Jungle Pool Party Ideas for Kids

Take a Lion's Leap into the deep with a jungle birthday party theme. Why wait for someone's birthday? A jungle party theme is a great idea for your next pool party.

With brightly colored parrots, lions, tigers and giraffes, there are lots of creative ways to use these animals for your invitations, games, and party favors.

Go on Safari searching for wild animals that are hiding among the landscaping or as a dive game in the swimming pool.

Decorate your cake or cupcake with safari animals and use the cake as your centerpiece.

Find crocodile floats for your pool games or use them as decorations.

Jungle Pool Party Invitations

Jungle party invitations can be purchased on-line or they can be easily made with some card stock and stickers.

Fun wording ideas for your invitations are:

Fun wording ideas for your invitations are:

"Looking for a roaring good time?"

"Want to Hang with the Monkeys?"

"Join us for a safari surprise."

Jungle Pool Party Decorations

Use inflatables, like this 3' size monkey to greet your guests as they arrive to the pool.  

Then take him into the pool for some pool fun. 

Looking for ideas for jungle party decorations? Inflatable zebras, giraffe beach balls, and monkeys swinging from the vine will get your guests ready for a safari.

We made these bright yellow and orange lions and giraffes out of paper plates. The kids painted them yellow and glued on the faces that were actually from a craft kit.

Paint the dowels yellow and add orange and yellow streamers.

I always decorate the pool area with inflatables that can also serve as fun props for pool games.

This colorful parrot sits atop a bright colored tablecloth with some slithery snakes hiding in the green grass. The parrot mask was purchased at our local dollar store.

Using chalk draw lion prints on the sidewalk to the pool or even start in the driveway. You can also cut out paw prints from sheets of colored foam and place them on the sidewalk as a lead into the first game, a Lion Hunt.

I found a template for these lion foot prints on line and printed out several copies. Cut them out, color the paws in if you have time ( I colored one set and left the rest uncolored and they looked great.)

Then tape them on the sidewalk entrance to your pool or front door. The kids loved following the paw prints into the pool entrance and when they left the pool party they stepped on each paw print - trying not to touch the cement.

Kids can make anything into a game!

Inflatable Pool Party Decorations

This inflatable giraffe is 3 feet tall and stands on it's own.  Let him greet your guests at the pool entrance or by the party table.  Use him for a great photo op as well.  Lightweight he can be moved anywhere.

He has a "real" animal look so use him to decorate for any age group.

He will probably end up in the pool - but who cares.  He's made of durable vinyl.  Who knew that giraffes like to swim too :)

Jet Creations Inflatable Giraffe, 36" Tall Pool Party Decoration

We purchased a set of twelve jungle animal beach balls and had them blown up and floating in the pool when the guests arrived.  They were used for jungle party decorations, games and as take home party favors.

This very real crocodile was found floating in the pool when the guests arrived at the Jungle Pool Party. Scary!

Use the masks for a pool party game as well. Have an adult wear the mask and chase the guests as a jungle pool party game. Any one who gets tagged is "frozen."

Jungle Pool Party Supplies

Jungle party supplies are more than just paper plates and matching napkins. In fact I like to spend my party money on the things kids think are fun - from the decorations to games to take home party favors.

Jungle party supplies can be purchased at your local dollar store or on line - my favorite, cheap place is Oriental Trading. It saves a lot of time running around town.

In fact this safari animal foam craft kit from Oriental Trading was used for all the party bags. Quick and easy, the bags were placed around the umbrella pole of the patio table with lots of green Easter grass underneath.

Start with dark green or lime green plates and cups using a jungle themed tablecloth. The jungle cake or party bags can be used as your centerpiece.

Use wild animal figurines or finger puppets to top your cake for a jungle birthday cake. Party favor ideas that appeal to boys and girls are temporary tattoos, plastic snakes, animal erasers or pens and animal print snap bracelets.

Kids from ages 2-7 wore these colorful foam jungle animal visors at our jungle pool party. We used them to decorate the tables, for pool party games and then as take home party favors. Very durable and sturdy it doesn't matter if the foam visors get wet.

The kids loved wearing them and were so excited to take them home

Lot of 12 Foam Zoo Animal Visors and Party Favors

Jungle Pool Party Ideas for Kids: Games

Looking for some ideas for jungle pool party games for your party? Guests can become their favorite animal with safari animal foam visors or play with lions and giraffes in the pool with themed beach balls.

Jungle pool party games need to be age appropriate. We played the parrot race with kids age 3 - 6 years old. A parrot mask was wrapped around a noodle - one for each player. The two players raced across the pool to the other side.

Paint paper plates bright yellow and with some help from a craft kit from Oriental Trading, make lion, giraffe, or zebra faces.

Staple the two yellow plates together. Paint the dowel yellow and add some orange and yellow streamers.

Our granddaughters always like to start the pool party with a parade to music. We choose "I Can't Wait to be King," from the Lion King Disney movie.

Each guest is provided with their own jungle animal and parades around the pool to your favorite jungle song. Encourage the kids to act like monkeys or prowl like a lion.

Send kids off on a "safari" scavenger hunt looking for "clues" of wild animals. Or in the case of a pool party a Safari Dive. Buy hard plastic wild animals and drop them into the pool. Have the guests dive for them. See how many they can find in one breath. Or as each player is taking their turn, instruct them that they need to just find the lion or the zebra.

Why not play Monkey in the Middle? Using a beach ball and 3 players. One player is in the middle. The other two players try to toss the beach to each other without "the monkey" getting it. When "the monkey" catches the ball, the player who tossed it goes in the middle.

Hippo Race

Divide the guests into two teams.

Provide one hippo split ring for one team and another animal, like a monkey split ring for the other team. You can find them cheaper in the stores - like Target or your local grocery store than you can on line.

Give each team their names - like The Hippo Team or the Lion Team.

Each guest takes a turn swimming across the pool and back and gives the float to the next team member.

The team that finishes first wins.

Depending of course on the age of the swimmers, buy two jungle themed swim rings like this hippo.  Use them for games or for party props. I've seen these split swim rings come as hippos, monkeys, and giraffes.

Divide the kids into two teams.

One at a time a team member swims the width of the pool and back wearing the hippo ring and gives it to the next team member.

The team that finishes first wins.

Parrot Race

You probably already own at least two noodles. If not you can get them at the dollar store.

Wrap one of the animal foam visors on each noodle - for instance the parrot team and the monkey team.

Divide the swimmers into two teams - the Parrots and the Monkeys.

Riding on the foam noodle, each team member swims the width of the pool and back.

Give "the parrot" to the next team member. 

The team that finishes first wins.

Monkey Chase

Have each of the kids line up at the shallow end of the pool. Let them know that they are monkeys trying to safely cross the jungle river to make it past the lion.

Assign an adult to be The Lion and have him/her wear this lion visor.

When The Lion touches or tags a monkey he/she becomes frozen. Another monkey can come and rescue them by tagging them and unfreezing them.

The game ends when each monkey makes it to the other side.

Feed the Lion

I purchased this lion clothes hamper at Target for $6.

We used it for pool party games and later to hold smaller pool toys.

The hungry lion is held by an adult in the pool while the kids take turns feeding it by seeing how many mini inflatable fish they can toss into the lion's mouth.

Lion's Leap Into the Pool

Line the kids up at the diving board or the side of the pool. Instruct them to make the biggest leap they can into the pool while roaring like a lion.

After each guest makes a lion's leap into the pool, instruct them to find their own wild animal beach ball with their name written on it.

Let the kids just have some free time tossing the balls in the pool. Use these inexpensive beach balls as take home gifts for the guests. We purchased these Jungle Animal Beach Balls as a set of twelve. Use them as take home party favors as well.

Snake Hunt

Hide these inexpensive wiggly snakes in and around the plants and bushes in your yard or around your pool.

Make sure you have enough snakes for each guest.

Let each party guest keep his snake as a take home gift.

Get a set of 12 of them at Amazon here:

24 Pack - 15 Inch - Long Plastic Toy Snakes

Tiger by the Tail

With two tiger pool floats and two teams, simply have the team members race across the pool and back.  The first team that finishes wins. 

Jungle Birthday Cake

See how cute this monkey birthday cake is?  You can also use it as your jungle party centerpiece too!

Start planning and use these jungle pool party ideas to host your swingin' from the tree tops kids pool party.

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