Curious George Birthday Party Ideas

Invite kids to your Curious George birthday party and allow them to monkey around and have fun! Here are some ideas to help you plan your special occasion.

Resources:

Invitations

Print your Curious George party invitations on white magnet paper. Put Curious George theme stickers on the invitations. Kids will love the fact that the invitations can be stuck on the fridge after the party to remind them of the good time!

Decorations

Use red, green, yellow, blue and brown colors for your Curious George party decorations. Play Curious George theme music in the background.

Download, enlarge and print an image of Curious George. Draw and cut out a large hat shape from yellow poster board. Then tape both to the fence. You can also cut out palm trees, bananas, coconuts along with other "tropical" shapes, and mount them on the fence. Post a sign that says "Look who's monkeying around! It's (your child's name) and her (his) friends!"

Create a balloon arch by tying balloons to a kite string (about 12" apart). Secure the string to the ground with dowels on both sides of your driveway - so your guests have to go through the arch as they enter the yard.

If you have a yellow tent, then set it up in the yard. Hang some real bananas from the trees. Draw tropical fruits on the driveway (leading to your front door) with colorful chalk. (You can also use fruit-shape cutouts.) Hang a sign near the front door that says "Welcome to Curious George Birthday Party!"

Transform your party room into a "jungle" by decorating with streamers in two shades of green. Fill the ceiling with helium balloons. Cover the walls with cutout banana shapes and Curious George theme posters. Blow up some more balloons and tie them down to real bananas.

Spread out theme toys and items around the room. (You can use some stuffed monkeys, monkey beanbags, coconut cups, etc.) Borrow several "Curious George" books and/or activity pages, and put them on furniture.

Cover your Curious George birthday party table with a theme cloth. For a centerpiece, attach a bunch of colorful balloons to a stuffed toy monkey, and place it the middle of the table. (It should be used as a scene when George grabs balloons and floats away.) Hang a personalized "Happy Birthday" banner nearby.

Guest Arrival and Introductory Activities

*Transformation Station: Invite your Curious George birthday party guests to a transformation station. Then turn them into monkeys by applying face paints, removable tattoos, and providing various other accessories.

*Miss Plushbottom's Wall: Children get to be like George when he decorated Miss Plushbottom's wall, but don't worry - you won't have to repaint the wall.

Tape a wide sheet of butcher paper on the lower portion of your wall so the kids can reach. Spread out pictures of jungle and wild animals for ideas. Provide the guests with crayons, and get them to draw their mural masterpieces as they are waiting for others to arrive.

Favors

For your Curious George party favors, hand out such items as binoculars, whistles, bean bags, t-shirts, Curious George "bubbles", sticker sheets and blowouts.

Curious George Birthday Party Games

*Curious Who?: Write the names of jungle animals (or Curious George characters) on masking tape before Curious George birthday party, so each child will have one. (For younger children, draw pictures of wild animals on sheets of paper.)

At game time, attach animal name to every person's back, but don't let them see the name. Kids must try to guess which animal is on their back by asking everyone else questions that can be answered "yes" or "no."

*Best Monkey Contest: Give each child a chance to demonstrate his or her best monkey call. When all the children have had a turn, award prizes for the loudest, squeakiest, most real, funniest, etc. You can enlist parents, older siblings, or neighbors to be competition judges.

*Monkey Knot: Invite your Curious George birthday party guests stand in a circle, facing inward. Then ask everyone to extend right hands into the ring and hold onto someone else's hand. Next, ask them to do the same with their left hands.

The objective of the game is for everyone to untangle themselves by stepping over, ducking under people, or turning around. Whatever happens, kids can't let go of hands.

*George in the Middle: You'll need a beach ball or tennis ball for this Curious George birthday party game. Have the kids form a big circle with one child standing in the middle.

The object of the game is for the kids to pass the ball around the circle without letting George (in the middle) intercept it. If George intercepts the ball, then the person who threw it becomes the next George.

*Penny Toss: Place a number of empty containers of varying sizes - such as tuna can, a juice can, and so on - on a platform. Set the cans up in random order, assigning each one a point value based on difficulty. Give the players ten pennies and let the kids toss them into the cans. Award different prizes for different point totals.

*Balloon Stomp: Blow up a balloon for each player and attach a string. Have players tie the balloons to their left ankles, leaving about a foot of string between the ankle and balloon.

On the word "Go!" have the players attempt to pop one another's balloons - without getting their own balloons popped! The last player with an intact balloon wins.

*Curious George Treasure Hunt: Hide various theme-related items (e.g., bananas, coconuts, Curious George pictures, monkey bean bags, etc.) around the house or yard. Write or draw picture clues to guide the kids through their hunt from one item to the next.

*Monkey See Monkey Do: Invite your Curious George birthday party guests to form a circle, and have one child to be a leader inside the circle. Play upbeat music and have the leader come up with silly dance moves and actions for the rest of the group to follow. Change dance leaders every one or two minutes, so every one has a chance to lead.

*Grab the Loot: Divide the kids equally into two teams of monkeys and have them stand on the opposite sides of the yard. Place a small prize - such as a candy bar or a pack of gum - in the middle of the yard between the two teams. Give the members of each team a number - one, two, three, and so on - then repeat the same numbers for the other team members.

When a helper calls out a number, the two players with that number must run to the center of the field, try to grab the loot, and run back without being caught by the other player. Continually put out new pieces of loot and call new numbers. The team with the most loot at the end of the game wins.

*Zoo Trip: If time permits, take your party gang to a local zoo. Make sure to see chimps and other monkeys. Call the zoo in advance to find out of they'd offer a guided tour for your group.

Curious George Birthday Cakes:

*Monkey Cake: Bake one round cake according to directions. Prepare two cupcakes and cut them in half vertically. Place a cupcake half on each side of the round cake for monkey "ears."

Place another cupcake half in the center of the round cake for the "nose." Make white icing brown with brown food dye. Then ice the whole cake with it. Decorate eyes with icing or candies. Use extra edible decorations on the monkey's "face."

*Curious George Cake: Bake a rectangular or round cake. Place Curious George cake toppers (available at party stores) in the middle of the cake for decoration.

Curious George Birthday Party Food Ideas:

*Monkey Sandwiches: Make sandwiches using your child's favorite fillings and cut them into circle shapes. "Glue" on extra bread pieces (for the ears) and raisins (for the eyes, nose and mouth) with cream cheese or nut butter.

*Jungle Mix: For this Curious George birthday party recipe, you'll need nuts, dried banana chips, grated or shredded coconut (pre-packaged), chocolate chips and other dried fruits or nuts of your choice. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Scoop into tiny paper bags or cups for kids to snack on.

*George's Banana Pops: You'll need 1 banana (per guest), chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and ice cream.

Before the Curious George birthday party, make flags by cutting triangular shapes from construction paper and threading a toothpick through each one. Place each unpeeled banana on a square of foil, and slice it open lengthwise. Fill wedge with marshmallows and chips. Wrap in foil, and put in baking pan with others.

Before snack time, preheat oven to 350�F. Place pan of banana boats in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and place boats on plates. Top each banana boat with a scoop of ice cream and a flag.

*Jungle on a Log: Cut celery into 5" lengths and fill them with cream cheese or peanut butter and a few raisins. Place animal crackers on top so they stand up.

*Monkey Pop: For this Curious George birthday party recipe, you'll need bananas, yogurt or warm chocolate sauce, Popsicle� sticks and plastic freezer bags.

Peel the bananas and cut them in half across the middle. Push a Popsicle stick through the flat end, until it's inserted at least halfway through each banana. Place in freezer bags until serving time. Dip frozen banana pops into yogurt or chocolate sauce and serve.

*Yellow Jell-O� Jigglers (cut into hat and banana shapes)
*Curious George Frosted Cookies
*Grilled Burgers
*Cheese Nachos
*Baked Beans
*Chips & Dip
*Banana Splits

Curious George Birthday Party Drink Ideas:

*George's Juice: Pour white grape juice or lemon-lime soda into cups. Invite kids to pick a food coloring (from several colors) and add 2 drops. Watch the drinks transform!

*Tropical-, Banana- or Mango-Flavored Punch
*Iced Tea