"Lions, and tigers, and bears; Oh my!" Animals fascinate all children, whether furry, frisky or ferocious. Turn the house into an animal kingdom for your child's next birthday party, or call your local zoo to see if they have a party room that can serve as home base for a birthday at the zoo. I bet they do! Let the kids experience the call of the wild with this Super Safari birthday party.

Safari Friends Party Invitations

Start with a invitation that will make the kids roar with excitement.  Invite them on safari with a personalized jungle theme invitation or a semi custom jungle theme caricature invitation.  Both a personalized and unique for your little monkey.   

For another type of invitation, go to your local party store or costume store and buy rubber animal noses. On animal stationary, write all of the pertinent party information. Attach the animal noses to the party information and hand deliver the invitations to the guests.  This will get everyone excited to go on safari with you!

Another cute (and simple) choice is a fill in the blank Safari Friends party invitation.  There are also matching thank you notes so you can thank everyone for gifts

No matter what invitation you choose, throw some elephant confetti in your envelope to get everyone excited for your big day! 

Safari Friends Decorations and Party Supplies

Your little one is certainly adorable.  Imagine how cute they will be as a lifesize safari cutout of a safari boy or girl welcoming everyone to the party.  People will love this and you'll get lots of great photos with it during the evening!  Set it on a table at the entrance or on a buffet next to the birthday cake and prepare to keep it as a memento for years to come.  (Here's an example of a 1st birthday cutout we did for a St. Patrick's Day theme party just to show off these fun decorations.)

There is nothing that screams birthday party as much as crepe paper streamers hung around a birthday party.  This is a toddler's birthday party, so match the safari friends theme using bright and very fun colors of crepe paper.  Yellow, purple and blues work well, but you can really use all the colors of the rainbow, since they are all featured in the paper goods for this theme.

You know how much we love balloons at a birthday party!  For your 1st birthday safari party, mix together lion Mylar balloon with green latex balloons with elephants and assortment of latex balloons in colors to match the safari balloons.  Don't forget the helium tank to inflate the balloons.

Safari Table Decorations and Menu  

Start with fabulous Safari Friends theme paper goods to match the theme.  There are plates, cups, napkins and more to make serving (and clean up!) nice and easy.  We love the cartoon jungle animals and bright colors used on the set.  A lime green tablecover is the perfect choice to go with all these great paper goods and to add to the jungle feel of your party.

Balloons always make a fun centerpiece.  Mix together more bouquets of lion Mylar balloons and latex balloons and tie them together.  They can be weighed down with simple balloons weights or more black binoculars. 

Throw animal crackers as confetti all over the table as part of the look, as well as a tasty snack for hungry children!  You can also put a box of animal crackers at each place, tagged with a note from the guest of honor, as a fun favor.

Quench their thirst (yes, safaris are tiring!) with bottles of water with personalized jungle theme bottle labels for the older kids and straw cups for the little ones!

Think jungle when working on your menu!  Here are a few ideas for your jungle party:

• Pizza decorated with animal stripes - you can use a variety of toppings to create this look

• Lion fingers - ok, they are just chicken fingers renamed

• Fresh bananas and fruit kabobs

• Jell-O in the shapes of different animals - use animal cookie cutters.

• Trail mix with nuts (assuming no one has allergies) - this is good for energy when going on safari!

Let the older children decorate butter cookies in the shapes of their favorite animals (this is also a good way to keep the kids occupied) for dessert.  You'll also want a super cool jungle theme cake!  Check at a local bakery for an animal theme cake.  Here's a jungle cake that one the of Party Girls had at her son's jungle theme birthday party!  Jungle animal cake toppers are also a lot of fun on a cake. 

Safari Friends Party Activities

You can't go wrong with a piñata at a birthday party and an elephant pull-string piñata fits this party perfectly! Fill it with piñata candy and toys and let the kids go crazy!  And if they can't break it open, just pull the string!

Here are a few more fun animal theme games you can play at your safari with the older kids!  For younger kids, you won't need to many organized activities.  Make sure you have an assortment of age appropriate toys and they'll entertain themselves nicely.

"Find Your Animal" - Each child has to bring his/her own stuffed animal. Put all of the animals together to make one big pile of animals. Then one by one blindfold each child and have them try to find their animal. Give each child who chooses the correct animal a prize!

"Tarzan!"- This game is an old favorite (usually called "Hot Potato"). Have all of the kids sit in a circle, as one kid is chosen as the "leader". Begin passing a stuffed jungle animal around the circle, while the "leader" turns his/her head with eyes closed. Everyone must accept the animal and may not hold it longer than a second. At any point the "leader" can yell, "Tarzan!", and whoever has the animal is out. Continue to play until there is only one person left, and he/she is the winner.

For a few fun crafts activities, you can make paper bag puppets and let the kids put on a puppet show with a safari story.  Or, have safari coloring sheets for the kids to decorate.  Here are a few you can print out yourself:

• Jungle coloring page 1

• Jungle coloring page 2

• Jungle coloring page 3

Safari Friends Party Favors

If you make paper bag puppets, those can be used as the treat bags to hold each child's favors.  Jungle theme candy bar wrappers with milk or dark chocolate make yummy and memorable favors.  You can even include your child's photo and a special message from your child thanking everyone for joining them on safari! Fill the bags with fun favors like these:

• Safari Squirt Toys

• Zoo animal cookies

• Small plush safari animals

• Safari stickers

Have a great time on Safari with your little ones and Happy Birthday from Party411!