Does everything about dogs interest your children? Does they constantly talk about man’s best friend? How about throwing them a dog-themed birthday party? No, it isn’t crazy talk at all! You can throw your dog-loving children a birthday party that they will never forget! Everything is pretty simple and you can tailor these ideas to fit your own budget. Just be prepared for your children to have a dog-gone good time!
Decorations
For starters, you can buy some cheap plastic head bands and different colors of felt. Cut out shapes of ears and glue them to the headband. You can hand these out to the other children as they arrive to the party, or hand deliver them as part of the invitation. If you deliver them ahead of time, make sure to also attach a card with the date, time, and place of the event.
Decorations should be fairly easy. You can buy some bones, leashes, and other dog related items to set around the room. You can also print out different pictures of dogs and place them around the room. At some party stores, they even carry special table clothes that have paw prints or little bones on them. Don’t worry about buying items that you don’t think you will ever use again, those will come in handy later.
Food
Don’t be stuck when it comes to finding something to eat for this dog party. Make a big batch of puppy chow using the Chex Mix recipe. It’s easy and fast. You can even make little hotdogs and “puppy” punch. Put the food in new (and clean) dog bowls for the finishing touch! You can choose not to do a cake, but in case you can’t get out of it, make a cake and cut it into the shape of a big bone before your frost it. Or you could make it into the shape of a dog house. Just bake two square cakes and cut one in half diagonally. Put it over the top to form a roof and then ice the colors on.
Activities
When it comes to the activities, don’t freak out. These activities (while geared towards a younger crowd) will be great fun to play or watch. First have some name tags available. Ask the kids to come up with a “doggie” name to put on the name tag. Tell everyone that that will be the name that they go by for the rest of the party. It will be great fun to see the names the kids come up with; they can be quite creative. Next, buy a couple of dog bowls and some bones (or a box of dog biscuit treats). Place the bowls at one end of the room and have the kids stand back however far you feel is appropriate for their age group. Split the kids into teams and hand each child a bone or biscuit. The object of the game is to get as many dog treats into the bowl as possible. You can play this game more than once, but try to watch for boredom. If you don’t mind messes, you can have an eating contest. Just place bowls of pudding or mashed up Jell-O down and let the kids go at it. Make sure they only use their mouths (just like dogs do). This final activity may take a bit more planning than the others. Contact your local shelter and see if there is a way to schedule a tour at the tail end of your party. You can then ask if they have some dogs that the kids could play with. Many shelters would love the opportunity to educate others about their facility, and many dogs would love the chance to get attention. Be sure to clear everything with all of the parents before considering the trip. Also, make sure that any of the dogs that would be coming out for play time do well with children. Take the dog bowls (cleaned out of course), the dog treats, and any other items you used as decoration and donate them to the shelter. Not only will you be doing something charitable, you will also be setting a good example.
So there you have it! A simple party idea that will have your child wagging their tail in approval.
