Party Animals & Animal Parties!
Here we go…
We try to do birthday parties every other year so Mama doesn’t go crazy (or broke!) and this year Ardyn was adamant about having an ANIMAL party…at the house…with live animals. I’m pretty sure we narrowly escaped having a Zombies 2 party by like a week. Whew! Good timing on that release, Disney!
Anyways, I started with a quick pinterest search for “animal party” which, of course, led me to 98363416387430 ideas. But the two that stuck were a beautiful animal cake, which I later realized was my own friend Samatha’s! (@hellotinylove) and the idea of an “(stuffed) animal adoption station”. I took those two ideas and promptly left pinterest before getting too overwhelmed!
I booked a small petting zoo and animal face painter through the same company (which was convenient) and then started thinking about some simple activities for the 25 little 5-6 year old girls that would be attending!! I just started thinking about my girls and how they play, what their favorite activities are: crafting, playing pretend, grooming their dolls/stuffed animals, etc. So I came up with four super simple “activity stations” that would be cheap and allow me to use some things we already had around the house. Here were our animal stations:
1. Adopt an animal/Fill out adoption certificate (supplies: some mini stuffed animals, a small fence I crafted from Hobby Lobby supplies, a few mini bales of hay from Hobby Lobby for effect, and some printable adoption certificates)
2. Decorate your animals “house” (supplies: large cupcake holder boxes with window, crinkle cut paper and some foam stickers)
3. Make your animal a collar (supplies: pipe cleaner & beads. I went “extra” and found tiny gold license tags and small gold bells at Hobby Lobby) 
4. Give your pet a check-up at the vet (supplies: all of our pretend doctor stuff from the play room! I bought a few funny nurse hats for the girls to put on, too)
The girls LOVED these activity tables and hardly played with the real animals! (note to future self). The girls played non-stop, got their faces painted and had some lunch and cake. It was the perfect little party- and best of all- Ardyn asked to do it all again, exactly the same, for her next birthday! She also asked to keep a real bunny from the petting zoo, but that’s not happening. Better luck next year, Cub! 😉
Food: Lots of you asked about what food we served & said you get hung up on the food aspect of hosting. I do too-every dang time! Here’s what we did: Aside from cake we had chick-fil-a nuggets for the kids, “fruit cones”, a bowl of peeled clementines, and a bunch of “grab & take” snacks like applesauce pouches, animal crackers, pirates booty, etc. We served some tacos & chips from a local taco shop for the adults!
Links & more pictures below!
LINKS:
Cake: Society Bakery (inspo: @hellotinylove)
Balloons: Float Balloon Bar
Party Animals Vinyl (I bought 23×21″ & attached to a giant poster board & set on an easel)
Plastic Animals: Target or Amazon (we had a bunch already, but here are a few sets I found: 1 | 2 | 3| 4)
Stuffed Animals: Amazon (here are a few I bought: horse | cat | tiger | owl | flamingo | pig) These were pricey but we used them as the main party activity AND favors. Plus, I supplemented with some cheapies I found at Target.
Animal “Houses” |crinkle paper | foam sticker shapes & letters
Simple “Thank You for Coming” stickers for the houses
Plates| Napkins | forks | confetti
Customizable Printables | Don’t Feed the Animals| Adoption Certificate
Plastic Paper Displays for Signs
Doctor Kit | Doctor Kit that comes with some “paperwork pads” |mini clipboards | golf pencils | nurse hats | This grooming station would’ve also been adorable!
Ice Cream Cone Holder (saw this idea to fill ice cream cones with fruit on my friend @Sa_anderson ‘s page and loved it so much! They were a HIT!)
Disco Balls: giant | medium |tiny
Stands for Animals: acrylic| colored plastic
I love you like no other. My mind has been scrambling on what to do for my little girl. This is the absolute best and I will never live up to your perfection but I will “borrow” every single idea. You really need to sell your awesomeness. Thank you for sharing!!!!