Any fun educational toy would be great! Also, you could use any colored bags, they do not have to be decorated with Dora to work for this party. Purple bags with backpack's face drawn on them would be a wonderful way to make them goody bags even more special!

Cake
The cake is of course the most important item for any birthday party. Dora can be hard, because of her skin color. You have many options when it comes to a Dora cake. You can always go to your local bakery and pick out one of their Dora cakes. Then pick it up on party day. Or you can make your own. I love making my own cakes. They do have Dora shaped cake pans. You can always purchase one of these from any cake decoration supplier such as www.wilton.com. Or you could take a different, more creative approach. Bake a sheet cake and trim it to look like Backpack. Such a simple yet adorable solution to the cake dilemma!

At the end of this fabulous Dora Fiesta you will be singing "We did it, we did it, we did it!" Right along with your kids! What a memorable birthday for any child!