Puppy Party -2yr- Trainer (Simon) Says

For my son's 2 year old birthday we celebrated with a Puppy Party. 

As each guest arrived, I painted their face to look like a puppy.  Guests were also given collars to wear (cat collars worn very loosely around the neck.  Parents also stayed for this party, so there was plenty of adult supervision, otherwise I'd be concerned of a safety risk.) We began with a barking contest.  A definite video moment! 

Next, we played "Trainer Says," a variation of "Simon Says" in which the dog trainer gives out dog commands (e.g. sit, scratch your ears, beg, bark, etc.)  The children were then invited to crawl around, acting like puppies for the dog show.  They were all very pleased with themselves and each other. 

We had covered a large cardboard box in white butcher paper and attached another portion of a second box to serve as a roof to create a doghouse.  All of our stuffed dogs were inside.  We invited the children to go and "rest" in the doghouse after putting on their show. 

At this point in the party we served lunch: hot dogs (what else?!), chips, and fruit. After lunch we commenced a search for cardboard dogbones which I had hidden in the basement playroom--an area where the children hadn't yet been. 

Following this, the children were all given a plastic dog bowl which I had personalized with their name and filled with Jell-O jigglers.  We lined up our "puppies" and let them eat their Jell-O out of their dog bowls just like dogs would.  This was another very cute and funny moment.  When the children were finished with their bowls, I quickly rinsed and dried them so they could eat birthday cake (this time with a fork) out of their dog bowl.       

The cake was decorated to look like a puppy.  I took two nine inch layers, stacked them and frosted them white. (This became the dog's head)  Two cupcakes sat just in front, also frosted white. (These were the dog's front paws.)  Junior mints made black spots on the puppy, and three junior mints right next to each other on each of the cupcakes made paw pads.  I used melted chocolate chips (black icing would also work) to outline ears, whiskers, and the line from the junior mint nose to the mouth, which used a red fruit by the foot piece as a tongue.  More fruit by the foot wrapped around the cake creates a collar.       

We decorated the house with Dalmatian crepe paper streamers, red, white, and black balloons (I put dog faces on the white balloons with permanent markers.) A simple red tablecloth decorated the table with some puppy confetti.  Cuter might have been puppy paw prints painted or markered on, but I ran out of time.       

Our children and guests loved this party and are still pretending to be dogs!  We hope your puppies have as much fun as ours did!