From movies like Tarzan and Madagascar, there is always a personal draw to "jungle mania.
" Most kids dream of having a pet snake, bear, tiger, elephant, giraffe...
or something wild like that.
They imagine taming an undomesticated species since birth, and training it to be nice, but the ultimate protector.
If they aren't wishing for a pet like that, they are dreaming about what it would be like to be deep in the jungles of Africa or South America, machete in hand, blazing new territory, discovering some amazing archeological find, and experiencing the ultimate adventure.
Even jungle wear such as the hat, the shorts, the bandanna, and the colors have their own appeal.
So, now that you are psyched about throwing a jungle party, and helping your child realize one of his dreamed about moments, what next? First, get a lot of brown and green paper, or streamers, or brown paper grocery bags.
* Invitations: Using your plain green or brown card stock and make your own invitations, complete with a plastic mosquito or fly to fall out of the envelope when they open it.
Cut the card in the shape of large leaves, or vines, or snakes, or anything else that would complement this theme.
If you are in a time crunch, or insecure about your artistic abilities, purchase ready-made jungle invitations from your local party store.
* Decorations: Twist brown butcher paper, or paper bags into long vines.
Loosely wrap some twine around it every so often to give the look that it has some clinging foliage on the vines.
Streamers are a great way to give the vine look too.
Use green paper to cut large leaves out and string them along the vines.
Large, jungle animal scene setters are a good option too.
How about some spider webs throughout the house with larger than life bugs caught in the web.
Aren't bugs in the jungle super-sized anyway? Some recorded monkey noises, or bird calls would be a great addition.
If you don't mind the mess, a few sticks, rocks, crunched up paper, etc, can enhance the "watch where you step in the jungle" mood.
* Games: Blaze a new trail looking for animals and bugs, plastic machete in hand, hats on heads.
Dark bugs in dark places to make it harder to find.
Strategically placed toy snakes hiding underneath a couch, or ready to strike from the floor or underneath the napkins.
If you are looking for it to be a learning environment too, then have them identify the specific animals and bugs with a manual on hand.
Make an animal cake, invite the kids to swing over, and celebrate.