Games and Activities

Greet the party guests as they arrive by welcoming them to Dora's Great Fiesta. Play children's music in the background.

Hand each child a map of the party. Make this map by writing on a piece of paper the names of each activity and craft you plan to do during the party. Make sure when you write these names that you spread the names randomly across the paper. Then draw connecting roads, dotted lines, bridges, and lakes linking the various party activities and crafts. Photocopy so each child can have a copy of the party map.

Direct the children to a party area where you have laid out craft materials for activities to keep the children occupied until all the party guests arrive.

Paper Plate Shakers. Give each child a paper plate to decorate. Make sure to tell them to decorate the underside of the plate, not the side where you would typically place food. Let the plates dry. Help each child place a small scoop of dried beans in the center of their decorated plate, and then fold over and tape around the edges.

Friendship Bracelets. Have the children string beads around a string for a bracelet like Dora's.

Binoculars. Have the children tape toilet paper rolls together side by side. Show the children how to cover the ends with colored plastic wrap secured by rubber bands. Let the party guests decorate the binoculars with nature stickers, glitter glue, and markers. Use yarn or ribbon to make a hanging strap.

Great Adventure Obstacle Course. Design an obstacle course with objects from around your house. Hang green streamers like vines down over the obstacle course. Have each child go through the obstacle course. When they have all completed, compliment them with Dora's line, “We did it!”

Backpack Discovery. Gather the guests around in a circle. Pass the backpack around the circle giving each child a chance to feel for an object inside the backpack and guess what it is without looking. Objects may include a toothbrush, a ball and more (one per party guest). Let guests who guess correctly keep their objects as prizes.

Dora, Boots, Swiper. A variation on classic “Duck, Duck, Goose” game. Start by having the birthday child walk around the circle of children tapping each lightly while saying, “Dora, Boots, Dora, Boots.” When the birthday child says "Swiper," the tapped child gets up and chases the birthday child around the circle while the birthday child attempts to sit in the open seat. Then Swiper goes around the circle until a new Swiper is tagged.

Dora's Basketball Game. Explain that for every basket made the child gets a piece of a puzzle. Have the children attempt to make baskets from different distances. For each basket made, hand out a puzzle piece (if there are not enough animal puzzles for each child, group them into teams of two or three). The objective is for each child or team to figure out the puzzle by guessing the animal.

Dora's Circle of Friends. Glue pictures of Dora and her friends (from activity book or printed from websites) or use stickers to paper plates (make sure there is one per party guest). Write the names of Dora and her friends on pieces of paper and mix them in a hat.

Place Dora character plates in a circle on the floor. Tell the children to walk around from circle to circle when the music starts. When the music stops, the children must stand still on a character plate. Pull a name out of a hat. The person standing on the character plate matching the name pulled from the hat must pick up that plate and step out of the circle. Play until only one guest remains.

Jungle Weave. Lay streamers on ground in a large area (they do not have to be neatly arranged). Instruct the children to each grab an end of a streamer and then form a circle. Count “Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez” tapping each child as you encircle them. Turn on some music and announce that all of the even numbered guests should duck and go under the streamers to their right. The odd numbered guests should do the same, but go to their left. When the streamers are tangled enough, tell the children to find their partners (at the streamer's other end) by untangling the trap.