Our daughter’s birthday happened right when COVID-19 starting affecting our lives. For a number of days, my husband and I wavered over whether to throw the party or not. When we understood that a stay-at-home order was going to be placed soon it was an easy decision to cancel. We were still able to give our daughter a special day by having her Lion King birthday party just without any of the guests. I think she had a great time!

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Invitations

   

As usual, I created the Lion King birthday invitations on Canva. I am a very frugal person and by creating our own invitations I saved a lot of money. Plus, this way I was able to customize the invitation however I wanted!

       

Decorations

   

The decorations really helped our daughter get excited about her birthday. We did the decorations after she went to bed the night before her party. When she woke up and saw the banner, balloons, and face masks her whole face lit up.

   

*Please Note: The banner came with instructions for how to easily iron out the creases. Since no one was coming to the party I decided to skip that step and go to bed (I knew our daughter wouldn’t care).

       

We also strung crepe paper and a “Hakuna Matata” banner (included in the party set below) that we kept up long after her party ended.

       

For the dining table, I ordered this Lion King party set including plates, a tablecloth, napkins, cups, the face masks, balloons, and banner.

       

Outfit

   

Our three-year-old is OBSESSED with the Lion King so I ordered this cute dress knowing she would want to wear it over and over again. It actually became a problem! I think I had to end up bribing her to take it off after a couple of days so I could wash it.

       

Activities

   

Originally, the party was going to include mostly adults and a handful of toddlers. I tried to plan birthday party activities that would be realistic with children so young.

   

Lion Hunt

   

My girls love to paint so I thought the young ones could make their own binoculars to use during the lion hunt activity.

   

Binocular Instructions

   

Step 1: Punch one hole near the end of two craft tubes (or toilet paper tubes if you plan enough in advance). This is where the string will tie onto at the end.

   

Step 2: Let the kids paint the craft tubes. I set out small containers of washable paint and cotton swabs for the children to paint with. Don’t forget to cover their cute outfits with an old t-shirt or art smock! Kids are messy.

       

Step 3: Let the tubes dry (this is when we had a dance party – see next activity).

   

Step 4: Once dry, place the two tubes next to one another. Then wrap zebra tape around the middle.

   

Step 5: Lastly, attach a long string by knotting it through the holes on each of the tubes. Now the binoculars can be kept around the children’s necks as they go on a lion hunt!

       

Lion Hunt Details

While my kids were having breakfast on the day of the birthday party. I snuck around the house and hide five of their toy lions (see “Gifts” section) in various places for them to find during the “lion hunt” activity.

After finishing their binoculars, I read clues and then the girls had to go search for them. Knowing their limited attention span I only hid five lions but I think they would have liked to look for more. Add as many clues as you want!

   

Lion Hunt Clues

• When it gets late and you turn out the light this is the place you’ll be found each night. (BED)

• A kangaroo has a pouch.  You watch a movie while sitting on the . . . (COUCH)

• I keep your books safe in my pack, zip me up before slinging me on your back. (BACKPACK)

• Rub a dub dub, there’s a lion in the (BATHTUB)

• You’ll need to think hard to solve the next clue.  What goes on your foot that’s not a shoe? (SOCK . . . DRAWER) 

   

The Prize

The person who finds the most lions gets to pick their tattoo first (see tattoo time down below). For your party, if the lion hunt is more of a group activity instead of a competition then the prize can be that everyone gets a tattoo if all the lions are found.

   

Dance Party

   

To use up some time and get some wiggles out, we brought out our bubble machine and put on some wild music for the kids to dance to while their painted craft tubes dried.

   

Song Suggestions;

• “Hakuna Matata” – The Lion King soundtrack

• “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” – The Lion King soundtrack

• “Here Comes the Lion Guard” – Beau Black

• “Zuka Zama” – The Lion Guard soundtrack

• “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – The Tokens

• “Roar” – Katy Perry

• “The Bare Necessities” – The Jungle Book soundtrack

• “I Want to be Like You” – The Jungle Book soundtrack

   

Tattoo Time

   

I bought these Lion King tattoos thinking that everyone (young and old) at the birthday party could have one put on. Since we ended up not having any guests we had a lot of tattoos left over – don’t worry, they’ve been put to good use.

   

Coloring

   

While I was getting lunch prepared I gave our girls Lion King coloring sheets (I just Googled “free printable Lion King coloring sheets”) and stickers.

   

Food

   

After canceling the party I felt zero pressure about the food! Instead of a themed-meal with lots of slow cookers going I went with what my daughter would love to eat – hot dogs, pickles, chips, and applesauce.

If you are looking for Lion King-themed food ideas check out my Wild One Birthday Party post, it should give you a great start.

   

Dessert

   

On theme, the birthday cake was a dirt cake. Chocolate cake filled with chocolate pudding, chocolate fudge, gummy worms, and crushed Oreos. It was my first time making it but I want to perfect if a little more before I add the recipe to this blog. When I do I’ll be sure to link it here.

I ordered a customized cake topper. To me, it seemed a little expensive but since I made the cake myself and saved a ton of money by not ordering one, I felt the topper was definitely worth it.

It was shipped from Israel and I worried it wasn’t going to arrive in time after COVID-19 caused shipping delays. Luckily it arrived the day before the party and was perfect. The topper exceeded my expectations!

   

Gifts

   

My daughter is already spoiled with a lot of toys so I wanted to give her a present that was both practical and would make her really happy. Solution – a bike helmet. She really needed one and I found one that was her favorite color (blue) and featured one of her favorite animals (sharks). If I had found one with lions I would have won “mother of the year”.

Here are some Lion King birthday party gift ideas that are sure to be winners with any lion-lover;

       

I hope these Lion King birthday party ideas help you with planning your party!