Just say "sí," (yes) to our Dora the Explorer party jump for a fun fiesta de cumpleaños (birthday party) -- or any other children's party! Explore our Dora party suggestions and resources below, some of which can be adapted to our other party jumpers if you prefer to have a party with any Latin - or Mexican-American theme - but don't want to include Dora and her friends.

Get your planning started right here. Or as Dora says, "Vaminos!"

Invitations - Purchase Dora the Explorer invitations at your local party supply store, or use our free DIY Appian personalized invitation script! These feature the jump you rent (links are available at each jump page) and can be printed or saved for e-mailing. If you're mailing invitations, put each in an inner purple envelope and draw Map's face on it!

If you'd rather create your own unique invitations and you're adept at working with craft foam, try your hand at the backpack design found in the parents' craft section at the Nick Jr. (Dora's online home) web site. (See our Links below.) When finished, the backpack includes a velcro strap to hold a rolled map -- use that spot instead to hold a scrolled party invitation that includes a map to your home or party location.

Decorations - Dora's theme colors come from the outfits she regularly sports -- pink, orange and yellow. Use these colors for your balloons, streamers, table coverings, paper goods and plastic cutlery. Your local party store should have a good supply. You may also browse your local party store for Dora-themed decorations, or shop online (see our Links for vendors below).

Unlike many other party themes, the Dora the Explorer party offers a unique decoration opportunity if you choose to design a Map Adventure for your party guests. (See our Party Activities below.) You can decorate your map stops -- such as the Spooky Forest, Crocodile Lake, Troll Bridge and Butterfly Mountain -- as elaborately or simply as you wish or as your budget allows.

Arrival Activities/Icebreakers - Present each arriving guest with a welcome gift --their very own backpack! These will come in handy later for activity prizes and party favors. If you choose to challenge children with the Map Adventure activity described on this page, there are several adventure supplies you'll want to put in each backpack. If you're not designing a Map Adventure, fill the backpacks with traditional party goods such as party hats, blowouts and noisemakers. (See our Links below for affordable backpacks.)

Don't forget to greet your arriving guests by saying, "Hola!"

Party Activities - Your party guests will spend much of their time bouncing around in our Dora the Explorer jumper, but you may want to have a few other activities planned to add to the fun!

Visit Nick Jr.'s official Dora the Explorer web site (see Links below) for a wealth of free printable activity pages and craft templates including pirate hats and maps, bracelets, learning pages and coloring collections. Be sure to have plenty of pencils and crayons on hand!

From the official site, you can also print out Dora's "Spanish Words of the Day" in pictures. Each printout bears two identical pictures -- one in labeled in Spanish and one labeled in English. Instead of folding the printouts to make two-sided flash cards as intended, cut the sides apart and use them in a fun matching game which is similar to a scavenger hunt: Before guests arrive, take the Spanish cards and match them to actual items in your party area (for example, scissors/la tijeras, tape/cinta adhesiva, and baby bottle/el biberón). When it is time for the game, divide the English version printouts among the children and encourage them to work in pairs, using their English and picture "clues" to locate the Spanish printouts in the party space. When all the Spanish printouts have been retrieved, lead the children as they take turns showing their cards and then encourage the group to all pronounce and learn the Spanish word. The pictures on the printouts make this activity accessible even to children who can't yet read.

If you've got a bigger adventure in mind for your party guests, use the "Make Your Own Map" printable at the official Dora site and lead the children on a quest to find a treasure -- perhaps the birthday cake or an actual treasure chest (a decorated box or ice cooler) filled with party favors they can put in their backpacks. Tell the children that Swiper must have swiped the treasure -- you can even leave a note from him saying, "I've swiped the treasure (or cake)! Try to find where I've hidden it!"

The map printable for this Map Adventure activity only shows two stops but if you print out extra maps and cut the boxes which represent stops out, then paste them on your original map, you can make as many stops as you want. In the boxes, draw the "clues" that tell children where to go. When they get to each location, tell them they must perform a certain task before continuing on with the map.

A neat way to hand out the maps is to put them in the backpacks you hand out at the beginning of the party. Also include "tools" they might need to perform their task at each mapped location. (See Links below for affordable tools to buy.) For example, if you have trees in your backyard, they could be your "Spooky Forest." Or, you can create a spooky forest in a room of your house by densely hanging green crepe steamers from the ceiling and playing scary music. Hang a "clue" on a note taped to one of the streamers (or from a tree branch) -- if one of the children don't spot it, make sure you point it out. The note might say, "Welcome to the Spooky Forest. There's one thing to do before moving on. Scare all the spooks out of the forest by whistling a happy song!" Have children look inside their backpacks, where you will have placed plastic whistles.

One stop might be "Crocodile Lake," which you can make from a child's plastic wading pool (with or without water) or a blue bed sheet or other fabric on your lawn. Make a fishing pole (or use a real one) from a dowel or a broom handle and attach a piece of string with a magnet fastened to the end. In the pool, have small plastic bags filled with candy or other treats. Taped to the side each bag should be a paper clip, so children can "fish" for the treat bags. Before they get started, read the note you will have pre-placed on the side of the pool: "Go fishing for treats, but before you begin you'll need your goggles in case you fall in!" In their backpacks, children will find a pair of goggles.

Another stop might be "Troll Bridge," which you can create from a piece of plywood sturdily placed over bricks, blocks or milk crates. Before children cross, a note placed at one end might say, "Here is Troll Bridge, enjoy your stay. But turn on your flashlights to keep the trolls away!" In their backpacks, children will find small plastic flashlights.

Your last stop might be "Butterfly Mountain," which could be the top of an inside or outside staircase, or any large outside object draped with a brown blanket or other fabric. On the fabric, tape hand-drawn butterflies or squares of construction paper with butterfly stickers on them; or affix them to strings hanging from stair railings. On the back of one of the butterflies, write the "treasure's" location. When the children arrive at "Butterfly Mountain," they will discover the last note: "One butterfly holds the last clue. Look very closely and you'll know what to do!" In their backpacks, the children will find small plastic magnifying glasses. Allow each child to remove one butterfly from the fabric or string and examine it with his or her magnifying glass. The guest who picks the butterfly with the location of the treasure written on the back gets to be the one who opens the treasure (which you've filled with treats the kids can share) or gets the first piece of birthday cake.

You can abbreviate the above adventure game or make it longer, or you can change the stops along the map using your own great ideas! For example, incorporate our Appian Bubble Machine -- reserve at the same time you reserve your party jump - and challenge children to run through "The Bubble Field." Their backpacks could contain hats to protect their heads, or they could use their goggles to safely keep bubbles out of their eyes. Or give them pencils they have to use to pop 10 bubbles each! Everyone can count to 10 together -- in Spanish!

And last, don't think you'll get away with hosting a Dora the Explorer party that doesn't include a pinata -- Dora would insist! Note that many party stores and online vendors now carry safer, child-friendly string-pull pinatas as opposed to traditional "smash" pinatas.

Party Favors and Prizes - The backpacks you've given children, each filled with their goggles, magnifying glasses, flashlights and whistles from the adventure game will double as party favors. Alternatively, our Links below will guide you to web sites that sell Dora-related party favors such as stickers and noisemakers. And of course don't forget the goodies that you'll have stuffed into your pinata!

Food and Beverage - Serve quick and easy quesadillas! We suggest shredded or cubed, cooked chicken breast soaked in a mild salsa (optional), and Monterey Jack cheese for your filling. Top each store-bought or homemade tortilla with your fillings and place in a skillet. Cover with a second tortilla and cook on medium heat, turning once, for two to three minutes. Repeat until you've made enough to feed your party crowd, and keep quesadillas warm in a 300-degree oven on a cookie sheet until serving time. (Quesadillas can also be brushed lightly with olive oil and made a few at a time on an outdoor grill -- use a grated or foil-covered grill top.) Cut into wedges and serve with sour cream.

Complement your quesadillas with a tropical fruit salad or fruit kabobs and tortilla chips. Don't forget to set out bowls of salsa, bean dip and/or guacamole for chip dipping!

Wet your thirsty explorers' whistles with a non-alcoholic "margarita punch." See our Links below for two tasty recipes!

When it's birthday cake time, teach your guests to sing "Happy Birthday" in Spanish!
Feliz cumpleaños a ti,
Feliz cumpleaños a ti,
Feliz cumpleaños a (child's name),
Feliz cumpleaños a ti!

See our Links below for Dora, Diego and backpack cake and cupcake ideas and baking supplies.

Party Music - Dora the Explorer, Soundtrack, Nick Records (2004).
Latin Groove, Various Artists, Putumayo (2002).
Chiquita Pero Picosa, Danna Paola, Universal Music Latino (2005).
Drew's Famous Latin Fiesta, Various Artists, Turn Up the Music (1999).

Dora the Explorer Party Links - Find directions for the craft foam purple backpack and map you can use to make adorable invitations at http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/activity_finder/crafts/doras_backpack.jhtml.

Print coloring and activity pages, craft templates and Spanish Word of the Day cards for your matching game at the official Dora the Explorer web site: http://www.nickjr.com/home/shows/dora/index.jhtml. You can also order a pre-recorded birthday phone call for the party's guest of honor from this site, and you can access the Nickelodeon Jr. Party Shop where you will find festive Dora party decorations and paper goods.

Purchase affordable backpacks by the dozen at http://www.orientaltrading.com. You can buy them in multicolors or in plain natural canvas which could be easily dyed purple in your home washing machine. You can also find affordable goodies here like child-sized binoculars, whistles, goggles and working mini-flashlight necklaces -- all also sold by the dozen -- for your Map Adventure activity! This site also sells a selection of Dora party decorations, paper goods and party favors; and you will also find a Dora pinata in the increasingly popular pull-string style.

Find additional Dora the Explorer party favors for backpacks, hidden treasures or pinatas at http://www.stickergiant.com and http://www.mygoodybag.com.

Find recipes for a non-alcoholic "margarita punch" (recipe #110734) and a cranberry variation (recipe #47604) at http://www.recipezaar.com.

Browse http://www.apartyguru.com for Dora and Diego cake and cupcake recipes and baking supplies. This site also sells Quinceanera supplies and offers a Quinceanera planner.