EPIC Jungle Explorer Birthday Party Ideas
Hello there! I’m Zoe, and I’m really happy that you’ve found my page. I’m here to help you plan an amazing and unforgettable jungle party for your little adventurers. Get ready for some fantastic ideas that will spice up your jungle day!
So, let’s jump into this exciting jungle adventure! I’ve got everything you need, including games, activities, music, decorations, and delicious treats.
With my experience in party planning and my love for creativity, I’m here to make things simpler for you and ensure your child has a super fun day full of special memories.
I’ve included free printables in this blog post to make things easier for you. Planning a party shouldn’t add more stress to your busy life!
Top 5 Tips for the Ultimate Jungle Party
Before we dive in, let me share my top tips for the ultimate jungle party:
- Let the music work its magic
- Embark on an adventure: Use our free adventure story to take kids on an exciting journey!
- Bold and simple decorations: Keep the decorations eye-catching yet easy to set up
- Get active with games: Keep the kiddos entertained with fun and physical games that cater to different concentration levels. It’s all about having a blast together!
- Jungle on a budget: We can create a magical jungle land for a very affordable price!
In this guide, I’ll walk you through suggested music playlists, a DIY adventure story, and budget-friendly decoration ideas. Plus, I’ll suggest a range of active games that will keep the kids engaged and ensure everyone has a fantastic time.
And here’s the best part: you don’t need to spend a fortune to create an atmosphere of imagination and adventure for your little ones’ special day!
Game Ideas for a Jungle Party
1. Jungle statues
This game is like musical statues- children dance to music and when the music stops they have to freeze! Encourage them to do the craziest dancing they can manage- this is also a good strategy to get them burning as much energy as possible. You can either reward the most frozen statues or call out the funniest frozen positions.
2. Jungle bustle
In this game, the facilitator shouts out the actions below and children must follow the instructions for each action. The last ones to follow the actions are out and the game continues!
- Into the forest – Run to one side of the room
- Into the River – Run to the other side of the room
- Hippo Time – Splash into the floor as if jumping into a river
- Through the long grass – Make swishy back-and-forth movements with arms, mimicking long grass
- Gorilla land – Beat chest like a gorilla
This is a fun, high concentration and physical game- you can always take out one of two of these actions to simplify it for younger children, or reward the fastest child to avoid having to send people ‘out’.
Pro tip: If you don’t want to upset children by sending them ‘out’ you can send them over to jump into the massive imaginary pile of jello! Squelch!!! Children will enjoy making a big squelching sound and dramatic jump- it makes everyone else laugh too.
3. Hippo Hippo Tiger
This game is similar to duck duck goose but with a theme. It’s a great one to play as children arrive (or as children might get tired of lunchtime at different rates) as new players can easily join and it’s fun and familiar to them. Children sit in a circle facing inwards. Child A walks around the outside of the circle and gently taps the group one by one on the head as they pass saying hippo, hippo, hippo,….then, they choose one child (child B) to say tiger. child B jumps up and chases Child A around the circle. Child A has to run around the whole group and sit back in Child B’s space. If they manage, Child B becomes Child A in the next round. Otherwise, Child A has to play again until they succeed.
4. Lions footsteps
Adventurers line up along one side of the room and at the other one child is designated lion. (The game is like Grandmother’s Footsteps). This lion faces the wall- not looking at the adventurers.
While the lion is turned away, the adventurers tiptoe forwards and as soon as the lion turns around they have to freeze. If the lion catches anyone moving, they can be sent out or back to the start line. The child who manages to tap the shoulder of the lion wins.
We also have a similar Explorer Adventure Theme Party post you might love!
Best Activity Ideas for a Jungle Party
1. Jungle Adventure Story
We have written a jungle adventure story called The Adventurers Who Saved The Butterflies! It is about an adventure into the jungle to find a rare flower that will bring back the butterflies- and all of the adventures they get up to on the way, which includes encounters with some friendly gorillas, lions, and frogs!
The story is attached as a free PDF download below.
You can read this aloud and even encourage the children to act it out at the party. This is a really fun activity- children will use their imaginations and feel like they’ve entered into an adventure-land! This is a nice recoup activity to refocus the children after any active game or after snack time.
Pro Tip: get the kids to act this out! Act out swinging from the tree branches like a race across the room! Act out a roaring competition- see how loud the children can roar. And act out a jumping competition! how high or how far can the children jump?!
2. Jungle Craft Activity
Make your own lion mask!
This is an awesome craft activity for kids! Setting up a craft activity can be a really great thing at the start of a party so that kids can get immediately stuck into a fun task as soon as they arrive. It is a great way to welcome kids who might be a bit shy at first.
This mask can even be simplified by using crayons rather than paint, not cutting the outside rim of the plate, and drawing on the nose, mouth and whiskers also with a crayon!
Music & Soundtrack Ideas for a Jungle Party
Luckily, the Jungle Book has got to be one of the best Disney soundtracks of all time, so this is an easy one for out. Check out the traditional Jungle Book playlist on Spotify or we also recommend this jungle book reimagined playlist for some jazzy, fun covers of the great original songs!
If you don’t have paid Spotify you can also look for playlists on youtube or just pay for a trial subscription of Spotify on their birthday party day.
If your kids are really into animals and adventures more generally- you might also like to browse the unique ideas on our Safari Adventure Party or Explorer Adventure Party.
CLICK HERE for this free jungle party invitation template or click the image above. You will be taken to a pdf with a link to the template. Canva is free to use and it will be very simple to edit the name and date and location etc, and then downloads as an image to a pdf to print or email to the guests.
Ultimate Jungle Party Decorations
Jungle-themed balloons instantly transform the feel of a space- they are so fun and festive for little effort. Create big bunches of these multicoloured, animal print balloons to tie around the room and hang all over a central party table! Check out this Amazon link for a suggestion of the vision we have in mind!
Large Jungle wall hangings around a central table (for instance where the speakers are or where you do the storytelling) can be really fun! One great option for this is disposable-themed tablecloths! It’s a cheap way to add colour and atmosphere, this tablecloth set on Amazon offers 6 different animal prints for a very affordable price!
Food tables are also a great part of the decoration- if this is in the same room as the games, having it set up with a tablecloth and themed cups and plates adds to the atmosphere and it is also very functional. For example: This amazing jungle set is just one very cute option! it also comes with a tablecloth and banner!
It is inexpensive to get bespoke banners printed and this would make the decoration really special and personalized! You can even use it as a backdrop for taking photos of the guests with the birthday child as a special memento.
Music! It sounds weird but music really creates an atmosphere and adds to the feeling of the space. Movie scores can be great to have on in the background. We recommend The Jungle Book Soundtrack for this party! one fo the best Disney playlists out there!
Jungle Theme Food & Snack Ideas
The best tip for food ideas is to keep it simple and keep it to snacks that children will love. To get the most out of the food experience, here are our ideas for adding some sparkle and creativity to the snack table!
1. Jungle juice jugs
Make jugs of your child’s favourite juice but put on fun labels like ‘gorilla strength potion’, or ‘lions roar potion’!
2. Green and yellow Jungle platters
This is a really fun way to make a food table loop spectacular!
- Green/yellow – cucumber and celery sticks in hummus (which you can make green by blending with some spinach) or guacamole, Fruits: kiwi and green grapes and slices of pear, cheese and crackers, mango and pineapple.
3. Jungle Jello
A really fun thing to do for a party is making a huge bowl of jello and fill it with animal themes sweets! for example, you could use these frog gummies or these snake gummies, or find similar sweets locally!
You can also get little plastic figures online and put one of two inside the jelly – just be sure not to accidentally serve up on the day!
4. Popcorn lucky dip
Popcorn is a really fun party food that children love and can be easily customised to fit a theme. You can make a popcorn lucky dip (a total hit with all my nieces and nephews at parties) where you mix popcorn with party-themed sweets like jelly animals (for example these frog gummies or these snake gummies)!
Good Luck!
Get ready for an awesome time with these budget-friendly Jungle party ideas! Capture the adventurous atmosphere with loads of photos and videos for lasting memories. Let’s make your child’s party jungle dream come true!
You might also like our Fairy theme birthday party or awesome mermaid party.
