BEST Safari Adventure Party | Ultimate Kid Birthday Ideas
Hey there! I’m Zoe, and I’m thrilled that you’ve stumbled upon my page. I’m here to assist you in organizing an incredible explorer safari party that your little adventurers will absolutely adore.
I’ve got you covered with everything you need: games, activities, music, decorations, and mouthwatering treats.
Drawing from my expertise in party planning and my passion for creativity, I’m here to simplify things for you and ensure that your child has an absolute blast, creating unforgettable memories.
To make your life easier, I’ve even included some free printables in this blog post. Planning a party shouldn’t be an additional stressor in your already busy life!
As well as the Safari theme we have similar Jungle Explorer Party and Explorer Adventure Theme Party ideas for you to check our after!
Top 5 Tips for A Safari Birthday Party
Before we dive in, let me share my top tips for the ultimate safari explorer party:
- Atmospheric music
- Create an adventure
- Keep decorations simple
- Use physical games to keep kids engaged
- No need to spend a fortune
In this guide, I’ll walk you through some awesome, creative ideas for games, adventure stories, decorations and food.
Game Ideas for a Safari Party
1. Zebra Zebra Lion
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 zebra, zebra, zebra…..then, they choose one child (child B) to say lion! 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.
2. Safari Drive
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
- Lion Time – paw hands up and down in front of face while making a lion ‘roarr’ sound
- Giraffe Time – crane neck and make munching noises mimicking giraffes eating from trees
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. Safari statues
Sometimes when we are on safari we need to be super still and silent so we don’t scare off the animals! This game is like musical statues- children dance to music and when the music stops they have to freeze. It’s a good one to burn energy- you can either reward the most frozen statues or call out the funniest frozen positions.
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.
Best Activity Ideas for a Safari Party
1. Safari Adventure Story
We have written a story called ‘A Safari Adventure’! It is about a group of adventurers who are on a safari and end up saving a group of elephants from some poachers!
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! get them to pack their bags, and ride along in the imaginary safari car. Get them to point out what they can spot! Act out being shocked and trying to find their location on a map. You can get them all to run around the room and collect leaves for the shelter. When the conservationists arrive, get the children to cheer!
2. Safari Craft Activity
DIY binoculars!
These DIY, self-decorated binoculars will be such a fun prop for the rest of the party! Kitchen or toilet rolls can be cut in half or thirds to increase supplies for more children.
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.
Music & Soundtrack Ideas for a Safari Party
We have a few suggestions for this. The jungle book movie has a great soundtrack and many animal-themed songs. 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!
We also have a great African Safari Playlist suggestion for world music, that kids will love to listen and dance to.
Here is a link to the Dora the Explorer Spotify album too with cute music that will get Dora the Explorer fans in the adventurous mood.
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.
We also have a post about an Epic Dinosaur Party, that might be fun to explore too.
Ultimate Safari Party Decorations
Safari-themed balloons will instantly transform the feel of a space. 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 animal-themed wall hangings around the room. 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!
Safari 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 animal 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 suggest this African Sarafi playlist for tunes as the children arrive!
Safari 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!
Green and yellow Jungle platters
This is a really fun way to make a food table loop spectacular! For a safari party, we suggest a yellow/green theme. For example, a platter with a mix of cucumber and celery sticks in hummus or guacamole, Fruits: kiwi and green grapes and slices of pear, cheese and crackers, mango and pineapple.
Safari 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, a safari example could be a yellow, lemon-themed jello filled with these frog gummies or these snake gummies, or any other animal jellies!
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!
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 Safari party ideas! Capture the adventurous atmosphere with loads of photos and videos for lasting memories. Let’s make your child’s safari party dream come true!
Best of luck,
Zoe x
Have you also checked out our Unicorn Party or our Mermaid Party Ideas?
