How many times have you noticed a child inching towards a dog but not being able to go the final mile and touch it? They are absolutely mesmerised by creatures that are alive but not human. If you have a zoo in your city, I would say take the entire party for a picnic at the zoo and call it a day. If you aren’t that fortunate to have access to a zoo you could do an Animal Theme party that will have the kids roaring, bleating, and hotting all the way home.
Location
- So the zoo is not an option. You definitely need a little space in order to do this because you want to let the kids have enough space to act out their animal avatars without bumping into pieces of furniture. To give your venue a rustic feel, throw some hay on the floor. This would be best outside but if you lose the hay, it would be perfect indoors too.
Invites
- The invites shouldn’t be that hard to do. Make a one sided card in the shape of your kid’s favourite animal and you’re done. Alternatives could be a farmer or a card in the shape of a barn.
Decor
- Nothing gives your party a country feel than red and white checkered table-cloths. You can name each table after an animal and place a farm-animal in the middle as a centrepiece. You can use these later as party favours as well. To simulate a jungle or the Sahara, think zebra or leopard print, mini potted palms (fake or real), bamboo beaded curtains, and strings of animal-shaped mini lights would be perfect if you’re doing it indoors.
Costumes
- Encourage everyone to dress up. Don’t specify barnyard or safari because you might end up getting a lot of duplicates. You’ll have a group of kids channeling their inner beast or bird at a parade that you can hold that leads up to cutting the cake.
Food
- You don’t have to serve any particular type of foo but a great way to bring in the party theme is to have bowls of animal shaped biscuits and crackers lying around for kids to grab. Make a big sign over the food saying ‘Please feed the animals’- Monkeys eat bananas, rabbits eat carrots, squirrels eat nuts…. you see where I’m going with this?
Activities
- Have a parade. Children love the attention and if you’re in costume, start the parade with yourself so that they don’t feel intimidated about parading in front of a crowd.
- Have a clay station where kids can make a figure of an animal to take home with them. These can serve well as a take-away as well.
- An animal themed party really brings out the happy in children. You’ll have to be ready for a little bit of crazy because once they start getting into character it’s hard to break them out of their feral state. But have no fear, little kids are like kittens and will require nap-time before you know it.
For more interesting Party Ideas and Themes for kids, go to https://mocomi.com/fun/party-ideas-themes/