Need ideas for a monkey party....

[jlaspoq]

..... for my DD's 11th birthday next weekend.

Took us forever to decide this year, and now we only have a week. Invites went out today.

Party is from 3pm to 9pm at our house (agreed to a "long" party so I don't have to do a sleepover.) She mostly wants a long time to play with her friends, but I want some structured things too.

Already did monkey invites - asked girls to wear monkey shirts and bring their monkeys. They will all have these - this group of girls started the Monkey Club when they were about 6 or 7 and are collectively referred to by all of us parents and their older siblings as the "Monkeys". Expecting about 11 girls - which my DD pointed out is 11 for her 11th birthday!

Planning to make a cake with a monkey on it (bobby jack type monkey.)

Dinner will be pizza with funky monkey milkshakes (chocolate ice cream and bananas.) Found Animal Planet paper plates with monkeys on them - hard to find! Ordered online at Birthday Express.

Games: Monkey in the middle, monkey see monkey do, and the freeze game to the Monkees theme song. (I don't know how to play these games, but my DD seems to. I will have to make sure before next weekend. )

Any cool ideas?

She does not want to go to see Curious George (or any movie) during her party. Too passive, not enough interaction. Plus she can't have popcorn due to braces.

I am wondering whether I should look into renting a moonwalk for the first couple of hours - so they can jump around like monkeys.... I've never done that so don't know how much it is or if I can get it on short notice. Also not sure if I need to do something like that.

What do you think?? Too bad I can't get this dancing banana guy to come! My friend said DH should rent a gorilla suit! Not sure he'd be up for that!

TIA!

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter went to a monkey party and they played hide the monkey...each one took a turn hiding a stuffed monkey somewhere in the house and the others had to find it.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

What if you bought sock monkey kits off Ebay and did a sock monkey craft with the girls?

The one I saw listed has enough to make 2 sock monkeys and had a starting bid of $6.49. That would probably cost you about $40 after purchasing stuffing.

They're pretty easy to make and would double as a party favor...

http://search.ebay.com/sock-monkey-kit_W0QQfromZR40QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQssPageNameZWLRS

 

[MAKmom]

My DD11 Is in a Monkey Club too! Big Lots has alot of Monkey Socks for girls for $1.00. Trader Joes has Chocolate Covered Banana.

 

[Daisy Duck 5]

How about making a game like Who wants to be a millionaire with trivia questions about monkeys. You can buy cheap prizes from the dollar store and each time they hit the special dollar makes like $1000 they get a prize. Have the million dollar prize be something really good such as a $10 gift card.

Play the guess how many.
Put some banana candies in a clear jar and have the guests each write down how many bananas they think are in the jar. The person who wins gets to take home the jar of candy.

Hot Potato Pants
First you load a garbage bag with all sorts of embarrassing and somewhat funny clothes (bikinis, cowboy boots). Now in the form of hot potato you pass the garbage bag around and when the music stops, the person with the bag pulls out an article of clothing and must wear it!
The game ends when all the clothes are gone. The winner is the person with the least clothes from the bag on.
Who's Making That Noise
To play, someone is chosen as "it" and the others sit around them in a circle. The "it" closes their eyes and counts to ten, while the people in the circle scramble about. At "ten" everyone sits in the circle again, each in a different place as the start. "It" reaches out and touches a person, still with their eyes closed. "It" keeps their eyes closed, and the person that was touched makes a noise (grunt, squeak, etc..) The "it" must guess the name of the person that made the noise. If they guess correctly, the person who was guessed becomes "it". If they do not guess correctly, they count again and start over until they guess right.
Do this with monkey sounds.

 

[megan4777]

Go to orientaltrading.com and type in monkey in the search box. They have a pin the monkey on the palm tree game, toys, party stuff...etc.
I hope your DD has a great party...

 

[jlaspoq]

Great ideas! Thanks everyone!

 

[Nevergrow'nup]

Oriental trading also has blow up monkeys! Good luck!!

 

[jlaspoq]

I found an inflatable monkey for $1.99 at Factory Card Outlet, and a monkey pinata and balloons (Curious George). I'm thinking we'll do the pinata outside after dark! After all, they're 11 - they need a challenge and it will take longer that way.

We also found 11 monkey things at Claire's Accessories for prize gifts - all for $28! Coin purses, earrings, hairbrushes and trinket boxes all with monkeys on them.

Thanks for all the game ideas - DD likes several of them.

 

[parrothead365]

Invite monkeyboy