Cat in the Hat Party

Everyone remembers the fun the Cat in the Hat brought to two kids one rainy afternoon while their mother was out. It was quite the party, and luckily he had all of those cool vehicles to clean up the mess! OK, you may not be completely interested in having your home turned upside down, but the theme is sooo cute for a party.

You can even include activities from Dr. Seuss’ other books. It will make the party even more fun. As an example, you may have a Cat in the Hat theme, but serve “green eggs and ham!”

Here’s how you can bring the Cat in the Hat to your house:

• The colors red, yellow, white, and green are all excellent to use for your decorations and partyware.
• Decorate with umbrellas all over the party room, even hanging from the ceiling! Put fancy umbrellas in the drinks served at the party.
• Read The Cat in the Hat while the kids arrive, and let them color pictures of the story.
• Have a relay contest where the kids must balance a plastic cup on their heads.
• Have a guest make an animal sound, and have everyone else try to determine which animal it is. The kid who gets it right goes next.
• Play a foot game. Have the kids sit in a circle and the birthday kid call, “Left foot” or “Right foot.” The guests must stick that foot into the circle. If someone sticks the wrong foot in, they are out of the game.
• Play Pin the Hat on the Cat.
• Play The Cat Says like Simon Says.
• Have a gold fish toss where the kids throw a small bean bag fish into a fishbowl.
• Give the kids a balloon and a black marker. Have them draw the cat’s face on the balloon. Have a large hat on hand and have the kids try to get the balloon into the hat.
• Have the kids makes their own hats!
• Make a doorknob hanger with the Grinch on one side and Cat in the Hat on the other. You can download these and other printable activities at Seussville.
• Seussville also has some good game ideas! Check it out!
• AmazingMoms.com has a great Cat in the Hat party plan.
• For the menu, make ham sandwiches cut out into cat shapes, deviled eggs with green food coloring, a tray of bananas and apples, ABC cutout cookies, and cheese cubes.
• Make a double-layered frosted cake as in the book The Cat in the Hat. Or, try the recipe at Seussville for The Cat’s Hat Cake.
• For the goodies, give the kids an umbrella to take home, along with the hats they made. If you want to put a few goodies into their hats, you could provide stickers, small Seuss books, kazoos, Dr. Seuss stamps, etc. You could also give out a Seuss music CD as a goody.