Birthday Party Ideas with an Animal Theme

Animal themes have been a huge hit at birthday parties for years. For these themes, you can rely on many different ideas, but ultimately you should look through the following list and let your child decide which idea they would look like the best. All of these animal theme ideas can be mixed together as well, or transformed into something completely different that caters to your child's birthday party.

Hire an entertainer to come visit with a real collection of animals. All over the country are animal experts looking to show off reptiles, mammals and even pony rides. All of these can be held at your own home or the birthday party can be held at a public zoo.

Turn every child into an animal of their choice with face painting. Painting animal faces is a simple process that requires easy drawings like whiskers, spots or rings around the guide. Check out the website, Face Painting Ideas, for some inspiration (see Resources).

Have the birthday child choose their favorite animal and create a cake based off of that animal. The cake can be a simple cake with a drawing on it, or more advanced creation can be made. For example, a lion cake could feature cookies for the eyes, shoestring licorice for the tail and triangle shaped candies all around the edges for the mane.

Several animal themes can be associated with a pop culture focus. For example the party can have a theme and decorations based off of "Jurassic Park," "Finding Nemo," "Ratatouille," or a classic Disney movie like "Bambi" and "The Lion King." Create your own decorations using these themes or purchase official movie merchandise from party supply stores.

End the party with animal goodie bags. These bags are easy to fill because so many snacks and treats are based on animals. For example, you can fill the goodie bag with animal crackers, Swedish fish, gold fish, gummy bears and a small stuffed animal for party guests to take home.

Throw a Build-A-Bear party so that guests can take home an animal of their choice. You have to schedule these parties ahead of time, but most of the time they will close the store off for the party or allow a special section for party guests.