Throw your child a grrrrr-eat birthday party with our Jungle Party Ideas! Read on for general party planning tips as well as great animal-themed decorating, food, game, and activity suggestions.
Party Planning
For peace of mind, begin planning 6 - 8 weeks in advance to allow time to purchase and mail invitations, as well as to give your guests time to RSVP and make travel plans, if needed. Don't panic if you find yourself short on time; you can still plan a great party! Planning ahead simply reduces the risk of conflicts with guests' plans and may increase attendance.
To simplify the rest of the party planning process, check out our Party Planning Timeline, take a look at our When & Where to Have the Party page, and read the paragraphs below for information on selecting decorations, supplies, activities, and more for your child's party.
What Do I Need for the Party?
If you plan to use paper tableware and themed party supplies, our Suggested Party Supply List may be helpful when placing an order. Please note that you may not need everything on the list; it is intended only as a guide.
Decorating & Food Ideas
Give the Party Area a Jungle Feel
Give your house a "welcome to the jungle" feel with the following decorating ideas:
- Place large potted palms or other plants in the party area. (If you don't have plants throughout your house that you can move into the party area, borrow some from a friend or family member.)
- Hang camouflage or mosquito netting above the table and tie it off with animal print fabric scraps.
- Cluster a few coconuts, a bunch or two of bananas, a safari hat, and binoculars in the middle of the table to create a centerpiece.
- Hang bunches of bananas throughout the rest of the party area.
- Cut out construction paper paw prints and tape them going up a wall or the front door.
- Decorate with stuffed jungle animals or other types of wild animal figures. Or, set up a stuffed animal petting zoo.
- Use chalk to draw big gray elephant footprints on your driveway and the sidewalk leading up to your front door.
- Make a cardboard jungle using wrapping paper tubes to form palm tree trunks and green construction paper to make large palm leaves. (You can also purchase large paper tubes from a hardware store.) Use a brown marker to draw ridges on the trunks.
Create Jungle-Themed Costumes for Your Guests
Make no-sewing costumes for your guests using animal print fabric remnants. Just cut the fabric into jagged-edged rectangles, then cut a circle big enough for a child's head to fit through in the center of each piece of cloth. When the children arrive, slip the rectangles of cloth over their heads and tie each at the waist using rope or cord.
You can also make individual animal headbands for your guests using wide construction paper strips. (It may be necessary to staple two lengths together unless you have access to long sheets of construction paper.) To decorate the strips, cut out different-colored ears and glue them on, then draw on patterns or glue on faux fur from a craft store. For instance:- Create a tiger headband from orange construction paper with black stripes drawn on it.
- To create a lion headband, glue brown faux fur onto a strip of yellow construction paper.
- Make a giraffe headband from yellow construction paper with brown spots drawn on it.
- Create a zebra headband by drawing black stripes on a white construction paper band.
Feeding Your Famished Explorers
When it comes to food, partygoers are usually perfectly content to eat pizza or hotdogs, which is certainly much easier on the hosts! However, if you have the time and would like to serve some animal-themed treats, consider these ideas:- Serve small bowls of store-bought animal crackers. Or, if you prefer, make homemade animal cookies using animal-shaped cookie cutters and our Animal Sugar Cookies recipe. (See link below.)
- Serve Hippo Muddy Puddles made from brownies cut into circles and topped with hot fudge "mud." If you want to go all out, add a marzipan animal to each (found at specialty and gourmet stores).
- Make a jungle cake using your favorite cake recipe or mix. After baking the cake, frost the top with green icing, and add a few blue watering holes and/or brown mud puddles. Insert pretzel sticks into the cake to create palm tree trunks, then make palm leaves on top of them using green frosting. Add plastic animals to complete the effect.
Animal Sugar Cookies
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