If you are struggling to think of a theme for your kid’s next birthday party, why not Zootopia? Kids love the movie and it has many inspiring messages. Judy, the adorable wannabe bunny-cop, shows that kids can be anything they want to be as long as they work hard, put in the time and never give up.
Here are eight simple do-it-yourself games that will help you throw an amazing Zootopia-themed party. Guests of all ages will love these games and have fun getting into the party spirit.
#1. Zootopia Mask Making
Materials required:paper templates, cardstock or felt, paper plates, writing materials, elastic, glue and safety scissors.
Mask making is a great activity for kids to do as they arrive or for any quiet times when they need to wind down. Will they make a bunny mask and be Lt. Judy Hopps? Is a fox more to their liking so they can be Nick Wilde? Perhaps a Chief Bogo rhino mask is more their thing.
While older kids can decorate paper plates and attach elastic on their own, you should prepare some card-backed paper templates for younger guests to color. Be sure to be on hand to supervise the scissors and help with the elastic to hold the masks in place.
#2. Play Bunnies and Foxes
Materials required: 12″ strips of gray fabric for bunny tails and 12″ strips of orange fabric for fox tails.
For a Zootopia-themed twist on the classic ‘Lions and Tigers’ game, simply divide the guests into two groups in the playing area. Explain that one group are cunning foxes like Nick Wilde and give them an orange fabric strip each for them to tuck into their pants like a tail. Explain to the other group that they are bunnies like Lt. Judy Hopps and have them tuck in their grey ‘tails’.
During the game, kids run around trying to pull the tails of the opposing team members. Once a player loses their tail, they are out and have to sit outside of the playing area. This is a really fast, fun and action-packed game so you’ll need to be vigilant while supervising it. You can play until the last pair or stop the game after a period of time and count the remaining team members.
#3. Have a Zootopia Scavenger Hunt
Materials required:Small animal toys or printed paper pictures.
Scavenger hunts can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. If you want to be frugal, simply print pictures of the main characters from the movie and hide them at various points around the venue.
Kids go searching for these clues and when the time is up, the guest with the most pictures is named the winner. A costlier alternative is to hide animal toys related to the movie such as bunnies, foxes, lions, and rhinos.
#4. Sleeping Foxes
Materials required: a bunny mask
Zootopia’s plot revolves around Judy’s quest to become the first bunny cop in Zootopia against all odds. The cunning fox Nick Wilde is a worthy antagonist who ends up helping her. Sleeping foxes is a fun twist on the classic kids game ‘Sleeping Lions’.
Choose one guest to be Judy the bunny and give them the bunny mask. The other kids have to lie down and pretend to sleep. If ‘Judy’ sees any moving or talking, they call the kid out. The winner is the last guest still lying down without having been called out. This is a perfect way for kids to calm down between more active games such as pass the parcel or musical chairs.
#5. Bunny, Bunny, Fox!
Materials required: music, chairs (optional) and masks (optional).
A Zootopia-themed twist on ‘Duck, Duck, Goose!’, this game with have kids in stiches. Gather kids in a circle, either sitting on the floor or sitting on chairs. Nominate one kid to be the caller. They walk around the outside of the circle touching each child in turn on the shoulder or head and saying the word ‘Bunny’.
If they want a child to chase them, they touch them and say ‘Fox!’. They try to run around the circle and sit down before the other child catches them. This may take younger children a few tries to get right but is a very dramatic and exciting game. For added fun, have the children wear the masks they made earlier.
#6. Zootopia Mask Relay Races
Materials required: animal masks
Divide the guests into two teams and have them race against each other to find the winners. Start with all of the kids wearing their masks and ask them to line up behind a line on the playing area. Mark out a parallel line some distance away to create a running track. Ask all of the kids to first walk and place their masks at the opposite line before returning to line up. When the game starts, kids run and put their mask on, before running back. The first team to all have their masks on is the winner.
#7. Carrot Balloon Piñatas
Materials required: long orange balloons, a black marker pen, green ribbon, toothpicks, prizes.
In Zootopia, Judy is determined to be a cop yet everyone keeps suggesting that she goes back home and becomes a carrot farmer! If you thought piñatas were only for birthday parties–think again. Fill long orange balloons with various prizes such as candy or any treats you want. When inflated, these will resemble giant carrots.
You can attach lengths of green ribbon and draw details on the side with a black marker pen if you want added realism. Give kids a toothpick to pop the balloons. At the end, the kid with the most prizes is declared the winner.
#8. It’s ‘Pawsicle’ Time!
Materials required: Popsicle sticks, five jelly beans per player, small cups and paw-shaped molds (optional).
Bunny-cop Judy’s first case involves Nick Wilde melting down a giant Popsicle to create mini ‘pawsicles’. Without any Popsicle molds, Nick’s ingenious accomplish Finnick uses his paw prints in the snow as ad hoc molds, hence the popsicles are paw shaped.
Tell the kids it’s ‘Pawsicle’ time and give each kid one cup, one popsicle stick and five jelly beans. Kids hold the sticks horizontally in their mouths and when the game begins they balance jelly beans on the sticks. The first kid to five wins.
To make the game even more fun, you can buy ‘paw’ shaped popsicle molds online and make real ‘pawsicles’ for the kids to enjoy after the game.
