A Zoo Party for Kids

Mother's Day gifts I did this party for my daughter's 2nd birthday. I only invited family and close friends. There were seven adults and eight children. If I were to do it for just older children I would make sure to have one adult for every 3 kids. This would also be a great idea for pre-teens and teenagers, especially for a boy-girl party. It's a safe environment with supervision and lots of families. It allows them to be couples or friends and act goofy or "show-off" in public but still have to be respectful. More below.

Preparation: At the time I was not a zoo member so to help cut down on costs. I became one. Not only did my family get a year's pass to the zoo, we also received five free passes for our guests. So our final cost wasn't bad. Don't forget to check zoo hours, prices, directions and activities that are going on.

I did not check to see what activities were going on. It happened to be Mother's day. So mothers received free admission, which made my costs to get in much lower than I thought but, it was very crowded.

I live in a very hot state and the birthday was in the summer so I did an early party we all met in the zoo parking lot at 8:00 am.

Food: I decided to do a potluck breakfast. I asked everyone to bring a dish or drink. Our menu was:
French toast
Fruit Smoothies
Fresh Fruit Kabobs
Egg Burritos
Egg and chorizo burritos
Blueberry Muffins

Don't Forget: Condiments (ex. syrup, salsa)

elephant I supplied all of the cups, utensils, serving spoons, napkins, and plates. For a themed idea I brought hefty zoo pals face plates, utensils and cups. I chose to do breakfast right away. First: No one had eaten and everyone was hungry. Second everyone was responsible for keeping their dish hot or cold and was responsible for carrying/toting their dishes. So after loading up our wagons and strollers with coolers, food and presents we claimed are picnic tables, ate and then opened presents.

Then a few of us took a trip back to the cars to unload our leftovers and presents. We then walked the zoo. At our zoo we have a water sprinkler area so we did that last just in case I couldn't get any kids out of the water. It was a refreshing activity after all that walking. Don't forget bathing suits towels and change of clothes, if your zoo has one.

Cute Ideas

Payton is 2 I took a white shirt and with heart, letters and cupcake iron-on's I created a birthday shirt for my daughter. On the front was a big cupcake with the words Happy Birthday and on the back I made the number 2 designed out of hearts, with her last name on top.

I then made her a visor hat out of a foam visor, foam letters and fuzzy zoo animal stickers. I used super glue to add extra adhesive for the foam letters and stickers. Her visor read "I'm turning two at the zoo."

cozies For "goodie bags" I bought cozies cup holders and prepackaged foam zoo animal kits. I super glued the zoo animal kits following the picture and using a sharpie to fill in the lines and details of the animal. I then, super glued the animals to the cozies cup. The kids loved them and carried their water bottles in them.

You can find all of these materials at your local art supply store.

Tips: Bring your wagons and strollers to not only hold your children but coolers or anything else. My sister in law's son is five and although he refuses to be in a stroller she brings it to hold drinks, purses, coolers, etc… Don't forget diaper bags, sunscreen, water bottles, ice packs, hot packs, ice, snacks, etc. Remember to bring any extras or anything you think you may need, you're not at home.

Your child will have a memorable party to remember, it won't cost a fortune, and you'll even have fun.