How to Throw a Sensational Safari Party

If your birthday boy or girl loves jungle animals, the Sensational Safari Party is for him or her. It promises to be grrrr-eat fun! Below you will find suggestions for safari-themed invitations and decorations along with food, game, craft and activity ideas that will ensure your guests have a wildly good time!

Invitations: Creative safari invitations will help build excitement before your party. If you have time to make your own, have are some ideas to get your started:

• Use zoo animal stickers to make an animal parade with the animals carrying presents and balloons on plain invitation cards.
• Fold a sheet of yellow construction paper in half to create a card-style invitation. On the front draw large brown uneven circle to resemble giraffe spots. In one of the circles, write "You Are Invited". Write party details on the inside. Close the envelope with a giraffe sticker to continue the theme.
• Design your invitation to resemble a passport so your guests will be able to travel to "Africa" for the safari.

If you don't have time to make your own invitations, take a look at popular sites for personalized invitations like Snapfish and Vistaprint or check-out pre-printed jungle or safari invitations on-line or at your local party store.

Ask your guests to dress safari-style in T-shirts with khaki shorts or jeans. Dress them with pith helmets trimmed with animal print bands (12 for $19.99) and/or animal print bandannas (12 for $9.99) when they arrive.

Decorations: Give your a house a "safari" feel with these suggestions:

• Use greens, browns, tans and yellows to decorate your party room and table. Accent liberally with the animal prints of your choice.
• Bring out your stuffed animals for added decorations, if you have lions, tigers, snakes, elephants or other safari-type animals.
• Place potted plants around the party area - especially tall palms and ferns, if you have them or can get them. Consider borrowing plants from family, friends or neighbors.
• Tie helium balloons in different shades of green around the party area, as well as to the back of the chair where the birthday boy or girl will sit.
• Twist or drape green streamers from the walls and ceiling to resemble vines.
• Play animal sounds for background music or show an animal-based movie (such as episodes of Animal Planet) on mute TV to extend the safari theme.

Games: Here are some safari-themed games for you to choose from:

• Pin the Tail on the Alligator - complete kit is available from Oriental Trading Company for $4.99.
• Elephant Race - This is one race your guests will not forget. Divide the kids into two teams. You will need a broomstick or other long stick for each team. Mark a starting line and turnaround point for the race. Both teams will line up behind the starting line. The first two members of each team stand back to back, straddling the broomstick. On your signal, players race to the designated spot and back. The player facing forward on the way down must be facing backward on the way back. The first team to have each of its pairs complete the race is the winner.
• Flamingo Pose - The goal of this game is to be the last "Flamingo" standing. Instruct your guests to stand on one leg "Flamingo-style" and try not to fall over. The player who keeps his or her balance the longest wins. As players are eliminated, they can distract remaining contestants by doing anything they want except touching the remaining players in any way. For example, they can attempt to make the remaining contestants laugh and lose their balance.
• Party Animals - The object of this game is to match the name of the animal to the group it belongs in. Copy the two columns below onto a large sheet of poster board. Hang it in the party area. Divide guests into two teams. Team One will have to match the first animal - Lion to its group name. If Team One gets it correct, Team One will earn one point. If they don't make a match, Team Two gets a chance. If they get it correct, they will earn one point and then Team One will get a turn to match the second animal - Elephant. If Team Two doesn't make a match, then play goes back to Team One. Continue play, alternating teams until all animals are matched. Team with most points wins. Column One: Lion, Elephant, Crocodile, Gorilla, Parrot, Viper, Ostrich, Rhino, Baboon, Crow. Column Two: Company, Flock, Band, Pride, Crash, Herd, Congregation, Murder, Nest, Troop. Correct Answers: Company (Parrot), Flock (Ostrich), Band (Gorilla), Pride (Lion), Crash (Rhino), Herd (Elephant), Congregation (Crocodile), Murder (Crow), Nest (Viper), Troop (Baboon).

Craft: On safari who would not want to find a pride of lions. This will be easier to do with this craft - Paper Plate Lion Masks.

For this craft you will need paper plates, scissors, paints, brushes, 1/8 inch wide ribbon - about one yard for each mask, white, orange, brown or black yarn, glue and a hole puncher. To keep things from getting too messy - lay out newspaper or a plastic drop cloth on the work table so that nothing gets paint on it. You may want children to dress in smocks or a large men's shirt, so they don't get any paint on their clothes.

Step One: Before the party, lay out one paper plate for each guest in front of you. In each one, punch one hole on the middle of the right side and one hole on the middle edge of the left side. These holes are going to be for the ribbon to tie around the head when the mask is complete.

Step Two: Again, before the party, cut one inch slits all the way around each of the paper plates, being careful not to cut into the two punched holes. This is to create the look of a lion's mane.

Step Three: Again, before the party, cut two holes where the child's eyes will be behind the paper plate mask. If you want to get fancy, cut out a mouth and nose too. Your child can model the paper plate for you to determine, where you need to cut these holes.

Step Four: At the party, the kids can paint the lion masks. Typically, you would use orange, brown, and yellow paint for a lion, but you can use whatever color your birthday child would like. When the kids are done painting, set the mask aside to dry.

Step Five: Cut 6 pieces of yarn about 3 inches long and glue 3 on each side of the lion's cheeks. These are the lion's whiskers.

Step Six: Tie one 18-inch piece of ribbon to each punch hole on the side of the mask. Tie them snug in a bow, tight enough so the mask stays on the head.

When all the masks are dry, snap a group (or rather "pride") photo of your guests wearing their masks. Send copies to all attendees with their thank you notes.

Activities: Coloring Pages and Connect-the-Dots are great activities for your guests while you are putting the finishing touches on the party foods. Here are two free options from HP Creative Studios: Animal coloring pages and Madagascar 2 connect-the-dots. Print your choice off, add some crayons or markers and you are good to go with these activities.

Food: Serving party treats that complement your theme is fun for both the host and the guests. Serve up some wild safari fare that will have everyone roaring with delight! Here are some suggestions:

• Serve Critter Crunch in flat-bottomed ice cream cones.
• Use jungle animal-shaped cookie cutters to cut fun shapes from your Safari Party Sandwiches.
• Serve Bug Juice Smoothies in animal-print party cups and give each guest a jungle-themed silly straw.
• Make a Fro-yo Banana for each guest.
• Set out bowls on the party table and fill each with tropical foods like mango, papaya, pineapple and cashews.

Treats: Make a jungle cake using your favorite recipe or mix. After baking the cake, frost the top with green icing. Add a few watering holes with blue frosting and mud puddles with chocolate frosting. Add artificial trees and jungle animals to complete the effect.

Do you prefer cupcakes? Then make Jungle Animal Cupcakes. Betty Crocker offers a how-to-video and complete directions with full list of ingredients. With this support, it will be easy to create a jungle of your child's favorite animals.

Favors: Send your guests home feeling like kings and queens of the savannah with fun safari party favors such as pith helmets (12 for $19.99), animal print bandannas (12 for $9.99), lion masks (craft project), mini binoculars (12 for $12.99), compasses (12 for $5.99), jungle animal bendables (48 for $17.99), or monkey bean bags (12 for $14.99). All of these items and many more safari-themed favors are available from the Oriental Trading Company and other on-line vendors, such as Birthday in a Box.