Need Craft/Snack Ideas for Animal Themed Birthday Party

K.,
Here's a great recipe from the 'Let's Eat!' kids cookbook from The Pampered Chef--it's called Crazy Caterpillars, but could be made into Silly Snakes!

Ingredients (per child)
1 bagel
1 hotdog
2 tbsp. ketchup
1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp. mustard
2 pimento-stuffed green olives
4 thin pretzel sticks

1. Set the oven to 425 degrees. Slit the bagel in half. Using the serrated edge of the All-Purpose Spreader, cut each half into 2 equal pieces. You should have 4 half moon shapes. Cut the hot dog into 12 'coins'.

2. To make each caterpillar, place 2 bagel halves opposite each other on the Small Bar Pan so that they look like an 'S'. Make another caterpillar with the other bagel halves.

3. Spread 1 tbsp. of ketchup over each bagel shape. Sprinkle with cheese. Place 6 hot dog 'coins' on top of each bagel.

4. Bake the caterpillars for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Carefully remove the pan from the oven using Oven Mitts. Top the hot doges with the mustard. Cut each olive in half. Decorate the caterpillars with olive halves for eyes and pretzel sticks for antennas. Enjoy!

You could set up a station in the kitchen with the ingredients and have the kids decorate them themselves. I do a Cooking with Kids Show and we have a contest to see who can make the most interesting 'caterpillar' and we have mushrooms, mini pepperoni, sliced black olives, etc.

I've also done a 'sweet' one that's done very similarly, only instead of ketchup, we use cream cheese and a variety of fruits--sliced strawberries, grapes for eyes, roll-ups cut out with our Creative Cutters set and gummy bears cut up into small bits.

Hope this helps!
Live your dreams!
L. Kachinovas
Adv. Sales Director for PC
www.pamperedchef.biz/lorrikachinovas

Hi there! I love to throw parties and a website that i found to be great is: http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html. You can find loads of lists of themes and then read the many entries. The other website to check is the family magazine website. They have a decorated cupcake feature in each month's magazine and i'm sure there's been animal ones. They also do feature articles on parties with LOADS of themes.
Also remember, the simple, basic games that we played as kids (pin the tail on the donkey - that could be changed to any other animal, etc.) the kids love!!! They've never seen stuff like that before - its not on video, tv, etc.
Have fun!

You could make paper plate animal face masks. Have the kids paint the plates with either their fingers or brushes (have adult size t-shirts for them to cover-up with and keep their clothes clean), and construction paper, pre-cut (by you if they are little, by them if they have scissor skills) ears, stripes, noses. You could either pre-cut holes in the paper plate for their eyes, or big wiggly eyes could be glued on.

If they make masks, then when the kids are finished, sing a round of Old McDonald (or some other song featuring lists of animals), using the animals who "came" to you party. For the masks, have the kids wear the mask stand up and act out the animal part and/or make the appropriate sound. If you do the puppets (with wiggly eyes), hot glue popsicle or craft sticks to the paper plate, and have the kids hold up their puppet when the time is right.

Another activity could be to go to the library and find pictures of animals (or you could draw your own). Copy them (in color if you can) and make a bingo sheet. Use the animal crackers for bingo chips. You could get complicated and have the kids search their bowl of crackers for the animal you've called out and use only matching crackers for the "match."

I'm just brainstorming... but you could also create a game of pin the (something) on the (something)... like pin the Cow bell on the Cow, or Pin the Tail/Ears on the Rabbit, or ...

Dear K.,

I love the website www.kaboose.com it is awesome. i don't know if that is the exact website but it will get you there.
B.

I saw a really cute craft online a while back using fleece to make a lion's mane and other animal dress up items. You could do a search for "no sew fleece" crafts and see what comes up. They seemed really simple -- just cutting and tying (and the items for the younger kids could even be precut).

How about an animal hunt in the backyard? You could hide little plastic animals (snakes, dinos, etc.) and give the kids flashlights to find them. Maybe a craft would be to decorate a little canvas bag with animal prints to use for the hunt.

Jello cups might be a fun snack -- you could use clear plastic cups and 'hide' small snakes or gummy worms in it as it sets. I've seen gummy frogs at candy shops, too.

Good luck!
Aimee

I just checked out from our library a childrens book, Alligator Cookies by James Young and at the end of the story is a recipe:

Corn syrup- put a tablespoon in a bowl as round as the moon. Add a spoon of peanut butter Creamy or crunchy it does not matter. And to give the proper hue- green food coloring- a drop or two. Now you need at least a cup or more of cornflakes, all crunched up. Pour them in and stir them in, stir w/ vigor, stir with vim. Mix them easy, mix them rough 'til you thime they're mixed enough. Add powered sugar if you wish. Form into bars and leave on a dish for an hour in the refrigerator, then gobble them up like an alligator.

Sounds fun. Good luck.

Hi K.,
Gummie snakes & bears. Kids love them.

You could make a Rice Krispie Treat snake and use fruit roll ups for scales. If you make small snakes the kids could decorate their own.

go to oriental trading companies website - lots of stuff there - costs very low - believe they have a safari theme for a party

Hello - I saw a really cute cupcake recipe in Ladies Home Journal for an alligator cupcake - called "Old Swampy".
It's basically a bunch of green (piped frosting w/ chocolate cookie bits to create alligator texture) cupcakes put together to form an alligator. You could bake them ahead and let each kid frost one, decorate with the cookies and then put them together. I looked for the recipe on-line, but couldn't find it. If you want the recipe let me know and I'll scan it and email it to you.
Here's what you'll need
24 cupcakes
2 cans vanilla frosting - green, yellow and red food coloring
36 square choc. cookies (like Newman's own choc. alphabet cookies)
6 marshmallows (for the eyes and teeth)
2 junior mints (for the eyeballs)
2 dark green jelly bellys (for the nostrils)
12 banana shaped hard candies (for the claws)

Good luck!

I had a birthday party for one of my kids and made PB and J sammies and let the kids cut them out with cookie cutters. Obviously if the peanut butter is not an option then other ingredients could work. The kids loved it and it is very easy to find cookie cutters for any occasion.

Have fun
J.

What about an stuffed animal stuff and fluff workshop. I come to you and take over the kids for about an hour or so and the kids make their very own stuffed animal. They can decorate and take it home in it's Noah's Ark Pet Carrier. It's a great goody bag idea also! Let me know if I can help you out. N. at ###-###-####

What about making animal shaped sugar cookies and letting the kids ice them? That would be a craft and a snack. Plus it's something your son could help you with.

I saw the cutest craft this weekend and am planning on working on it with my daughter... granted it will not look nearly as cute but it will make wonderful memories of making it with a 22 month old! lol

Take garden edging... like the concrete ones with the bumps on it and paint it and design it into a caterpillar. Make a mouth and eyes and antennaes (spelling) made from 2 large beads on a wire it looked like. I love the way it looks and I am sure the kids will love to have something to bring home and display in Mom and Dad's garden!

If you are interested in seeing a pic of it let me know... you would have to really see it to understand what I am talking about but it is really awesome!

Good luck and many blessings!

www.familyfun.com has alot of birthday ideas.

Maybe check out Michael's or Oriental Trading Company. They have all kinds of craft ideas at really cheap prices.

"Duck, Duck, Goose" is a game for kids of all ages. So is "Doggie, Doggie where's your bone?" Paper plate animal faces is a quick and easy craft. For the younger children you can pre-cut eyes, ears and nose and let them glue them in place and for the older children they can cut out them out themselves. Monkey bread is always a kid favorite, but be prepared for the monkey behaviors once the sugar rush kicks in. You can get the recipe on line. Hot dog octopus is fun for kids to eat. You make two/three slits in the hot dog, lengthwise, starting a little more than half way all the way to the bottom. Boil the hot dog and watch the legs curl up. Dip in ketchup and/or mustard. These are just a few of the ideas that I have if you need more you can email me. I'll be happy to help.

How about sugar cookies the kids can desgin themselves for a project? I'm sure there are cut-out somewhere of animal shapes. You can just put out cans of frosting and toppings on a table and let them go to town. Any kid old enough to hold a spoon should be able to participate.

You may want to check out orientaltrading.com. They always have creat stuff, and it is pretty inexpensive.

An idea might be to find animal shaped cookie cutters. You could make cut out cookies ahead of time and have the kids decorate them. Make individual bowls of frosting and have lots of sprinkles etc. It helps to do on a plastic tablecloth that you can just roll up for a quick clean up.

Hi K.,
Great starter activity cut from magazines or print from the net pics of reptiles. As each child comes in tape a pic to their back. Now they ask the others questions to try and guess who am I. The answers can onlybe yes or no, Do I have 4 legs? Once they guess correctly they take the pic off their back and are a winner. Make rope snakes, very simple, tie 3 pieces of rope or thick string to the back of a chair for each child have them braid it (doesn't matter if they braid correctly or not. When done untie and rubber band at the tip, put a rubber band tight a few inches from the top to form the head, let them glue ees and a red pointy tongue if using plain rope they can also paint. Cake-snake same concept as the bagels mentioned earlier, but use a tube cake pan, when done cut in half and put together opposites to for the snake. big marshmellow eyes broken choc dipped pretzels (they are calle poky's over here) stuck in like spikes, colorful gum drops pretty much any decor candy, sprinkles you want. I have also done a game where you place colored squares of aper on the floor making a path shaped like a snake, 1 path for each team. Write out questions about the animals or reptiles on slips of paper. They start at the head (draw some eyes and a tongue) the object is to get their team away from the snakes head so he doesn't bite them. As they answer a question correctly the 1st person moves up a square and all others behind follow. The team can help with the answer, but if incorrect they move back and the other team has a chance to answer. My daughters and friends loved this. Just look online for reptile quizes if youneed ideas for questions.

I was going to suggest family fun magazine too. They always have animal and bug themed food in it. This month they had really cute Cherry Worms...

I just had a monkey party for my daughter who invited both boys and girls. We created "Monkey Chow" but this could also be "Reptile Munchies". I had different items to create a kid friendly trail mix, and we put the mix into ziplock bags which I labeled. Then we put the mix (and other items) into treat bags, which were plain brown sacks that we decorated with an animal theme, (monkeys, repitles, vines, rainforest leaves) then folded over and added a string of red twine. Everyone commented on it (parents and children). Good LUCK!

Do you have a digital camera and Printer? Or an old polaroid? If so, go to Michaels and get the foam stickers, they have them in animals, bugs, fairies, just about anything. You can then get Picture frames, they have them in wood or the same Foam as the stickers. They can be gotten in packs of 10 (I think). Let them Decorate their own frame, and then take pics of the kids at the party. Before they leave, place the Pic in each childs frame. Now they have something they can take home with them, the parents love it and so do the kids.

I think the price for a lage bucket of stickers is about 8.00 to 10.00 (there are 100's of stickers in this bucket) and the frames range from a 1.00 apiece to 5.00..depending on size and style.

Have fun, and good luck

Hi K.,

If you are having a reptile type party, you could have the children make walking sticks. You do this by finding fallen branches in your yard, you will need to take the bark off the branches. Once the children arrive at the party, you can have them paint their sticks and attach feathers to the end.

K.,
Have you considered reptile shaped cookies that the kids could decorate? We did cookie decorating for my son's birthday (3rd year with kids of different ages) and it was a big hit. You would have to look for relatively big size (approx. 6x6 inches) cookie cutters in the shapes you want. Then make or buy some icing and different kinds of sprinkles, etc. Then the kids can take their cookies home an you have instant party favors! If you do this, remember to get appropriate size bags.

Good luck,
J.

Micheals craft store has tons of stuff...Good Luck and have fun I know theme parties are the hardest and the most expensive parties to throw lol..

K. - can you use gummy worms as snakes? or flatten a gumdrop (kids will love getting to use rolling pins) add some small candy bits for feet and head and then you have a turtle? I'm sure there is a way to turn socks into snakes. Familyfun.com will probably have great ideas for all ages too. Good luck!
LacyLyn