Throw an Adorable Cat Themed Birthday Party for Kids

Around here, we love a good party theme! So when my daughter requested a cat themed birthday party for her fifth (and her little sister’s first) birthday, I jumped at the idea.  Throwing a cat themed birthday party can be easy, fun, and it turns out so cute!

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Cat Themed invitations, Food and Decorations

A few years ago, I finally ditched traditional paper invitations for most parties. I absolutely love punchbowl.com for evite-style invitations! It was easy to design my invitation in Canva and then uploaded it into Punchbowl.

I decorated for the party with cute decorations I found mostly on Amazon.  There were so many to choose from!  I grabbed this set of party supplies and decorations, and supplemented with pink paper goods and tablecloths.

We held our party right around lunchtime, so I knew I wanted to have a nice spread of lunch food.  And of course, when throwing a party for young kids, the food needs to be kid-friendly!  

These cutie kitten PB&J sandwiches turned out ADORABLE and were a big hit!

I also served “kitty chow” – Goldfish crackers and Swedish Fish candies.

And I came up with fun cat-themed names for the rest of our food and snacks: pretzel rods were scratching posts, candy bracelets were kitty collars, and egg salad and chicken salad croissant sandwiches were “catnip sammies”.

“Adopt a Kitten” Station

This was by far my favorite detail from our party! I set up an “Adopt a Kitten” station where party guests could choose a little kitten plushie, fill out an adoption certificate, and make a collar for their kitten.

(You can click right here to grab these printable adoption certificates!)

For our “Make a Collar” area, I laid out pipe cleaners and beads so that children could design their own collar for their new pet.  Be sure to test out your beads and pipe cleaners beforehand. You want to make sure the beads you choose slide easily onto the pipe cleaners, and also that the pipe cleaners are the right length and don’t need to be trimmed before the party!

Cat Themed Birthday Party Activities

This kitty pinata was another great Amazon find.  I filled it with candy and the kids had lots of fun whacking it and then diving for candy.

I don’t think you need to go overboard with entertainment and activities at a birthday party. We had a bounce house (it actually wasn’t cat themed), but even that is a fun extra and totally not necessary. And our only other source of entertainment was lots of balloons that the kids had tons of fun playing with.

If you do want to have more activities at your party, though, this kitty theme makes it easy to dream them up!  You could play Pin the Hat on the Cat, hold a face painting station, or have party guests create their own kitty masks.

Cat Themed Birthday Party Favors

Our adoptable kitties were our main party favor.  We also had these cat ear headbands out for kids to grab.  

I love and totally recommend having one or two memorable party favors for kids instead of a goody bag full of stuff (junk) that will be lost or thrown away within days!

Location Ideas for Hosting a Cat Themed Birthday Party for Kids

We actually held our party on our church campus.  It has a great outdoor courtyard space, and my husband was working on staff at the time.

Assuming you don’t have a church campus available to you, though, my favorite place to throw a birthday party is at a park! You’ll need to do some research as to what’s available near you, but many parks have covered pavilions for you to rent.  And if you can snag a spot right next to the playground, you have some of the best free entertainment built in!

If you don’t want to have your party at a park, having it at home is always a great option too. Wherever you decide to have your party, I know your little ones will have a great time!

More Fun Party Ideas

Are you throwing a baby shower any time soon (or any party for a Harry Potter lover)? Make sure to check out my guide to throwing a Harry Potter baby shower here!

If you throw a cat themed birthday party, will you let me know?  Comment below (or message me on Instagram) and tell me which of these ideas you use!