party ideas for my animal mad daughter turning 8?!

I'd make it colorful...like the movie "Madagascar" and play the song "I LIke to Move it, Move it" (check out songs from both Madagascar 1 & 2).

Hang green crepe streamers swooped around like vines....add some paper monkeys or stuffed ones. Place other animals around the room. Put out your tropical plants...or create ones using bunches of green balloons in different shades at various heights (helium ones), but weighted down with a rock so they're standing tall.

Name your foods safari names: *Tiger Cake: Bake one 9" round cake and two cupcakes. Arrange cupcakes and cake on a platter so the round cake is the "face" and cupcakes - the "ears" of a tiger. Frost all cakes with orange frosting.

Have a tube of chocolate decorator's icing. Zigzag the icing on the "tiger's face" for stripes. Decorate the "face": 2 green hard candies for eyes, assorted chocolate and jelly beans for nose and mouth, and black licorice for the whiskers.

Safari Birthday Party Food Ideas:

*Lion Pizza
*Zebra Lasagna
*Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwiches
*Ostrich Eggs--deviled eggs
*Pigs in Blankets (hotdogs)

*Jungle on a Log: Cut celery in about 5" lengths and fill with peanut butter. Put some raisins (ants) on top. Kids can stick animal crackers in peanut butter (so crackers stand up).

*Monkey Banana Splits: Have children make their own banana splits (or help them out if they are too young). Place 1 banana for each child on a plate. Next, put containers of several ice cream flavors on the table - so the kids can pick and choose. Have whipped cream, sprinkles/jimmies, cherries, various sauces (butterscotch, marshmallow, chocolate, etc.)

*Unshelled Peanuts
*Gummy Worms
*Animal Crackers
* Trail Mix
Safari Birthday Party Drink Ideas:
*Zany Zebra Shakes: Combine the following ingredients in blender - 6 cups milk, 12 Oreo? cookies (crushed beforehand) and 2-3 scoops of vanilla ice cream. (You may want to split the ingredients in half so it won't overflow). Blend until smooth.

*Jungle Juice (fruit punch)

Party favors....toy beanbag animals or an animal print gadget of some kind, animal stickers

Games: Hide peanuts around and give guests baggies or small pails to hunt and find..mix them with colored M&Ms where colors are worth points (but they don't know what they are)...tally up at end...here's the M&M hunt game:
http://www.easy-party-ideas-and-games.co…

Serve foods in pith helmets (from party store)...use an animal print cloth for table...can drape fabrics around, too.
Create an obstacle course outside if it's nice....can have them do different activities from one point to another on their "safari" (jump rope, twirl around, bounce a ball, hula hoop, hop on 1 foot, etc).

I went to a party once where they had a company set up a farm in their back garden and brought animals, rabbits, mice, chickens, piglets etc. Was really good fun and definitely a good idea for an animal lover! The kids all got to play with and hold the animals! Take a look at the website below? (:

http://www.kidsrome.co.uk/mobile-farm.html

When I was turning 8, I had a man arrive at my party with all sorts of exotic animals like lizards & turtles ! He talked about them & we even got to hold them. I'm an animal lover, but usually a snake slithering around me would make me FAINT - but even I had fun helping hold the 30 ft long snake he brought! The same guy used to come to my elementary school for "science day". LOVE IT!

Not sure where you live, and not sure how widespread the company is... I live in NJ. The company is called "Snakes and Scales and Turtle Tails".... look into it! There also might be a diff company that's similar to it near you.

Ps - ladydi's ideas sound fun too!

Depending where you are in the country there are 'Wild Animal' party companies that come with reptiles, snakes, spiders and the like for kids to actually handle. http://www.cornerexotics.co.uk/

http://www.cornerexotics.co.uk/

if you do a safari theme you could find a pinata shaped as a lion. you could play a game like pin the beak on the toucan.. stuff like that just be creative little kids aren't that hard to amuse. They will have fun with any thing you chose.