A "kitty" party

Written by Kiddie Party Library

Sunday, 23 March 2008 00:00

Puss in Boots from Shrek 2 My daughter loves cats, so it gave me an idea for a "kitty" party as a theme. Cats are such adorable creatures, many children love them, and they've been so popular in cartoons (although a lot of times, they're the villain!) The kids will surely have a blast at a cat-themed party; and it's different as it's kind of like a spin-off from the common jungle/animal parties.

Cat Party Invitations

Chesire Cat as Invitation Design The best design for this would be an invitation card in the shape of a cat! Greet your guests with a big "meow!" so they'd know right away that the party will be having a cat theme.

For easier cut-outs, you can trace the shape of Hello Kitty's head; include the whiskers if you're patient. You can also include a face of a cat in the invitation, and have the party details printed out at the back. The cat I'm thinking of specifically is the Chesire Cat in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Kids today may probably have no idea who that cat is, but he still looks cute and funny even though he's a villain.

Cat Party Decorations

Involve your children (if they're old enough) in making paper cat decorations for their own party. Paper cat ornaments are easy to make and can be created with your children as the week's crafts activity. You can also cut out cat silhouettes or popular cartoon cats from posters and stick them on the wall. You can stick a variety of cartoon cats - Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes, the Pink Panther, Sylvester the Cat from Looney Toones, Tom from Tom and Jerry, Hello Kitty, Garfield, Lisa Frank kittens, anime cats and more. You could also decorate the place with yarn, cat skins (just don't overdo it!) and scratching posts (or anything that mimics them).

A fun table centerpiece would be a fishbowl - what you put inside is completely up to you. Having a real fish may not be recommended; instead, you could buy cheap bowls and ask your kids to paint goldfish and water on it. Then you could put fun party favors inside like candy (a fish-shaped candy would be nice), among other things. Or you could also put a Maneki Neko or the Japanese Beckoning Cat as a centerpiece.

If you're holding the party in a garden setting , add a kiddie sandbox to mimic a kitty litterbox. That way, the younger guests would have a safe place to play in by themselves.

Cat Party Fun

Cat face Instead of asking your guests to arrive wearing feline costumes, have a "registraton booth" where they would get their face painted with cat designs, or have cat glitter tattoos. Reserve a space for a "kitty zoo" where children can see or pet cats and kittens (a lot of party organizers now offer petting zoos). If the party area is too small, maybe have a place for a cat museum, where kids can learn all about cats.

If you're on a low budget or not interested in bongga side activities, you can still have loads of cat party fun through games. Donna Pilato, the Entertaining guide of About.com have suggested a couple of cat party games in her own cat theme birthday party ideas. Add a feline twist to old-fashioned kiddie party games:

Ask kids to meow like cats and whoever meows the longest wins.

Pin the tail on the cat instead of the donkey.

Fill pinatas with cat items.

Play music that kids can dance to, and when the music stops they should all be posed like cats.

It's all a matter of adapting the party games into the cat-themed party.

Cat Party Food

Have fun decorating your food! Serve a cat-shaped cake or a cake filled with your child's favorite kitty characters. I think having only one cat cartoon for the cake beats the purpose of having a general cat-themed party, because you might as well have the party theme go after that particular cat. (But it's up to you or your child really). Donna Pilato suggests a way to create cat cupcakes by using small candies as eyes and mouth, shoestring licorice as whiskers, and cookies as ears.

You could also serve milk instead of juice at the party if you really want to get into the spirit of things. Or as an alternative, have a milk fountain. Shoppersville Bakeshoppe along Katipunan Avenue sells yummy cookies in popsicles for just 23php, just request them to make cat designs. Small fish-shaped cookies are also good as an appetizer.

Cat Party Music

Don't forget to set the mood with fun cat music! It really bothers me to go to children's parties that play modern pop/rock music so loudly, even if the celebrant is just a toddler who still have no appreciation for this type of music. I think children's birthday parties should play children's songs and not adult songs, even if most of the guests are adults (after all, the party is still for a child). Here are some cat songs to add to your cat-themed playlist:

"Everybody Wants to be a Cat" from Disney's The Aristocrats

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens

Songs from Disney's The Lion King (or any jungle music)

"The Siamese Cat Song" by Peggy Lee (from Disney's The Lady and the Tramp)

"Hey Diddle Diddle"

"The Cat Came Back" by the Muppets

Top Cat theme song

Cat Party Favors

Your cat party lootbags can contain all kinds of cat items - cat stationery, cat stickers, cat school supplies, whatever you can think of! The same applies to souvenirs. They don't need to be cartoon cats; cats are extremely popular so cat novelty items will be easy to find. Take for example this kitty doll we bought from Divisoria 5 months ago (see image on the right). It meows three times when you press its belly and does not seem to run on batteries! (We haven't changed its batteries since we bought it, and the sound doesn't seem to be fading.) We bought it wholesale for 25php (together with three other animals that play sounds). At first I didn't like its appearance because the fur looked cheap to me, but my daughter loves it and laughs whenever she hears the meowing sound, so other younger kids are most likely to enjoy it as well.

Remember to be creative and just have fun with it. Involve your child in planning his/her kitty party especially if she loves cats. Having a roaring time!