For my daughter's 9th birthday, she asked for a Jungle Party.  We held the party at the park in our town, where we had lots of room to run around, trees to aid in our theme, and park restrooms within easy access, as well as a water spigot. Her invitation was created on our computer and on the front it read: It's a jungle out there! Come join us for a swinging good time! Inside listed all the pertinent information, and advised the kids to bring a towel and sunscreen along with their swimsuits. My dad set up a small tent at the location, and we made a large sign that said 'SUPPLY HUT. It boasted all sorts of supplies for sale such as hiking boots back packs snake bite kits mosquito netting and we had fun with a Boat Rental price list and other goodies. Kids had to check in here when they first arrived and they were outfitted with safari hats binoculars and compasses from Oriental Trading Company. I began by creating a map on the computer much like you get when you visit a local zoo with directions to exhibits where the bathrooms and snack bars are etc. We made up different 'exhibits'. The "Tiger Trap" was located under a large shade tree and was a place to play hopscotch. In the tree above we placed several stuffed tigers and the hopscotch was made from inexpensive bamboo mats found at the $1 store.  The "Lions Den" was a tent we covered with camo netting. Inside were several stuffed lions and a place to make your own lion mask. The 'Zebra Stampede" was where we hung our Zebra Pinata.  We had a "Hippo Pond" which was a small wading pool full of floating baby hippos. This was for our 'little' guests.  I created a "Mighty Amazon River" with a slip and slide and we buried a stick in the sand pile and placed a glove over the stick along with a hat next to the glove and labeled this our "Quicksand Pit".  We had an area set aside for music and this area was labeled "Crocodile Rock!" At each different area of the party we had posted signs made on our computer "Danger! Tiger Trap Ahead!" "Hippos in Hiding!" "Beware! Lion's Den!" "Watch out for Stampeding Zebras" and in one large tree we hung monkeys gorillas and orangutans of every shape and size and labeled this our "Monkey Hangout" followed by signs to "beward of falling banana peels". We strung up a large camo net borrowed from our local ARMY Armory and from this net we hung streamers with tissue paper flowers butterflies made from coffee filters and food coloring paper parrots and other colorful birds to give the impression of a rain forest canopy. This is where our tables and chairs were located for guests to eat on. The tables were covered with zebra striped tablecloths and everyone ate from "Zoo Pals" plates and inexpensive green cups.  I made a CD of all kinds of Jungle music including Lion King soundtrack Jungle Book soundtrack Jungle Boogie and then some rain forest birds and sounds from a relaxation CD. Our menu was so much fun! I created a "menu" on my computer and placed it at each table.  Our snacks included "tree bark" which was Chex Mix "Tiger Tails" which were Cheetos and "Caviar" which was golden fish crackers. The main menu consisted of "Grilled Boa" which were hotdogs "Ananconda Delight" which was grilled chicken breast and "Water Buffalo Burgers" which were regular hamburgers. I boasted of our tropical drink menu that included "Fresh water-buffalo milkshakes" "Bug Juice" which was Red Hawaiian Punch and "Jungle Juice" which was green Hawaiian punch.  We had an elephant race where the kids divide into two groups. The leader of each line puts their arm out in front like a trunk and their other arm between their legs and the person behind grabs their hand until everyone looks like elephants on parade. We had a timed race while playing the "elephants on parade" song from the Jungle Book. We had a scavenger hunt and items were hidden all over the park with the kids divided into 3 teams. This was our Safari. I also set up a Coconut Bowling center with bottled water for pins and a coconut for the bowling ball. This was a huge hit at our luau. The cake was a sheet cake with green icing and a blue river from one end to the other. We placed rocks and trees purchased from a 'dinosaur pack' at the $1 and then placed different jungle animals around.  I extended the cake to the cardboard tray it was on and made a 'sand pit' with brown sugar for the crocodile the surrounding area with coconut tinted green for 'grass' and hid other jungle animals thruout the grass. I also had small goldfish crackers in the river for our 'pirahna!' Some of the ideas I got from this site some I got from browsing cake decorating sites and some came from my 9 yr old daughter's brainstorming. I have NO clue how we will top this party! Everyone had a great time. I did plan this party 3 months in advance buying things a bit at a time to budget myself.  None of the kids or parents had ever been to a Jungle Party and everyone had a fantastic time. It was a lot of work but so worth it."