Dora The Explorer Birthday Party

(Hoping the photos show up. Anyone else having trouble posting through Picasa? Let me know if they don't so I can try again...)
Certain interests of children lend themselves well to birthday parties. Especially the kind of parties that we tend to throw - small, homemade, structured. (And then not structured at all - as in, after the games and cake, we let the kids play together!)

For Yael's birthday, she wanted a Dora the Explorer party. As if I had any doubt. It's definitely her favorite thing. She loves to read her Dora books and watch Dora on TV. I must admit, Dora has grown on me. So...here's what we did. The three small people who were invited (actually, one couldn't make it but there were plenty of older and younger siblings who helped out and made Yael very happy) were told that Swiper the Fox had stolen Yael's birthday cupcakes and we had to find them. Each kid got a "Map":

Which took us first to "Puzzle Alley" where they had to put together a cut-up picture of Dora and then find stars that we had hidden around the room. (Sam got very into his sister's party.)

Then we walked the Stone Path (thank you, Hullabaloo pieces) with a lot of help. They couldn't quite grasp the idea of walking around in order. Each kid got a sticker here too.

Then, they got to Swiper's House, where there was a story to be read. We always read a story at our parties, always related to the "theme." (Side note: My husband read this book to the kids. I've never read it before the way it was written - it's a book teaching how to say good night to different animals, and it says "buenas noches, aves (birds)" or whatever. But when I read it, I always translate the Spanish words into Hebrew! So I say "lilah tov, tzipporim" or whatever. I wonder what Yael thinks of the way we read this book to her!?)

Then we "pinned the tail on Swiper." (David pointed out later that each of our birthday parties also has a "pin the tail on something" element.)

And that's how we got the cupcakes back! Here's Yael eating one...actually, in tomorrow's post you'll see the really cool Dora cupcakes that I made. But she started with a pink one.

And of course, opened presents. Big brothers HAD to supervise. Everyone loves presents!

I think the best thing about this party was that all the grownups had fun too. We drank coffee and ate bagels and generally let the kids play however they wanted except for this brief 20 minutes or so of structured party time. It was perfect. 

What do you do for your kids' birthdays?