Coolest Kid Theme Party Ideas

Ready to set out on a cool Dora the Explorer kid theme party adventure? Let's Vamonos!

First off, there's an overwhelming selection of Dora the Explorer party supplies and party packs. But don't worry. You won't need to browse around forever trying to find the best deal.

Just compare between the three packs below which cover pretty much all the Dora items on the market:

Invitations

A cool do-it-yourself invitation idea is the passport invitation. Photocopy or scan the outside of your passport, then print it out and add some Dora stickers. Write something like:

"This is your passport for the Dora the Explorer birthday filled with fun and excitement. Dora and (Birthday Kid) will be leading an expedition through (your address).

You can add a map with directions by drawing Map (one of Dora's best friends) and write "I'm Map…and I'm here to show the way to a muy bueno adventure to celebrate kid's name birthday!".

Dora Kid Theme Party Decorations

Separate the kid theme party area into different settings taken from Dora the Explorer. For Windy Valley, attach many blue streamers to fans so that the streamers twirl around. For Rainbow Road, cut a bunch of blocks out of construction paper and tape to the ground. For the notorious Crocodile Lake you can either fill up a kiddie pool with water and put floating crocodiles in it, or place a blue sheet on the floor and put every crocodile or alligator toy you can find, buy or borrow. For the Spooky Forest you can hang green vines and Balloons overhead.

This awesome tiger and zebra patterned gossamer is one of the best (and most inexpensive) investment you'll make for your party. Use it to cover the furniture, walls, ceiling, table, etc., instantly and easily transforming them into a safari setting.

Remember to put up signposts in each section of the kid theme party just to make sure the kids understand (and appreciate) where they are. You can also hang up arrows pointing to the other areas.

As for general decorations, set up the kid theme party area like a Fiesta. Hang bouquets of tissue paper flowers, streamers, and balloons, in colors of red, yellow, purple, turquoise, and orange.

On the tables turn a Sombrero upside down, and have balloons anchored to the inside of the hat. If your kid has any Dora-related toys, place them on the table for a more festive display.

Hang banners around your house saying "Feliz Cumpleanos!" ("Happy Birthday" in Spanish) which will definitely give a "Dora-ish" feel.

You can make a meandering trail into the kid theme party room using brown paper and decorate your doorway with green crepe paper for hanging "vines". Use chalk to draw big animal footprints on your driveway and leading to your front door. Inside you can put construction paper animal prints that can guide the kids to the party area and the different Dora the Explorer settings.

If you really want a ride with Dora the Explorer through the African plains, here's an awesome Safari Scene you can set up (which is also a great scene-setter for photos.)

Dora's costume is pretty simple: pink shirt and orange pants. But if you want an "original", take a look at these cute costumes:

Icebreaker Activities

When the kids arrive, take their "passports", stamp them with a special birthday stamp you can create beforehand, and get them going with any of these activities:

*Binocular Craft: Have the kids take two toilet paper rolls, styrofoam cups, etc., and glue or tape them together. They can decorate their binoculars with all kinds of stickers, glitter, stamps etc. Next they can cut out cellophane circles (or colored saran wrap) and attach to the carton rolls with rubber bands or glue. You can then attach yarn for a nice neck strap.

*Noisemaker Shakers: These are great kid theme party noisemakers to parade around the house with! Use plain white paper plates and beans, rice, macaroni, or buttons, etc. Have the kids fold a paper plate and staple the edges halfway up. Then let them put a few scoops of beans inside and finish the stapling (you should tape the staples to avoid any poking ends). Let the kids decorate them with markers, crayons, stickers, glitter, etc. (If the kids are too young to be fooling around with staplers, make these beforehand and just let them decorate them). To make bigger shakers, don't fold the plate in half, just turn a second plate upside down and staple it to the first around the edges. (Empty film cases with rice also make good noisemakers).

*Dora Bracelet: Have the kids string yellow beads onto elastic string. They can also put a flower bead in the center of the string for a bracelet just like Dora's!

Dora Kid Theme Party Food and Drink

Here's how to make a Boots the Monkey cake. First, get a hold of a picture of Boots to help you envision and sculpt the cake. Use a round cake for the face and cut a cupcake in half to place for ears on each side of the "face". Then frost everything with white icing (tinted purple with red and blue food coloring). Place the top half of another cupcake on top of the face to make the nose/mouth area and frost this part pink (add a bit of red to white icing). Put two halves of Oreo's (with the white icing facing up) for the eyes and top it off with a raisin on each for Boot's retinas. For the nose you can put a gumdrop, for the mouth a piece of licorice, and for the hair you can put those thick sour strips.

*Monkey Meal (Peel a banana and put it in a hot dog roll…. Then spread peanut butter and maybe a bit of honey and you'll be amazed at how tasty the monkey sandwich is!)
*Swiper Chicken Quesadilla
*Big Mountain Cheese Enchiladas
*Prickly Forest Taco Bar (let the kids build their own tacos from crispy corn tortilla shells, ground beef filling, shredded lettuce, grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, salsa, sour cream, etc.
*Spanish rice

*Alligator-ade (green Gatorade!!)
*Swamp Juice - Kids will be mystified when they witness your power to turn ordinary green Gatorade into a steamy swamp! Start with green punch and after you've placed a filled glass in front of each kid, add a few Pop Rocks candies to each one. Since this candy is processed with carbon dioxide, it will crackle, pop, and split when it comes into contact with the green punch. AWESOME!
*Pineapple Punch - This is a great tropical drink that'll really make the kids feel like they're out exploring with Dora! What you need to do is combine two 46-oz. cans of pineapple juice with one liter of lemon-lime soda, then add 4 oz. of sweetened raspberry-flavored drink mix powder and stir well. Serve over ice in a large punch bowl.
*Mango Juice

Tip: Make frozen ice cubes with raisins in them so it looks like flies are floating in their juices. Kids just love this!

*Gummy worms
*Animal crackers
*Animal fruit snacks
*Any kind of animal-shaped foods
*Fire Ants (plain or chocolate covered raisins)
*Trail Mix
*Chips with salsa and guacamole
*Mexican cheese with crackers.
*Estrella Pequeno (little star sugar cookies - a great Latino treat)
*Churros (Latin cinnamon fritters that are soooo tasty. You can find them at a local Mexican restaurant or at your supermarket and serve them with vanilla ice cream for a fun alternative to cake and ice cream).

You can put all the Dora the Explorer kid theme party favors in little backpacks and put inside a items like:

Party Games and Activities

Here's an entire page with the coolest ideas for Dora the Explorer party games, such as Monkey See Monkey Do, Musical Sombreros, What's in the Mochilla, Animal Charades and more. You'll also find some VERY important tips to help you survive (and enjoy) game time.

Click here to find more of the best deals on Dora kid theme party supplies...

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Coolest Dora the Explorer Kid Theme Party

Just compare between the three packs below which cover pretty much all the Dora items on the market:

Invitations

Dora Kid Theme Party Decorations

Icebreaker Activities

Dora Kid Theme Party Food and Drink

Party Games and Activities