Every little kid today is familiar with Dora the Explorer because she’s one of the most lovable and adventurous characters on TV. With her trusty backpack and her best friend Boots the monkey, she sets out on thrilling and funny exploring trips with many twists, surprises, and moral lessons to delight the kiddies.

If you have a little girl, chances are she wants to be like Dora. Why not fulfill her wish? Plan a fun Dora the Explorer party for her next birthday. It’s an adventure she and her friends will love to experience.

Just like Dora herself, you have to be smart and on your toes when planning the birthday celebration. You have to take care of everything properly, so everyone will really feel the fun theme. Try these Dora party ideas so your kids and her guests will have a really enjoyable time.

Invites For A Fun Adventure

You have to let the other kids know about the fun party adventure that awaits them. If you’re imaginative and creative, you can do the invitations yourself using craft items you have around the house. You’ll not only save cash, but your guests will also appreciate the extra effort you’ve done for the party.

One fun idea is to make a map, since Dora’s always using a map on her adventures. Use colored bond paper or brown parchment paper, and draw a kiddie map leading to the party venue. Underneath the map, write “Follow the trail and join us for ____’s fun Dora The Explorer Birthday Party!” Roll it up, tie with a ribbon and attach a tag with the name of the guest on it.

Another cool option is to make a passport invitation. If you have a passport, photocopy or scan the outside, cut the bare edges, then stick on some Dora stickers. Write something fun on the back, like “This is your passport to a fun and exciting Dora the Explorer birthday with ____ and her friends!”

You can also send cute Dora items, like small Dora or Boots dolls. Attach a tag to it with the party details and give them out personally. A Dora coloring or picture book is also a great idea. You can handwrite the details inside. These items will not only serve as invitations, but also as your giveaways.

If you don’t have time to make your own invitations, you can just buy ready-made ones from party supply stores. These can have cute, childish designs that’ll delight the kids and entice them to attend the celebration.

One last reminder: mail the invitations a few weeks before the event so your guests will have time to pick out a gift and clear their schedules on that day.

Delightful Dora Decorations

A Dora party won’t be complete if you don’t dress the place up the same way as Dora sees it during her many adventures. You should provide a good party atmosphere, so they will have a marvelous time. It’s like they’re journeying to the same world where Dora is. Here are some ideas you can try.

• Get some animal and jungle monkey stuffed toys and put them around the party venue. If you have large animal toys, position them at the entrance, as a way of greeting the kids.
• Create a “spooky adventure forest” ambiance. Hang green streamers and let balloons float from the ceiling. Make trees, shrubs and flowers from carton and butcher paper. If you have real plants around the house, put them around the place too.
• Use decorations ideas that are taken from different Dora the Explorer settings. For example, you can make Rainbow Road by cutting block-shapes from construction paper and taping them to the ground. If you want to make Windy Valley, attach blue streamers to an electric fan so they will twirl around, imitating the wind. You can also make a “dangerous” Crocodile Lake by letting alligator and crocodile toys float in them.

Decorations for your dora-themed party

Dora the Explorer cute 0table decorations

• If you have a garden, you can hold the party there. The trees and plants can serve as natural jungle-like decorations.
• Get a large appliance box and paint it over to look like Dora’s Casa. The kids can play in it during the party.
• Use fiesta decorations and put them around the place. Hang fiesta streamers in different colors around the walls. Put up colorful balloons too.
• For a fun table centerpiece, get a sombrero, then anchor colorful balloons in it. Or you can fill it with Dora the Explorer toys.
• Hang a banner that says “Feliz Cumpleanos!”.This translates to happy birthday in Spanish, Dora’s native tongue.

Dressing Up As Dora

If your little girl really wants to feel like Dora, it’s a great idea to dress her up to look like her favorite cartoon character. It’s pretty easy to create a Dora look. For her outfit, get a plain pink shirt with a round collar and short sleeves, and pair it up with orange frilly pants. Give her white shoes and yellow socks to wear with it. You can also arrange your daughter’s hair in a bob-cut, like Dora’s.

Dora can’t go anywhere without her trusty backpack! Get a plain backpack and glue mouth and eyes made from construction paper. Fill it up with Dora toys. Lastly, get a monkey doll to serve as Dora’s best friend Boots. She can carry it around to join her in her party fun.

Fun Explorer Activities

Your child and her guests will be craving for fun adventure and activities throughout the party. Keep them busy and happy with these game ideas.

• Musical Sombreros – It’s like the traditional musical chairs game played during kiddie parties. Place a pile of sombreros on a table, one less than the number of children. Let the kids stand around the table, and when the music starts playing, they must walk around the table. Once it’s turned off, they must get a sombrero hat and put it on. The kid left without a hat leaves the game, and you take away one sombrero hat too. Repeat the game, until only one kid is left as the winner.
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  A kid swinging at the Dora pinata
  Where’s Swiper? - Everyone knows the naughty and sneaky little fox that follows Dora around during her adventures. In this game the kids must find Swiper before he causes mischief. Before the party, hide a stuffed fox toy within the party venue. When you give the signal, the kids must look for him.
• Animal Charades – Get a bunch of animal picture cards, and put them in a sombrero. Each kid gets a turn and picks out a card. They must then act out the creature without talking (animal sounds are okay) while the other kids try to guess what the animal is. When they correctly guess it, they all act it out together. Repeat the game until every kid has a chance to act out an animal.
• What’s In The Backpack? - How many interesting and useful things Does Dora have in her handy backpack? This is a fun game everyone can place. First, get a purple backpack and fill it up with various prizes with different shapes and textures, like small plastic animals, headbands, a ball and crayons. Then, ask the kids to sit in a circle. Hand the backpack to one kid, and tell him or her to feel for an object inside without looking. The kid must guess what’s in the bag. When the guess is correct, they get to keep the object. They then pass the backpack to the child next to them. To make this game more fun, tell them to sing the backpack song while passing the bag around.
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  Kids coloring Dora the Explorer
  Dora’s Adventure Course – Dora and Boots always go through the forest and encounter different kinds of thrilling obstacles. Recreate this scenario for the party by making an obstacle course. Use typical household items like a sandbox, chairs, and plants they have to jump over. It’s more practical to do this outside, though, because things might get a bit messy.
• Coloring Dora – If the party is for younger kiddies, a quieter activity is a better option than rowdy games. Get some pages from Dora coloring books and distribute them to the kids. Provide them with coloring materials. You can also award prizes for the best colored pictures.

Dora Party Snacks

After all their thrilling adventures, your little explorers will be very famished and will be looking for good eats. Don’t disappoint them, and whip up a feast that’ll satiate their little appetites. Here are some party food ideas they’ll find yummy and delightful.

• Dora Cupcakes – Get small Dora images, cut them out and glue them on individual toothpicks. Then, stick them onto plain or frosted cupcakes and serve.
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  Delicious dora the explorer cupcakes
  Monkey Sandwiches – This is a treat Boots will love. Get a banana and put it inside a hot dog roll. Spread some peanut butter over it, drizzle a bit of honey and serve.
• Prickly Forest Tacos – A treat Dora and her friends can enjoy while in the forest. Get some corn tortilla shells, ground beef filling, grated cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, salsa, sliced olives and sour cream. Lay them out on a table and let the kids build their own tacos. This can be a bit messy, so make sure you cover the surface with place mats or paper.
• Churros – For a great alternative to cake dessert, serve this delightful treat. It’s a yummy and sweet cinnamon fritter. They are best served with vanilla ice cream or dipped in thick hot chocolate. Kids will love this.
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  Yummy and tasty Boots and Dora cupcakes
  Estrella Pequeno – These are small and delicious star-shaped cookies popular among Latin communities.
• Worms In Dirt – Yucky as it may sound, this is actually a delicious treat. Crumble some Oreo cookies and put them on a plate. Then, lay gummy worms over them. Cover the worms again with crumbled cookies.
• Swamp Juice – This is a mystifying green concoction kids will adore. First, make some green punch and put inside the glasses. Before serving to the kids, add some Pop Rocks candies to it. The drink will split, crackle and sizzle as soon as it makes contact with the punch.

Cute Dora Giveaways

All adventures eventually come to an end. When it’s time for your child to say adios to her friends, don’t let them leave without Dora party favors. Get Dora-printed goody bags and fill them with candies, lollipops and little Dora the Explorer toys, like puzzles or dolls. You can also put in Dora coloring books, storybooks and even a kiddie sombrero.

To make your party favors more delightful, use small backpacks instead of goody plastic or paper bags . the kids will appreciate these useful items.

Your little girl may adore Dora, but she’ll love you more when you a birthday party like this for her. Go ahead and try this fun theme. Everyone will have a thrilling and unforgettable Dora adventure.