Pet Adoption Birthday Party
Our youngest, Zoë, turned 6 last month (March) and her request was a (Plush) Pet Adoption Birthday party. Not knowing where to start I immediately took to Pinterest for ideas and inspiration. I have to tell you, this theme is not only super precious, but it gets the kids involved and educated on what it's like to adopt and care for a pet. The biggest bonus of all is that each kid gets to take home a special pet of their own along with a little box (crate) to care for them in.
I can't say all of my kids parties have been a success, but this one most certainly was so I want to share it with you to make your next party planning a "walk" in the "park". (Insert puppy ear perk)
(You'll find the links to everything used for the party at the bottom of this post.)
We set up the party to have stations. When the guests arrived they were immediately greeted by the animal adoption station. I bought 3 extra animals than we had of guests just in case there was a battle for one particular pet. To my surprise there was not a single fight so I was able to return the extras.
STATION 1
Pet Adoption Crate (Pick a pet)
All of the stuffed animals we got are from Hobby Lobby. They were around $7/ea. The cage I put them in was an old Toddleroo Play Gate that we already had.
STATION 2
Pet Adoption Certification
Search "Pet Adoption Party" on Etsy and you will find a ton of helpful tools to make your party one for the books. I was able to find a cute Pet Adoption Certificate download as well as a matching Pet Check-up Exam that we printed so each child could take them home. Here is where I encouraged each child to give their pet a name (they would need it for Station 4).
STATION 3
Veterinarian Check-Up Exam
For Christmas, Zoë got a doctor kit that she couldn't wait to use at her party. Adding any little doctor props you already have to this party theme is a fun way to get more use out of the toys you already have. The kids assessed the pets health and once they were cleared then the owner and their pet could move on to the next station.
STATION 4
Collar Making & Box Crate Decorating
How you decide to run this station really depends on the age of the kids and how much the parents are willing to be involved. The age of our guests were 3-10 so I made some options for everyone. We had fun animal stickers and markers that the toddlers could enjoy. We also had an array of beads with stretchy string for the older kids to make personalized collars with.
STATION 5
Photo Booth
Every party needs a photo station with an explosion of balloons. This was the perfect opportunity to use Zoë's new Polaroid camera to capture her friends and their new furr-iends.
STATION 6
Play Time
As we all know kids will need space to burn off their energy (especially after cake) so I would make sure that you designate a place for them to go wild. We encouraged them to take the party outside for a bit and play, Horse Shoe, Bubble, Corn Hole and jump on our trampoline. We were fortunate to have good weather that day. If we hadn't it would've been the game room.
To my surprise, this party was a huge hit! I highly recommend taking this theme and running with it. We had a big age range and everyone loved it equally.
In order to help make your party planning even easier, I created a Party Planning Checklist for you to save. This is a massive time saver and ensures that nothing is forgotten or falls through the cracks.
Links to items shows above: TY Puppies, Cake by Thoughtful Cakes, Candy Tubs, Dog Goodie Bags, Dog Party Blowers, Plates, Glass Jars for Markers (Large), Box Crates, Beads for Jewelry Making, Stretchy Jewelry String, Puppy Stickers, "Let's Pawty" Balloon Arch, '6' Balloon, Rose Gold Napkins, Rose Gold Plates, Rose Gold Cutlery, Non Woven Rectangular Table Cover, Polaroid Camera
*I bought our Dog Goodie Bags from Target, but it looks like they discontinued them so I linked a store that currently has them in stock
Did I forget a link to something? If so, or if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me here.
Happy party planning, Super Mom!
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