Puppy Party -6yr- Who Let the Dogs Out?

For my daughter's 6th birthday, she wanted to host a puppy party!  So, a few months ahead of date, puppy plans were in motion.  My first stop was this website to get some fun ideas to develop a perfectly-planned pooch party.  We had added a pug puppy to our own home just months before..so he became a great inspiration for our party...as my daughter adores him. 

We created birthday invitations using a picture of our puppy with a birthday hat on...the invite read:  Wagging happy tails and silly sloppy kisses  Lots of little puppies barking Happy Birthday wishes.  It's a pooch party with goofy games and tempting tricks  All in super-celebration of  _____________ turning six!  So, won't you please join us on October 28th - It's a Saturday  At 11:00 a.m.  Come for fun - to sit, to fetch, to play Hooray!    I purchased lots of dog items in advance when the Target dollar spot when to a quarter this summer.  They had tons of dog items - so I came home with a couple huge bags of doggie items (bowls, toys, water bottles, dog stickers, dog frames, dog stickers, etc.) for under $20.  We invited 6 friends - I always encourage her to only invite the number of friends as her age.  This helps to keep the party from getting overcrowded and hard to manage. 

The day before, we made an adorable dalmation cake found on the family fun website.  It was easy to make and simply precious.  Also made each child a chocolate cupcake with a dogbone lollipop stuck in the middle.  We set the table in advance with red tablecloths - topped with lots of newspaper and colorful balloons.  We placed yellow and red dog bowls at each seat and filled them with their doggie treats.  They used these oversized bowls as their plates for lunch.  We made doggie bags out of brown lunch bags and doggie stickers.  Inside we filled them with some of the doggie treats - doggie necklaces, etc.  The table looked cute.   

Also in advance we set up the Poochie Pet Place.  We used a pop-up tent in the basement and inside we created a place to adopt a puppy.  We bought colorful crates from the dollar store and inside each crate was a different stuffed dog (which we had been picking up on clearance over the last couple months).  The Pet Place was so cute.  Inside were all the dogs in crates - and my daughter named each one and described the dog's characteristics.  I typed up what she wanted and we posted all of the details on each dog crate in advance. 

Also in advance, we created a "design your own dog house" station for the children to do when they first arrived.  We used big boxes and cut a door out of them - provided a crayons and other craft items for an inexpensive, creative craft.  Also in advance, we created a doggie obstacle course, a fetch the dogbone game, a sock in the dogbowl game, a puppy prizes table, and more.  Everything was all set for party day! 

On party day, the children arrived to the music of "Who Let the Dogs Out!"  First they were guided to work on the decorating the dog houses until everyone arrived.  One child at a time was called over to the doggie look-a-like table to pick a dog hat and have their faces painted to look like puppies.  The kids loved this.  Afterwards, the children colored doggie pages and made fire hydrant crafts.  During this time, we called one child at a time to the Poochie Pet Place to adopt their own puppy.  This worked wonderfully.  I read the dog's name and details to the children and each picked their own favorite pup to adopt.  After they chose their puppy, we had a doggie adoption zone for them to visit.  My husband helped them complete a doggie adoption certificate.  And then they were lead to the doggie salon - where there was an oversized basin, washcloths and towels for them to pretend to bathe their dogs. 

Next, they picked their dog its very own collar and 2 new dog toys.  The kids really had a ball with all of this.  After all the adopting was done, my husband led them in some of the games, including a barking contest, a milk-bone hunt, and a story time.  We then went to the decorated tables for lunch which of course included dogs - hotdogs and corndogs!  We lit the candles on the cake and had her puppy join us in the barking of the happy birthday song.  It was fun. 

After lunch and cake, the children had more games to play and the obstacle course too.  After each game, the children chose various puppy prizes to take home for them and their new pups.    It was an absolutely adorable party theme.  My daughter and her friends are still talking about it…and if she loved it, it was a successful day!  Thanks birthdaypartyideas.com for a great resource for moms planning fun and interesting parties!