A Vet-themed birthday party is a fun option for an animal lover. My middle son has wanted to be a Vet since he was three years old. He loves animals, science, nature and learning what he can about all of those topics. Depending on the age level of kids for your party, there are many options for decorations, games, activities and favors. Your imagination is the limit as to what you can do.

The age level I was focusing on was 5-8 years old. Although, most of those kids were around 6 years old. I decided to have the kids pretend they were Vets and set up stations around the house. They pretended to be Vets, adopted a pet, crafted and played games.

Vet Name Tags

First, the kids had to identify themselves. They were each given a sticker name tag that had “Dr. ” written on it in permanent marker. The children participants could either write their name or have a grown-up write their name. Most of the kids were proud to wear their name tag sticker. However, some of the tags did not stay on their clothing very well. Another option is to write the name on a precut piece of card stock and slide it into the plastic sleeve of a pin name tag. Still another option, though pricey, is to personalize an appropriate-sized smock or lab coat.

Gearing Up

Once the kids were identified, it was time for them to gather their gear. Their ‘doctor’s bag’ was made out of a brown paper bag with handles. I cut out and taped a red plus sign to the outside of the bag. Inside their bag, each child had a clipboard and sharpened pencil. I purchased 6″x9″ hardboard clipboards. To each of the clipboards, I attached a blank check-up report.

The next step was to select their patients. I purchased small (4-5 inch) stuffed cats and dogs from Amazon and had the kids select which one they wanted to adopt. Then, they could pick out grooming supplies. A comb and a washcloth were available for each pet. After their grooming, each “doctor” selected a blanket to keep their pet cozy.

When their pet was chosen and “cleaned up,” the kids could decorate a crate and create a collar before the pet’s check-up. I set up a table with a fleece-lined vinyl tablecloth for crafting.

Make a Crate

For the crate, I purchased treat boxes, similar to these. My husband cut an oval hole in one side (short side) for the pet’s head to poke through. The party participants could decorate the “crate” if they wanted to. Some of the materials that were available to the kids included stencils, stickers, foam stickers, glitter glue, colored pencils, markers and crayons.

Make a Collar

For the collars, I offered chenille stems (pipe cleaners) and plastic beads. The pipe cleaners were like these. For the beads, I supplied pony beads in solid colors and translucent. I also included some letter beads, both round and in a cube. The kids could choose what beads to use. For instance, some spelled out the name they gave their patient while other kids put their own name on the collar. Some collars were very colorful, without any letter beads. **Tip- make the collar tight enough to twist the pipe cleaner around the stuffy’s neck. It should be secure and not be too loose to fall off. Don’t completely fill the pipe cleaner. The amount of beads will vary due to the beads selected. Some will be a little larger or smaller. Plastic cups were used by some of the kids to sort their beads.

Vet Check-up

Previously, my birthday boy had received 2 Melissa and Doug Examine and Treat Pet Vet Playsets. We used some of the tools from that for the party. Equipped with their doctors’ bags, clipboards and check-up checklist, the kids started the medical examination. The checklist included ears, eyes, heart, nose, paws and tail. First, for the ears, there were cotton swabs and wipes to clean out any dirt that might be there. There was also an Otoscope from the Vet Playset. Next on the check-up checklist were the eyes. They could use an Ophthalmoscope to look into the eyes. Also, there were pretend eye drops from a bottle to clean or medicate the eyes. Those two items for the eyes were also from the Vet Playset.

Heart Check

After checking the eyes, the next part for examination was the heart. For the heart, I made pretend stethoscopes for each party participant. I used a headband and attached a ribbon with hot glue. Two circles of the same size were cut from white felt. Likewise, two hearts were cut from blue felt. Then, the hearts were hot glued to each circle and the circles (wrong sides facing each other) were hot glued onto the end of the ribbon. I was not sure if the headbands would be bothersome to the ears of any children. Therefore, my husband acquired some unused foam earplugs and hot glued them to the tips of the headbands. They turned out to be bothersome to some of the children, while others actually wanted to keep theirs on. If you would like more specific instructions on how to make the stethoscopes, click here.

For the nose and mouth I supplied some tongue depressors. The paws were cleaned with a wipe before examining. Last on the check-up checklist was the tail. Various bandages, mostly cloth or self-adhesive wraps, could be used for the tail. My kids have put stickers and bandages on some stuffies before. They do not usually come off well. Also at the end I had a bin with other vet tools (like a syringe, arm cuff and tweezers, most from the Vet Playset.

Games and Other Activities

There are so many animal games and activities for parties. The party was inside, as it was in January and my age range was 2-8, most of the kids being 6. Activities that were simple and fun, but not too involved, was the way to go. I found a few that fit the bill, some of which we did at the party. First, there was animal charades. The party participants take turns to act out an animal and to guess what that animal is. The second activity was a porcupine quill removal. About 10 toothpicks were stuck into a ball of play dough. The kids had to use tweezers to pull them out, one by one. The third activity was to play a pin the tail on the cat game. The fifth was to decorate bird finger puppets. The kids were not interested in the porcupine game, nor charades.

Pin the Tail on the Cat

One game that they did enjoy playing was Pin the Tail on the Cat. On a poster board I drew a cat. The tail was also drawn in place so that the players knew where they were to place the tail. Before the party my husband so kindly cut tails out of different colored construction paper. Each child selected the tail they wanted and wrote their name on it before playing. For blindfolds we used strips of non-see-through material. Each player had their own blindfold, so as to not spread germs.

Bird Finger Puppets

The other activity the kids wanted to do was to decorate bird finger puppets. I folded the paper beforehand in various different colors. The kids colored them to resemble birds.

You can check out the how-to for this easy paper folding craft here.

Cake and Decorations

The cake and decorations for my son’s Vet party were fairly simple. He was fine with it. He selected the cupcakes. Also, he got to contribute and decide on some of the decorations.

For the cake, we ordered half chocolate and half vanilla cupcakes from a local grocery store. They had cute and fun faces of dogs and cats on top. Overall, cupcakes seem to be simpler to serve. Utensils (forks) for eating, a knife for cutting and a plate for serving are all not necessary with cupcakes. To keep everything simple, we did cupcakes and an ice cream cup.

The decorations were very simple. We taped pictures of animals on the walls around the party area. Some of the decorations were pages from a puppy-themed calendar. Other pictures that were taped to the walls were also of animals, but pictures that my son drew and/or colored himself.

My vet-aspiring son and his friends had a fun time with all of the activities. They enjoyed the food. The weather that day was unseasonably warm, for early January. After cake and ice cream the kids all decided to go outside to play in our backyard. When they were ready to leave, the kids had their treasures from the party. The crate, collar, patient (dog or cat stuffy), a stethoscope, an ice bag, the clipboard, a bird finger puppet, any prizes they won and some snacks went along with each party participant.

This was a fun party to put together. I learned how to fold paper into birds for finger puppets. Also, I learned how to draw a cat on a large poster board. I was grateful that my son joined in to decorating and choosing items for his party.