Jungle Themed Baby Shower

Depending on your creativity, time constraints and budget, you have several options when it comes to invitations. The easiest, but most expensive choice is to buy fully personalized baby shower invitations from an online printer that includes all of the custom shower details. These types of invites normally range in cost from $1.50 to $3 each.

The second option requires slightly more work on your part, but is more affordable. You can by zoo animal themed invitations like those shown in the photo that are pre-printed with lines where you must hand write in all of the shower details. For smaller showers, these are a great choice. If you are having tons of people, it will be much more work to hand write each one. In that case, you may want to create invites on your computer and print them out.

Finally, you can make your own invitations for a fully customized look. One of the easiest ways to create your own invites is to buy white card stock and a rubber stamp that ties in with the theme like a leaf or a lion and some paint. Just stamp the front of the card and then write the details inside along with some animal stickers. A couple fun jungle themed card verses are:

It'll be wild and wacky as you swing into fun, so put on animal prints or Khakis to celebrate [mommy-to-be]'s new little one!

Come on over and monkey around with us. Get ready for some roaring fun at [mommy-to-be's name]'s shower. Animal print or safari attire encouraged!

Join us for [mommy-to-be's name]'s WILD baby shower!

Instructions to make the following leaf-shaped party invitations can be found at Family Fun.

For fully customized invitations, Tiny Prints has a wide selection for just about any theme or color scheme.

For the tabletops, consider buying jungle themed partyware in the color scheme and theme of your choice. The primary colored jungle animals party pack is available through Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets. They also offer party packs in pink and chocolate brown for a Queen of the Jungle theme, blue and chocolate brown for a King of the Jungle theme, and more pastel colors for a baby animal mobile shower theme.

Buy a CD for jungle themed sounds to play in the background throughout the party.

Make your guests feel like they've opened a door to the jungle when they walk in by adding streamers hanging from the ceiling and doors that are covered with green leaves that you've cut out of construction paper. You can create vines by purchasing a big roll of brown craft paper and cutting a really long piece, then just twist the ends until it is all twisted up to create a vine. Alternatively, you can use rope for the vines if you have some handy. Above the entrance or on the outside of the door, add a sign that reads 'Take Care....It's A Jungle in There!!'

If you have any artificial ficus or palm trees, bring them all to the main shower area for a little jungle foliage. If you have trees in the yard that could use a bit of a trim, cut some branches with leaves and hang them around the room from the chandeliers, door frames, etc.

An essential component to a jungle theme are jungle animals so use all the stuffed animals that you can (e.g. stuffed monkeys hanging from the vines). You can also buy cut-out cardboard animals at dollar and craft stores. Alternatively, you can find jungle animal clip art online that you can print out and then laminate to put on the walls (you can download e-cuts animals from Scrapbook.com like those shown in the following photo). Mylar animal-shaped balloons are also a great way to bring in the theme. I've also seen many animal print latex balloons sold in big packs at party shops. You can also use mosquito netting to create a cool jungle look.

Create 'Jungle Juice' for the beverage by pouring 7 up in a large punch bowl and then adding several scoops of frozen lime sherbet. As the sherbet melts, you get some funky looking jungle juice that tastes great.

You can use animal shaped cookie cutters to create finger sandwiches, jello jigglers, cheese slices and even cookies that are shaped like animals. Create your favorite sandwich like chicken salad for instance on white bread, then use various cookie cutter animal shapes to cut them out. You'll end up with a tray of safari sandwiches for your party.

I found one really cool suggestion on Birthday Party Ideas. One woman made a veggie tray was on a round platter. She made it the shape of a lions face using carrots for the mane, sliced round yellow squash for the face and black olives for the eyes. She placed the olives in a small hole that she had cut in two pieces of the yellow squash so that they would stand up. It sounded like a great idea....too bad there wasn't a photo.

If monkeys are central to your jungle themed party, why not make frozen banana pops for your guest. Take bananas and cut them in half. Insert a popsicle stick in the bottom of each half. Dip the bananas in chocolate syrup or ice cream topping, roll them in crushed walnuts and then place bananas on wax paper in the freezer for 4 - 6 hours. Right before the party remove them from the freezer and either prop them up in a styrofoam lined container by sticking the sticks into the styrofoam or lay them out on a platter.

Bowls full of animal crackers or monkey mix are a must for snacking at a jungle themed baby shower! To make monkey mix, you combine mini chocolate chips, cashews, banana chips, and shredded coconut for a wildly good treat!

Be sure to serve all your jungle food on trays lined with banana leaves or banana leaf-shaped plastic trays.

Photo Credit: Flickr Lizespo

Here are some wildly fun shower games perfect for a jungle, zoo, safari or animal themed party:

Jungle Animal Charades - Break the group of shower guests into groups of 4 or 5 people per group. Take turns with each group acting out their clue while the other teams guess. Be sure to put some more difficult animals in the mix like a hyena, wild boar and baboon along with the usual suspects like a monkey, giraffe, elephant, and lion.

Pin The Tail on the Lion - This game is a twist on the traditional pin the tail on the donkey game. Prior to the party, buy some poster-board and construction paper to create a simple lion. Cut out enough tails from construction paper so that you have one tail per guest. When you are ready to play the game, ask guests to write their name on their tail and then give them a piece of double-stick tape to put on the tail as well. Blindfold each guest and have them take turns pinning their tail on the lion. The guest that is closest to the actual tail location wins a prize.

Jungle Animals Word Search - Make your own version of this game on the computer or print out a free one by clicking here. Have guests find animals lion, leopard, baboon, etc. in a certain amount of time. The guest who finds the most answers wins.

Name The Jungle Animal Babies - This game can be purchased or made on your computer by listing the animals down the left side of the page with blanks next to each one. Guests must write in what the baby animal is called. For example, a baby kangaroo is a joey. A baby monkey is an infant. And so on...

You can find tons of printable baby shower games by clicking on the link below.

Photo Credit: Zoo Crew Baby Shower Theme

The above photo shows just some of the options available for baby shower favors....zoo themed candy bar wrappers, travel candles, and body butter (lotion). If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you can simply buy personalized pre-punched favor hang tags that incorporate the theme along with the shower details such as the mom's name and shower date.

Many local craft stores such as Michaels sell animal shaped candles, soaps and other small gifts that can be placed inside cellophane bags that are tied with a ribbon and small hang tag like the one shown in the above photograph.

One of the least expensive favor ideas is to buy a small box of animal crackers for each of your guests. They can enjoy them either at or after the party.

Lions and tigers and bears - oh my! If you've been invited to or are hosting a jungle-themed or safari baby shower, then consider giving a gift that ties in perfectly with the theme. Any of the baby gift baskets shown above would look fantastic on the gift table. You don't even need to wrap them since they usually come wrapped in cellophane or tulle and are topped with a big bow. The gifts shown above includes all kinds of jungle themed items such as hooded towels, bath mitts, clothing, washcloths, bibs and burp cloths, and even pacifier clips. They are oh so cute and oh so clever for a safari or jungle-themed party!

Another great baby shower gift idea that can do double-duty as the shower centerpiece is a jungle or safari themed diaper cake. These inedible cakes are constructed from disposable diapers and items such as blankets, bibs, and other baby essentials that feature a jungle theme.

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