Dora the Explorer Party Ideas for 2-Year-Olds
A Dora the Explorer birthday party leads your little one and friends toward fun in the great outdoors. Ideal for a crowd of 2-year-olds, this animated character lends an adventurous air to a toddler's birthday. Keep your party simple and inexpensive with easygoing decorations, homemade treats and plenty of hands-on activities for all those busy hands and feet. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
It's a Jungle Out There
-
Choose decorations that create a jungle-like atmosphere. Use purchased or homemade invitations to set the tone for an expedition. For example, the Amazing Moms website suggests creating a Dora-style travel map with directions to your house along with other party details.
As fans know, Dora stays busy outdoors. Let little explorers do the same. Host your party in a forest, a park or a patio filled with potted plants. If weather won't permit an outdoor party, bring potted plants inside. Sketch a woodsy backdrop on craft paper. Create an indoor spooky forest by hanging green streamers from the ceiling, Amazing Moms suggests.
As guests arrive, provide them with explorer's vests cut out from brown paper grocery sacks. Let kids decorate their vests with stickers and crayons. Buy plastic safari hats from a party store to complete the look.
Time for Adventure
-
Let kids explore indoors and out just like Dora. Get your expedition off to a good start with Dora-style games and activities. Dora has a big imagination, so provide a variety of dress-up clothes for guests to play with, or provide backpacks and let kids fill and unpack them. Help little ones name objects. For added challenge, place items into the sack and allow kids to feel through the bag and guess the items, Amazing Moms suggests.
Let kids run, jump and play outdoors as they collect rocks and leaves. Have kids discover where you've hidden Swiper the fox, one of the characters on the Dora show, suggests PartyShelf.com consultant Michelle Hylton. Purchase a Beanie Babie Swiper or visit NickJr.com for free Dora printables of the show's characters. Print, color and glue characters to cardstock. Hide characters around the house or yard.
-
Work Up an Appetite
-
Provide Dora-themed goodies like star-shaped cookies. Adventures are bound to make explorers hungry. Whip up some tasty Dora snacks. The Nick Jr. website has more than 40 Dora recipes, including Swiper peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Dora cupcakes as well as cookies and grilled cheese sandwiches shaped like stars (Dora's favorite). Kids can make their own trail mix with pretzels, nuts (check for allergies first), chocolate chips, dried fruit and cereal.
Keep the Adventure Alive
-
Provide guests with a simple Dora party favor like a yellow bracelet. Use plastic bug boxes to store favors, or provide small knapsacks. Choose Dora party favors from a local store or visit a dollar store to purchase explorer-themed items. Hunt for bug catching nets, plastic compasses, yellow plastic bracelets, magnifying glasses, and star-shaped items. Depending on the number of guests, it could be more economical to purchase a Dora party favor pack. However, some Dora favors present choking hazards for 2-year-olds. A single favor, like a take-home Dora cupcake, plastic Dora mask or a bug box, may work best.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Treasure Map image by Kristina Afanasyeva from Fotolia.com deep jungle image by Maciej Zatonski from Fotolia.com Baby boy exploring nature image by Vesna Cvorovic from Fotolia.com The girl taking cookie from a pack image by Sergey Galushko from Fotolia.com bracelet image by Ozgur Aydin from Fotolia.com
