Zoo Animal First Birthday

Inside: Looking to plan a zoo animal first birthday party? I share all of the decor and food we used for a budget-friendly party for our son!

Hudson’s zoo animal party was the very first birthday party I planned!

I’ve since rounded up 50+ first birthday party ideas, but this one will probably always be my favorite because it was the first.

We didn’t have a lot of money back then so I had to get a little creative with the decorations and food, but I think everything still turned out great!

Zoo Animal Party Decorations

I made a lot of the party decorations by myself.

I got scrapbook paper from the craft store and used letter stencils to trace and cut out his birthday banner. I also used a large roll of craft paper to act as the backdrop and to cover our laundry room doors, haha.

I used that same scrapbook paper to make party hats for the animals. Cute right?

I got large and small plastic zoo animals from the dollar store and spread those out along the food table. I also spray-painted the bigger animals gold to match his banner.

What’s a party without balloons? I ended up getting colored regular balloons and a large number 1 to display by his monthly baby photos.

For his monthly photo display, I used the same craft paper from the backdrop and washi tape to give the display a pop of color.

I also made a cute tassel cake topper out of tissue paper and skewers. I wrapped the washi tape around mason jars to make them look a little more festive and used the tape to make little flags for all of the cupcakes (you can see those decorations below).

Zoo Animal Party Food

For the food, we had chicken salad sandwiches, fruit kabobs, tri-color pasta salad, funfetti dip with animal crackers, cupcakes, and a smash cake for Hudson.

I made everything but the smash cake myself to save on cost.

Party Activities and Favors

For the favors, I put Mother’s animal cookies in striped bags and sealed them with stickers that I printed with his party invitations.

I kept it pretty simple with the activities and we just played a milestone game to see how much everyone remembered about his first year.

And then we did presents and cake!

Birthday and name banners: DIY
Cake: Schmidt’s Pastry Cottage
Cake Topper: DIY
Cake Stand: World Market
Cupcake Stand: Michael’s
Drink Dispenser: Smith’s
Straws, Favor Bags, Cupcake Liners: Bake It Pretty
Carnival Tent: IKEA

I had so much fun planning (and crafting!) for Hudson’s first birthday! It was a lot of work, but it was so worth it to celebrate with a room full of people who love our little guy.

Happy Birthday sweet Hudson!