Zoo Birthday Party

Decorate your house with lots of little animals to make this one wild party that your kids will go bananas for.

Choose from seven different paper-balloon animals to suspend above the food table, then mix in solid colored lanterns for added color. $2.50 each; pearlriver.com

Set up a trail-mix buffet so party animals can make and take a treat to go. Stamp paint-stirrer signs to label buckets of feed-inspired ingredients, like oats pellets and dried fruit, then add a stamped tag to brown paper bags.

Paint plastic figurines with acrylic paint and use them to decorate your cake and favor table. Bonus: They double as toys for kids to play with at the party.

Cookies, gummies, and cereal bits morph into animals on this masterpiece of a dessert.

Hand out cute animal masks to each party guest. $6.25 for 12; orientaltrading.com

Give paper cups a personality of their own! Use our downloadable templates to add paper animal features to drink ware.

Originally published in the May 2012 issue of Parents magazine.