My daughter wanted a cat party for her eighth birthday.  I hosted a dog themed party for a friend’s daughter a few months ago, so we re-used some of the ideas and added a few new ones.

For their arrival, each child had a pair of cat ears and my eldest drew noses and whiskers on their faces.

Food

The food was simple. My daughter asked if they could have tuna fish sandwiches and I cooked a pizza cut into triangles to look like a mouse.  We had cheese triangles with slices of cheese string for mouse ears and tails and strawberries with strawberry lace tails. My daughter baked cat shaped cookies and cupcakes with paw prints made from M&M’s and Minstrels (British chocolates that are bigger than M&M’s). Goldfish and other snacks completed the ensemble.

Plain, black plates were decorated with cat ears and  faces and whiskers  drawn on black paper cups.

Crafts

One of the parent’s commented that it was the calmest party they had ever seen, as the group of mostly girls settled down to crafts.

• First they coloured in wooden cat masks from Michaels, which gave us time to wait for everyone to arrive.

• Once everybody had arrived, we made cat faces with polymer clay.  At the dog party we made dog faces into necklaces but this time I decided to turn them into fridge magnets by attaching magnetic tape.

• Finally we made pipe cleaner cats.  The pipe cleaner was coiled around a finger, leaving  a piece for the tail. Pom pom heads were attached and ears and faces added.

Games

Fishing

The first game was a magnetic fishing game.  I made a fishing rod with a magnet attached and cardboard fish, labelled with numbers and a paperclip attached. Each guest caught a fish and then were handed a package with a corresponding number.  Inside the package was a cuddly cat and a certificate for them to adopt the cat and take it home.

Pass the Parcel

Pass the parcel is a traditional British party game and one of my kids favourites.  A gift is wrapped in multiple layers and passed around a circle.  When the music stops the child holding the parcel unwraps one layer.  Inside each layer was a cat themed action that the children had to perform, if they performed it correctly they received a treat.  The child who unwraps the final layer wins the gift.

Musical Cat Beds

Following the same rules as musical chairs but using cushions as cat beds.  When the music stopped, the children had to find a cat bed to sit on. Each time one cushion was removed.  When a chid was out, I let them choose a sweet from the bag and the winner chose a larger prize from our goody bag.

Silly Races

We played this game at the dog party and it was a big success, so decided to use it again.  Two bowls with a small amount of chocolate cereal are placed side by side (the cereal looks like pet food).  Two children race each other to see who can finish the cereal first, by only using their mouths.  The winner received a prize from the goody bag and the runner-up a sweet treat.

The second silly race, was to push a ball of wool/yarn across the floor to the finish line, using their nose.  Some children worked out very quickly that if they gave it a significant nudge, it would roll a long way.

Pass the flea

I found a glow in the dark bug to act as our flea. This was an adaptation of hot potato.  The children pass the flea quickly around the circle to music. When the music stops, the child holding the flea is out.  The last child left in, is the lucky cat not to catch fleas and wins a prize from the goodie bag.

The party was a great success – I think the birthday girl would agree.