CUTEST Puppy Party for kids | Best tips, tricks and Ideas
Hello, I’m Zoe! Welcome to my page where I share my ideas for the best, creative kids’ parties on a budget! In this post, we will work together to plan the cutest puppy party for your little one!
I have years of experience designing and running kids’ parties. I know what works, and I’m here to share that with you, to help you run the party as smoothly as possible!
If your kid is a fan, we also have another whole post about a specific Paw Patrol party which you might like to check out too!
Awesome Puppy-theme Party Games
We have got 4 awesome puppy game ideas for you that suit all ages, and are tried and tested fun!
1. Puppy life:
In this game, the facilitator will call out that the children must follow. The last ones to follow the actions are out and the game continues!
- Dinner Time – Run to one side of the room and rub bellies, hungry for dinner
- Time for the Groomers– Run to the other side of the room and look scared, legs shaking
- Sit – Children sit, paws up by their faces, to attention
- Catch – Children jump up and pretend to catch a ball that’s been thrown to them
- Belly rubs – children lie on their backs and flail their legs and arms in the air as though asking for belly rubs
This is a fun, high concentration and physical game- you can simplify it for younger children by taking out one or two instructions, or reward the fastest child to avoid having to send people ‘out’.
Pro tip: If you don’t want to upset children by sending them ‘out’ you can send them over to jump into the massive imaginary pile of jello! Squelch!!! Children will enjoy making a big squelching sound and dramatic jump- it makes everyone else laugh too.
2. Owner says:
This game is like ‘Simon Says…’ The facilitator calls actions and always starts with “Owner says….[touch your head]”. Kids only follow the actions that start with “Owner says…” If the facilitator just says “touch your head” the children aren’t meant to follow it. If they get it wrong they are out (or for young kids just have a chuckle (“got you!”) and keep going!
3. Puppy Statues:
This game is like musical statues- children dance to music and when the music stops they have to freeze! Encourage them to do the craziest dancing they can manage- this is also a good strategy to get them burning as much energy as possible.
You can either reward the most frozen statues or call out the funniest frozen positions. If your kids love paw patrol, you might like to use this song they will recognise from the move to dance to!
4. Puppy Puppy Owner:
This game is similar to duck duck goose but with a theme. It’s a great one to play as children arrive (or as children might get tired of lunchtime at different rates) as new players can easily join and it’s fun and familiar to them.
Children sit in a circle facing inwards. Child A walks around the outside of the circle and gently taps the group one by one on the head as they pass saying puppy, puppy, puppy…then, they choose one child (child B) to say owner.
Child B jumps up and chases Child A around the circle. Child A has to run around the whole group and sit back in Child B’s space. If they manage, Child B becomes Child A in the next round. Otherwise, Child A has to play again until they succeed.
We also have a special Paw Patrol Party plan your kids might love!
Puppy Theme Birthday Party Activities
1. Puppy dog training obstacle course
This game is a puppy training obstacle course! It is a really fun activity and a great energy zapper for the kids!
There are 5 challenges; long jump, relay, balance and throwing. At the end of each challenge- the facilitator can have a think and look at the imaginary score card and declare that the pups have passed their training!
There are two ways to do this. Either the whole group do activities together, or what works well is (if you have enough adult helpers) that there are little obstacle stations and the kids are in groups and go from one station to the other. This mimics a real training camp set up.
- Long jump challenge. How far can the children jump? Mark out 3 levels they have to try and achieve but make them all manageable!
- Relay race challenge. Children must take it in turns to run up and around a chair that is placed across the room from them, and pass the baton to the next child. You can change this up by having the children crawl, or hop or whatever age appropriate option you like.
- Throwing Challenge. Children must stand behind a line and practise their aim, throwing objects in a bucket. You can use anything here- Lego blocks in a basket, soft toys in a bucket- whatever you have a lots of at home (but nothing that will hurt of throws accidentally go awry)
- Balance challenge. Children have to balance on a thin line that snakes around. You can make this out of masking tape on a hard floor, or lay a piece of rope or string on a carpet or on grass.
At the end celebrate the kids completing puppy training school!
2. The doggy sniff quiz
This is like a sniff puzzle treasure hunt! It’s a really fun game. There are 3 boxes with something inside and without seeing it children must guess the item just by sniffing it.
Children have to sniff one or two boxes and choose which smells they are sniffing. There are some guess cards- if they sniff the right guess card, the get it, and on the back is a picture of the location of some hidden treasure! (for example, you can hide some chocolate coins or sweets)
We have some suggestions for the most recognisable smells: Orange, banana, lemon, crayons, cheese, vanilla, baby powder, any shower gel with a strong smell. We’ve created an example with pictures of smells of and clues on the back- so please use ours or feel free to make your own!
If kids are much younger, simplify this by just having them guess the small and if they guess right give them their treat!
3. Paw Patrol Adventure Story
If your kid likes this show- this could be an epic activity. We’ve created a Paw-Patrol-like story that you can read to the kids, and encourage them having a fun time acting out. This is a lovely activity for the a bit more of a downtime in the party.
Encouraging the kids imagination in this section will really make the even so exciting for them. We suggest having some mystical adventurous background music to really create some storytelling atmosphere. For example check out this playlist for an ambient mystical soundtrack: Fairy Magic by Derek Fletcher!
Alternatively, you can read any puppy story, we love the Hairy McClary stories. For some party outrage, the giggle-story series also have a puppy themed on: My Pooping Puppy! which the kids might love
Puppy Party Decorations
We love decorations that totally transform the feel of a space, are bold and simple, and are budget-friendly! With this in mind, and years of experience decorating kid’s parties, here are our top suggestions:
- Our top tip to create atmosphere in a space is loads of balloons!! We suggest a mix of these gorgeous paw-print ones with other mixed bright colour ones for maximum festive feel!
- The table layout can be a really lovely decoration point for a room- and functional too! Kids really do love themed paper plates and juice cups. There are a few sweet sets on amazon for a reasonable price, we love this blue-cartoon option– so cute!
- Costume pieces or props tend to bring a great atmosphere to decorate a room and we had a look for puppy options and found these gorgeous felt puppy masks! They’re inexpensive for a to-keep costume prop and could also be used as party favours so 2 in 1!
- MUSIC! although it might sound strange- music can help create a magical world and transform a space into a party-kingdom! Have something fun playing as the kids arrive, to excite them!
For a similar fun and animal loving party vibe, you might also love our Teddy Bear Picnic Party or our Safari Adventure Party.
Puppy Food Ideas
- Bone shaped sandwiches: make soft break peanut butter or jelly sandwiches and use this cutter to turn them into bone shapes- this is super cute and creative and kids will love it.
- Party snacks in mini-puppy bowls! Fill the bowls with chips, Maltesers or crackers- they will find it really funny!
- Paw-print cupcakes! Use a mix of big smarties and little smarties to put paw print shaped on top of cupcakes- these are very simple but so cute for the kids to enjoy
- These gorgeous puppy party-food-toppers are so perfect! They are inexpensive and will instantly jazz up the food table!
Good luck!
Ok, there you go! I hope that was helpful. Remember your kids love you- and they will have a brilliant time, however detailed you go in the prep- so enjoy and be sure to take heaps of photos and videos to capture every moment. My best of luck! Zoe x
On this site, we have so many themed party ideas including a Mermaid Party, Princess party, Epic Dinosaur Party, Ultimate Pirate Party and Outer Space Party!
