Are you planning a reptile birthday party for a lover of all things slithery and scaly? A friend of mine recently had a reptile birthday party for her daughter and emailed to ask me for ideas. I thought I would share with you what I sent her in case you are looking for some too! She hired a local company to do an interactive hands on reptile and bird show for the party guests and they loved it!

Reptile Birthday Party Food & Desserts:

– Crocodile Eggs (Chick-fil-A nuggets)

– Boa Constrictor Sandwich (Purchase an extra long sub sandwich that will feed all of the guests and cut on an angle every few inches. Then use those angles to turn the sandwich into the slithery shape of a snake. Decorate with sliced olive eyes and a cucumber tongue)

– Treat Table: Gummy worms, Gummy Geckos, Chocolate Frogs (you can make them using this inexpensive Chocolate Frog Candy Mold) and Turtles (you know, the caramel/pecan ones?)

– Birds Nests (like these I made with Chex Cereal)

– Chocolate pudding cups with crushed Oreos on top and gummy worms coming out the top

– Drinks: Swamp Water (apple juice), Snake Venom (red or green soda/juice)

Reptile Birthday Party Activities:

– Make a “passport” for each guest. Coordinate with your show director to find out which animals they will be bringing. Each page can have a watermark image of an animal they will see and a few little details about it. You can either let them mark the book as each animal is brought out or stamp their passport if they hold/pet one. Decorate the pens they’ll use with their passports with colorful bird feathers coming out the top and then wrap the base and a solid color tape

.- Play crocodile in the middle: we played this a lot as kids, where you can only step on the furniture and the blindfolded crocodile in the middle has to try and tag you. If you step in the “water” you’re it! You can easily adapt this by making paper “stepping stones” for the kids to circle around the crocodile on.

– Make a snake necklace: either dye ahead of time or let the children paint tube pasta and then thread them onto a piece of yarn. Make sure to add a red felt tongue to the head!

Reptile Birthday Party Favors:

– Candy Buffet: use the candy items listed above and let the kids fill a small treat bag. Make sure you tie them closed with a tag that says, “Ssssssoo nice of you to slither by!”

– I always see the little animal foam visors at the dollar store. They have birds, crocodiles, elephants, etc. Get ones that fit the theme and let each guest wear one during the party! (Similar to these Foam Animal Sun Visors) 

Party Planning Tips:

– Select a color palette with 3-4 colors and stick to it. That way if you bring in generic paper goods, serving pieces, etc. they’ll all fit in as long as they are in the color palette you’ve chosen.

– Wording is key. Make the wording on the invite, food labels, favors etc fit the theme. You can turn grapes into gecko grapes with a cute food label and suddenly they fit with your theme.

– Party printables go a long way in helping you theme the party from one end to the other. I ALWAYS search for free ones first and use them if I can but if my theme is specific or uncommon I’ll pay to get custom ones.

If you use any of these ideas, I’d love to hear how it went! I’d love even more if you shared pictures! Happy planning and thanks for slithering by!