Jungle Classroom Party Tips

Jungle Theme Decorations | Learn About Giraffes | Giraffe Posters

The following article - thanks to: Everything Elementary

Decorating | Activities | Reading | Games | Snacks

Room Parties
Children look forward to classroom parties with great anticipation. Many of the ideas that follow are simple to execute, and are guaranteed to please!

Jungle Party Decorating Ideas

 
<< Jungle Theme Decorations

Create a wild jungle for your students with the simple decorating ideas below. They are guaranteed to please! We carry lots of great props, centerpieces, and tableware to help you pull together a lush jungle for your party!

• Make a large banner to hang at the entrance to welcome your students to the party. To make it look like a sign for a resort in a jungle, find two very long branches to create the "frame" to your banner. Create your sign out of our white or buff Seamless Paper and use a very large brown marker to make the lettering so that it appears rustic. When you are done with the words, take the paper and scrunch it all up and then open the paper back up again. It should look very wrinkly and "old", almost like leather. Punch holes in the sign in several spots and tie the sign to the long branches with twine or leather strips
• Palm Trees can help create your exotic jungle atmosphere in a snap!
• You won't want to forget to hang vines everywhere, from the ceiling, from the palm trees, and from anything else you can find! An inexpensive way to do this is with our Die-cut Vines or our green Gossamer.
• Use our Zebra Print Gossamer to create curtains and backdrops. Use it for tablecloths as well!
• Depending on your budget, our Cut-Out Wild Animals and Jungle Monkeys would be adorable placed around the party site. Our cut-outs are actual pictures of animals and are free-standing!
• Animal Print Balloons add a lot of color and are a terrific space filler with little expense!
  

Activities and Crafts

When planning a classroom party for younger children (under 10), or if you are working with a limited amount of time, we recommend you divide your activities into "stations". Recruit enough parents/helpers to work at each station, and divide the children into small groups-four to five in each group works best. Have the party guests spend no more than 10-15 minutes at a station, then ring a bell and have everyone rotate. Below are some ideas:

 
Craft Kits

• Craft Kits - Suggestions: Jungle Animal Foam Craft Kit and
  Safari Mask Craft Kit
• Safari Snapshots - Have a variety of hats, toy cameras, knapsacks, maps, and other safari essentials on hand. Allow the students to dress up (if they aren't already) and pose for the camera! Use a Polaroid camera for instant picture favors. Jungle Animal Cut-outs and Palm Trees make the perfect backdrop for your portraits!
• Jungle Wear - Let the students make their own safari and animal shirts! Purchase inexpensive white T-shirts for the students. (Ask each parent to contribute $2.00 for the supplies). Provide each child with a piece of waxed paper, paper towel, and a small amount of acrylic fabric paint. (Make sure the paint is "jungle colors" - green, orange, black, white, brown.) Dip various sizes and shapes if sponges into the paint, and then lightly sponge onto the paper towel a couple of times to remove excess paint. Decorate the shirts to resemble lions, tigers, zebras, etc.
• Jungle Bugs - Make adorable bugs out of green pom poms (3/4" - 1 ½" size), orange pipe cleaners (bend to create antennae), wiggle eyes, and fun foam for wings. Fill a small baggie for each child with the assorted supplies, provide the glue, and let them be creative! For a fun touch, add a piece of magnetic tape to the back of each bug . . . a great fridge magnet!
• Lion Pinata - Pinatas are fun for all parties!
  
  Lion Pinata

Reading Suggestions

• Jungle Book - by Rudyard Kipling
• The Jungle Baseball Game - Tom Paxton
• Jungle Babies - by Osa Johnson

Party Games

Children look forward to classroom parties with great anticipation! Many of the game ideas that follow are simple to execute, and are guaranteed to please. Check out our Jungle Store for favors and prizes!

• Scavenger Hunt - Send the kids on a fun hunt through the "jungle"! This works best at an outdoor party, but can work indoors as well. Divide the children into teams three to four children each. Give each team a list (all the lists are the same), and tell the teams where they can go to find the objects. For an indoor class party, put items such as pencils, chalk, etc. (tailor the list to the age group!). For outdoor, some suggestions are pinecones, bugs, feathers, etc. Create whatever boundaries are necessary. Try to give each team a separate territory. Give the children a time limit (15-30 minutes depending on the space and age), and be sure one member of each team has a watch or will be in charge of asking the time. You can assign an adult to each team if needed. The team that finds the most items on the list in the allotted time wins!
• Safari Slurp - Place animal crackers/cookies in a pile beside a small bowl. Have straws available for each player, along with a stopwatch, or a watch with a second hand. Using the straw as a vacuum, each contestant tries to pick up the animals and drop them into the bowl. The student with the fastest time wins.
• Hat Mania - This is the same idea as musical chairs. Place all Safari Hats in the middle of the floor. Play some music, turn off the music and everyone dashes to put a hat on their head. Have one less hat than kids so someone will not get a hat. Take out one hat each round until you have a winner.
• Ticklish Tiger - Using a stuffed tiger, play this jungle variation on the classic Hot Potato game. Have players sit in a circle, and pass the tiger until the music stops. The player left holding the tiger when the music stops is out. Keep passing it until only one player is left.
• Monkey, Monkey, Tiger - The students sit in a circle and play this variation of "Duck, Duck, Goose." Great fun!

Jungle Snack Ideas

Bring the jungle to your snack table with the ideas below. These snacks are easy to make and your kids will love them!

• Animal Crackers - Of course!
• Wild Pops - To make 16 pops, you'll need 1-12 oz. bag of chocolate chips, 16 ready made Crispy Treats (or make your own if you have the time-cut into 2 ½" X 4" pieces), 16 pretzel rods, and some green, black, and orange colored sprinkles. Cutting little holes with a knife, stick the pretzel rods into the narrow end of the Crispy Treats. Melt the entire bag of candy chips for one minute in the microwave, and stir. Dip the end of the "pop" into the melted chocolate, then sprinkle with festive sprinkles. Set pops on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper, and refrigerate until the chocolate sets. If you will be using these as take home favors, or sending them to school, cover the crispy treat portion with plastic wrap and tie with satin or curling ribbon. These look especially adorable with Rice Crispy Treats cut into animal shapes with a cookie cutter. If you choose this shape, dip either the top of the animal, or one side of the animal into the chocolate. Sugar cookies on Popsicle sticks can also be decorated and wrapped in the same manner. Always a big hit!
• Bugs on a Log - These "bugs" add fun and a little silliness to your party. Cut celery into six-inch lengths and spread evenly with peanut butter. Put raisins (bugs) along the length of the celery in an uneven pattern. For a little activity, leave the raisins off and let the children add "bugs" to their very own logs at snack time! This idea can also be done using pretzel logs and chocolate chips.
• Safari Shapes - Make sandwiches using favorite ingredients, and cut out animals using full-sized metal cookie cutters. For a healthier classroom party cut lots of different foods into animal shapes! Try watermelon, white block cheese, or a block of cream cheese for a dip, (cover with raspberry jam or salsa and serve with crackers) as they cut well and look terrific!
• Jungle Jello Treats - Young children always enjoy Jello Jigglers! Cutting orange and green Jello into animals is an easy way make a tasty treat. Add piped Cool Whip to the outside edge for an extra special treat.
• Zebra Pudding Cake - For this fun and easy dessert you will need the following:
  
  • 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
  • 16 graham crackers
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

  In separate bowls, prepare each pudding mix, using only one cup of milk per box. Let stand for about 5 minutes until slightly firm, then fold 1/2 of the whipped topping into each one. Place a layer of graham crackers in the bottom of an 8x8 inch pan. Spread half of the chocolate pudding over them, then layer more graham crackers over the top. Spread half of the vanilla pudding over the crackers, then cover with more crackers. Repeat, alternating the chocolate and vanilla.

  Chill at least 6 hours or overnight. This will cause the graham crackers to fluff up and taste like cake. Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave oven, then drizzle over the top. Cut into squares and serve!

Have a FUN Jungle Theme Room Party!
We hope these ideas help you to have a great Room Party!

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