5 Creative Ideas for Planning a Curious George Party

Curious George, the beloved monkey who lives with the Man in the Yellow Hat, has been a worldwide family favorite for more than sixty years.  His fun-loving nature makes him the perfect companion for any children’s party. Here are five creative ideas to make sure the guests at your Curious George party have more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

1. Use the Books as Inspiration

The Curious George books provide a wealth of inspiration for fun games and activities.  With two tricycles and a little space, you can challenge your little monkeys to a bike relay race.  For Curious George party favors, try something different and give out kites, yellow hats or even a copy of your child’s favorite Curious George book.  Instead of musical chairs, use colorful squares with letters on them spread over the floor.  When the music ends, everyone hops on a letter.  The leader picks a letter from a yellow hat and whoever is standing on that letter has to sit down.

2. Let’s Play Dress-up

Add a yellow hat to a big brother or older cousin and you have the Man in the Yellow Hat to keep your Curious George party moving along.  Set up a table with paper plates, brown paint and elastic string and watch as your guests make their own monkey masks.  This is a great starter activity for the party and sets you up for other activities where all your guests are monkey-ing around.  You might also find cute pre-made monkey masks as a very reasonable price.

3. Act Like a Monkey too

With your guests dressed up in their monkey mask creations, gather them all together and read your child’s favorite story aloud while the children act out the various things Curious George does on his adventure.  After you finish the book, have a monkey parade through your living room or down the street where the children can show off their best monkey moves.  With a few tweaks to the rules of Simon Says, you have a new game called “Monkey See, Monkey Do”.  Let each guest take a turn as the leader while the rest of the group tries to mimic the leader’s movements.  For another fun activity sure to leave everyone laughing, take your Curious George theme farther and give out medals for the best monkey impressions.

4. Decorate, Decorate, Decorate

In addition to the traditional Curious George party supplies like plates, cups and napkins, use green and brown crepe paper to make a palm tree jungle with red and yellow tablecloths and balloons to mirror the colors used on the covers of the books.  Even if your guests are too little to swing a bat safely at a traditional piñata, they can still have fun like the big kids do.  First, find a piñata that matches your theme – it can be a monkey, a beach ball or even a piñata of Curious George himself.  If the one you like doesn’t come in the trap door/pull string variety made for smaller children, you can modify any piñata to work this way. Hang it over the table as a fun center piece until it’s time to take turns trying to release the goodies inside.

5. Food Fit for Monkeys

To keep your menu monkey friendly, stick to the basics.  Bananas dipped in melted chocolate are a healthier alternative to a bag of chips in a bowl.  Snack size bags filled with dried banana and dried apple slices give your guests a super healthy snack that even Curious George would love.  With inspiration from the books, you can also find the perfect design for a memorable Curious George cake.  You might work with your local bakery to create a cake shaped like a monkey face.  You can also make the cake yourself.  Just use round cake pans to create a big blue and yellow beach ball like the one Curious George balances on in the books.  With a little searching, you might be able to find a Curious George cake pan to make your own monkey cake at home.

Any party with a Curious George theme is sure to keep your special boy or girl and their guests active and having fun for hours.  By offering healthy snacks like apples and bananas along with lasting favors like a kite or a book, your party will be a huge hit with kids and parents alike.