11442

Littlest Pet Shop -8yr- Herding Cats Game

July 2005

Tyra in McMinnville, OR, USA

Littlest Pet Shop Party  My 8-yr-old daughter has become enamored of the Littlest Pet Shop toys and wanted a Littlest Pet Shop bithday party. Alas, we couldn't find any party ideas so we came up with our own. 

Decoration are easy - any pet posters: kitties, puppies, hamsters, fish, bunnies. I think we will look for close-out calendars and post the pictures around the room. You can also print out coloring pages from LittlestPetShop.com  and have the guests help decorate. Add balloons, streamers, and any Littlest Pet Shop toys.

For table decor, my daughter chose a bright tye-dye theme from Oriental Trading Co. But you could use The Dog or The Cat theme materials from BirthdayExpress.com.  

Since we have a group of craft-loving little friends, our big project will be a miniature garden for the pets. If you can get a hold of the Usborne book "Making Models" it has lots of great ideas for buiding a mini-garden. We will let each guest make their own garden using peet moss, mini plants, rocks, foil, clay, pipecleaners, foil, paint, etc. in an aluminum baking pan. You could also suggest they add food bowls, bones, a bird bath or bird's nest, a kitty basket, or whatever. I'm sure they will come up with all kinds of clever ideas. 

We will have an outdoor game called "Herding Cats" which is adapted from the Birthday Express site game, "Round up the Herd". You divide the kids into two teams and give each team a broom and one balloon per team member. In relay fashion, each team member has to "herd" her balloon cat around a series of obstacles and into a "kennel". The first team to have all the cats in the kennel wins. 

After a dinner of pizza annd fruit, we will have another craft project: Fuzzy Flip-Flops. I found some close-out flip-flop sandals for $1/ea at Joann's. We'll get some fake fur and let the kids trace around their sandals on the back side of the fur, then cut out the pieces and glue them to the inside of the sandal (we'll have to make a cut to go around the toe-piece). We may also glue some ribbon or fringe to the tops straps of the flip-flops.  

My daughter wants a plain sheet cake with a rainbow and her Littlest Pet Shop toys on top. But I thought it would also be fun to make a cake in a bone shape or a kitty or puppy face. After presents, we will have the kids find their treat bags. They will each get a cardboard bone, fish, or cheese that is attached to a piece of strong string. They must follow the string, winding it as they go (and weaving in and out of the other guests strings and various objects) to get to the end of the string and the treat bag. 

For goodies, my daughter chose some items from the Oriental Trading Company catalog: some furry hedgehog keychains, fuzzy pom-poms critters, bead bracelets and dog bone candy. They will also take home their mini-gardens and fuzzy flip-flops. Because of the involved crafts, we are limiting the party to 6 little girls. Should be fun!

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