How to Plan a Monkey Party

If you are looking for a fun and cheerful theme for a kid's birthday party, why not go bananas and make it a monkey party? After all, kids love monkeys… and so do many adults!

• Invitations: Send monkey-themed digital invitations to your guests 2-3 weeks before the party, like the one below available on Punchbowl. You may want to ask another parent to help out at your child's birthday party if there will be a lot of kids there. Keep that in mind when you send your invitations.    

• Decorations: Start with a color scheme. Yellow, brown, and white are all perfect colors to use for decorating a monkey birthday party. If the party is for a girl, you can also add the color pink to the color scheme or if the party is for a boy, add the color blue. Hang up green balloons and streamers around the main room where the party will be held to make it look like a jungle. You can also hang monkey stuffed animals and cardboard cutouts from the ceiling to add to the jungle effect. Tie brown and green raffia table skirts around your tables. And, of course accent your homemade decorations with monkey party supplies, like plates, cups and napkins.

• Food: There are many fun types of food you can serve at a monkey birthday party. Monkeys are known for their love of bannanas so try to incorporate bananas into the menu. Items like banana smoothies, banana split sundaes, and monkey bread are fun to make and festive for a party.

• Cake: A monkey cake is essential for a birthday party. There are a few options for cakes for a monkey party. First, you can make a cake in the shape of a monkey. This is ambitious and requires multiple cakes to be cut and reshaped in the shape of a monkey. Another option is a round cake (single or double layer) that has a monkey face on it. You can use frosting or toppings such as brown M&Ms to create the face. A third option is to make a sheet cake. You can top the sheet cake with an image of a monkey, a jungle scene or something else you think your child would like. As an alternative to monkey cake, you can make monkey cupcakes.

• Game: A fun game to play during the party is “Monkey see, Monkey do,” a game similar to Simon Says. Using a large monkey stuffed animal, have children follow what the monkey says. For example, say to the children “Monkey says touch your nose” and the children who follow and touch their finger to their nose get a prize.

• Party favors: There are many types of banana-flavored candy like lollipops and jelly beans that you can give out to your guests as party favors. Monkey pens, notepads, stickers or socks also make great favors!