Outdoorsy people go on all sorts of adventures, but when it comes to exciting and enjoyable interaction with nature, nothing beats going to the wild. It’s always fun to see and be with animals in their natural habitat.

If you love the outdoors and you love animals, then you probably enjoy going to different locations for the fun experience. If that’s true, then why don’t you bring the wild to your home? Plan a safari party. It might seem childish, but it’s a great alternative to the typical parties you usually throw. Whether you’re celebrating a birthday, reunion or even if its just a simple dinner get-together.

You might be enthusiastic and eager to start planning your safari party, but for it to be successful, you have to make sure you’ve got all the details right. If you’re feeling lost in the party jungle, here are some fun party ideas you can use for this roaring theme.

To The Jungle You Will Go

Before you can plan a trip to a party jungle, you must first let your guests know about the event. Send party invitations at least two or three weeks before the party. This will give everyone ample time to clear their schedules, prepare costumes and RSVP to the event.

If you’re already running out of time, your best option is to just grab ready-made invitations from party supplies stores. There are numerous kinds available with different patterns and designs on them. You can get funny ones with cartoon characters on them or just plain ones with animal prints, like zebra, leopard or giraffe prints. Get those which you think will suit your event best.

It’s also great if you can make your party invitations a bit special. If you’ve got enough time on your hands, opt for homemade invitations. All it takes is some patience, creativity and some art materials.

One invitation idea is to draw pictures of animals and paste them on cardstock paper. You can write the invitation details using colorful gel pen. If you’re not good at drawing, you can simply cut out from magazines or books.

Another funny idea is to make a “Tarzan” or “Jane” invitation. Get a photo of yours and have it photocopied. Then, paste it on Tarzan or Jane cartoon cutouts. Put it on cardstock paper. Draw a speech balloon next to the head, and write something like “Welcome to my Jungle!”

You can also use animal-printed fabric for your invitation. Cut them in square shapes and write the details on them using a black marker. Roll them up, seal with a green ribbon and send to the guests.

Be imaginative when writing your invitation wordings to entice the guests to go to your party. You can write something like “Let’s all gather at the waterhole!” or “Are you ready to have a roaring wild time?”. Wordings like these make your party more interesting. You can expect a full house during your special day.

A Jungle-ish Atmosphere

You can’t hold the party in an actual jungle, but you can make your place look like one. Here are some fun and easy ideas to transform a plain venue into something, green, wild and exciting.

• 

  Backyard garden for party
  If you have a garden with many plants and shrubbery in it, you can have the party there. The plants can be natural décor you can use.
• Think of jungle colors for your motif. You can use different shades of green, yellow and a bit of brown.
• If you want to save cash, streamers, balloons and confetti are inexpensive supplies you can get. Get these in the color motif you’ve chosen.
• Plastic or real ivy and vines can be used instead of streamers. Hang them all over the walls and twist them around chair legs, tables and even around the staircase banister.
• You can substitute confetti with real leaves or cut grass. Sprinkle them all over the floor and the table.
• Use silk or real green house plants, and put them around the place. Rubber type trees and big leafy plants are great. If you don’t have enough, you can borrow some from your friends or neighbors.
• Dim the lights. Jungles are usually a little dark, because of the trees blocking the sunlight.

Dim lights

Tiger skin printed tablecloths

Rubber snake for design

• Get jungle-printed tablecloths or those in the motif you’ve chosen. Zebra or tiger print tablecloths are also great.
• Make large exotic-looking colorful butterflies from construction paper and position them on trees, plants or on the walls.
• Get “creepy” creatures for your jungle for a scary effect. Hang rubber snakes on the plants or put them on the floor. Plastic tarantulas can be placed on table surfaces.
• Buy some Raffia from a craft supply store. It’s usually sold in long strands. You can put a bunch at the center of a table, like a native jungle grass table runner.
• Borrow your kid’s stuffed zoo animal toys or plastic figurines and put them around the place.
• Record jungle sounds, like birds chirping, lions growling, grass rustling and hissing snakes. Play these throughout the party.

The Safari Getup

Outdoors people don’t step in the wild wearing their usual clothes, so it’s great if you can impose a safari dress code during your party. Ask everyone to come as jungle or wilderness animals. Hunting outfits and exotic Amazon warrior costumes are also great choices. You can also ask them to come dressed as their favorite character from a movie or book with a jungle safari theme, like Tarzan, Jane or Mowgli.

If you’re going to have a dress code during your party, make sure everyone knows beforehand, so they’ll have time to prepare their costumes. Include this important information in your invitations. To entice everyone to come in their best jungle getup, mention that you’re going to name a person “Best In Costume” and that he or she gets a special prize.

While it’s fun to dress up during a safari theme celebration, burdening your guests to dig up costumes might not be a good idea. Instead of letting them go through the trouble, you can simply hand out the costumes yourself. When they arrive, give them pith helmets or safari hats and plastic binoculars to wear around their necks. You can also give out animal headbands with horns and ears of different jungle creatures. You can also offer face paint, for an “animal look”.

Having A Wild And Fun Time

While adults find games a bit immature, no one can resist the fun they bring when you start playing some. Here are some enjoyable games and activities to bring out everyone’s wild side!

Wanna see sample of relay games! Check out this video.

• The Survival Game – Everyone loves watching the Survivor reality TV show, and these are usually set in the wild or the jungle. Make your own version. Plan different kinds of immunity or reward challenges. These can be simple relays, jungle trivia quizzes and races. In the end, one person emerges as the “Sole Survivor”.
• A Roaring Contest – Have a contest and see who can create the most believable animal sound imitation.
• The Great Peanut Hunt – Before the party, hide shelled or unshelled peanuts around the area. Some can be placed in obvious locations, while some can be completely hidden. When it’s time for the game, give each guest a brown paper bag, with the words “Peanut Hunter” on it. Once you give the go signal, they have to start looking for peanuts all over the place. The person who gets the most peanuts wins.
• 

  Pin the tail on the donkey game
  Pin The Tail On The Donkey – A classic kiddie game adults will love. You can change this to Pin The Tail On The Lion, Pin The Stripe on the Zebra, or Pin The Tail on The Lion.
• Animal Charades – Write down names of different animals in pieces of paper. Roll them up and place inside a hat or bowl. Each guest gets a turn picking a name from the bowl and acting out the animal written on it, while the other guests guess what animal it is. They can make animal sounds, but no talking allowed.
• 

  George of the jungle movie
  Jungle Movie Fest – Watch a movie with a jungle theme. If your guests are looking for something serious, you can watch Out of Africa. If they want something hilarious, then George of The Jungle is a good choice.

Jungle Grub

Trekking through a jungle party is exciting, but tiring. Let your guests rest under the shade for a while and serve them delicious safari food. Here are some delightful jungle treats you can prepare.

• Monkey Sandwiches – Make peanut butter and banana sandwiches and drizzle chocolate or strawberry syrup over them.
• Trail Mix – Mix nuts, raisins, chips and M&M’s in a large bowl.
• Fruit Salad – Use different kind of fruits for this, like apples, bananas, cherries, grapes, pineapple, mango, kiwi and strawberry.
• Green And Beany Veggie Salad – Mix some greens and beans and drizzle olive oil, for a healthy treat. You can also mix some macaroni in it.
• Barbecued Meat For Carnivores – Serve grilled chicken, beef or pork for meat lovers.

Sweet fruit salad

Yummy kebabs

Jungle juices for drinks

• Fruit Kebabs – Skewer three different kinds of fruit (like pear, apple and lychee) and serve as yummy appetizers.
• Jungle Burgers – Serve turkey, beef or veggie burgers in pita bread.
• Creepy Crawly Treat – A mix of gummy snakes and worms.
• Jungle River Sludge – Black or brown Jell-O Jigglers broken in pieces.
• Nile River Water -Stir green food coloring to Sprite, 7Up and lemon-lime soda
• Jungle Juice – Mix Kiwi Lime Italian syrup with soda water and serve with a scoop of lime sherbet or cherry.

To make it more exciting, serve your food on banana leaves and coconut husks. Put them on a buffet table and label it as “Food Stop” or “Oasis”. You can also serve some of the food in brown paper bags and water containers. The guests will feel as if they’re real safari hunters.

Safari Giveaways

Time will come when you and your guests have to leave the jungle and go back to the real world. Of course, don’t let them leave without giveaways to remember the fun day they had. Send them home with party favors like aloe vera shampoo or fruit-scented lotion. Colorful plastic water canteens and animal-printed bags are also great giveaways. Small items like sunglasses, bandannas or jungle beads are also perfect and inexpensive.

Being in the jungle is exhilarating, but if you can’t be there, just plan a safari party. It’s just as exciting and you get to have fun with your friends and acquaintances. If you want to have this theme, make sure to try these ideas for a real wild jungle feel.