Polka Dot Kids’ Party

Amount of Time: 5-10 Hours
Budget: $100-$200
Age Group: 6 and under
Number of Guests: 5 to 10 guests
Indoor/Outdoor: Either is fine

Special Notes: Polka dots can be a special theme for a small child. Make sure to keep with the dot theme by having everything be colorful circles, from decorations to food. Also, to make it easier for you, decide on two or three colors so that you can limit colors of balloons, etc. It might be easiest to choose your child’s favorite colors.

This is also an easy theme to do on a small budget, and with limited time.

Invitations: Print your invitations on polka dot stationery. Alternatively, cut out large polka dots, and write all of the party information on them.

Decorations:

• Cut out large dots in a variety of colors and decorate the party room with them.
• On some of the large dots that you cut out, write out “Happy Birthday” and string the message together as a welcome greeting to your guests.
• Have balloons tied in groups of three different colors in the party room.
• Purchase polka dot balloons.

• Have a polka dot tablecloth on the party table. You can match it with either your polka dot accessories, or use primary colors and put a dot on the cups or the plates.
• Stick polka dots all over the guests when they enter the party.

Crafts:
When the kids arrive, have the kids color, do connect-the-dot puzzles, or draw animals or other pictures using the circle shape. They can use circle stickers and dot stickers to also decorate the sheets.

Games and Activities:

1. Polka Dot Bingo. Make little bingo cards with different colors of dots. Call out the colors, and the first kid who gets four colors straight in a row wins a prize.
2. Pin the Dot on the Dog. You could draw a Dalmatian and cut out multiple black spots. Have the kids pin them on the dog where there is no dot yet.
3. Musical Dots. Similar to Musical Chairs, use cardboard paper with a big colored dot on each one instead of chairs.
4. Piñata. Break open a bright-colored piñata filled with circle candies.
5. Dot scavenger hunt. Cut out dots in a multitude of colors and hide them around the party area. Upon entering the party, give each child a dot nametag with a different color. Later on, have the kids find the dots in the party room or outside in the yard that match their nametag color. Tell them how many there are to find. Once they have found all of their dots, give them a prize.
6. Plastic beachballs. Get some big plastic beach balls and let the kids free play with them.
7. Relay race. Have a relay race with a small ball. Have the kids carry it back and forth to their team members with a spoon. First team done wins a prize.
8. Twister.

Menu:
Serve small, round food to keep with the dot theme:

1. Sandwiches cut out as circles. You could make the bread look like dots by making little holes with a Q-Tip and filling them with food coloring.
2. Fruit balls, such as melon
3. Cheese balls
4. Grapes
5. Round cookies
6. Decorated bag lunches. Serve this as a bagged lunch and have the bags decorated with multiple dots.

Cake:
Make any kind of cake you like: sheet, round or cupcakes, and use round candy to decorate it. If you are doing cupcakes, you can give the kids dot candy and have them decorate the cakes themselves. Candy you may want to use includes Dots, Necco wafers, gumdrops, M&Ms, etc.

Goodie Bags:

Let kids decorate their own paper goody bags with dots, either with stickers or drawing and coloring them. Fill the goodie bags with circle toys and candy. You could give the girls little pots of lip gloss, and little rubber balls, bubbles, strips of dot candy, bubble gum, gum balls, round memo pads, round erasers, etc., for everyone.

Hand out dot markers and coloring books.