The Lion Guard Birthday Party Ideas and Themed Supplies

Simba, like all beloved childhood figures of the past, eventually has to grow up and get a wife, kids, white picket boulder ring and a nine to five job guarding the Pride Lands – or rather have his son in charge of the Lion Guard (good security strategy that).  That means that there is a whole new generation of lions (and other African wildlife) to delight the new human generations (though let’s be honest here, we sneak in a peek as well). In a bold celebration of diversity, we have a team comprised of lions (Kion), cheetahs (Fuli), honey badgers (Bunga), hippos (Beshte) and egrets (Ono).  Oh, and there is also Jasiri, the one that teaches us to “Never judge a hyena by its spots” and Sisi ni Sawa (‘we’re all the same’ for those that are not fluent in Swahili). With sing-along’s, fun characters and lessons on friendship, equality and diversity mixed in it’s no wonder the Disney show is a hit (for both parents and children).  On the downside, the show is relatively new when compared to other cartoons which makes it harder to put together a Lion Guard birthday party (most tutorials and tips out there are heavily focused on the Lion King and especially Pumba and Timon). But, Hakuna Matata friends (have no worries) – below you’ll find a whole host of Lion Guard birthday party ideas from favors to costumes to cakes and invites.

The Lion Guard Birthday Party Invitations

At the start of each great story, there is the forming of the band of heroes – the Lion Guard in our case. Just like Kion, you’ll have to face trials and tribulations before you get the ok to constitute the band (though yours will mostly consist of patience, otherwise known as dodge the frustration of crafting). If you want to dodge it altogether, then online shops like Etsy are your best friend – there are dozens of Lion Guard party invites available (even with customizable options).  

*Free Printable Lion Guard birthday invitations 
Another option is to use these free printable Lion guard birthday invitations. All you need is some cardstock paper, the free templates and a printer.

*Free Printable Lion Guard thank you cards 
For those who accepted the invite and helped you to celebrate your birthday a thank you is due. For this reason, use these free printable Lion Guard thank you cards as a sign of your gratitude. You can even put these thank you cards into favor bags or hand them out to guests as they are leaving. 

The Lion Guard Birthday Party Decorations

Once the roar to assemble the Guard has been sent, it’s time to panic (since the Lair is far from being ready, especially for the small stampede that will occur).  Armed with courage and a pair of scissors (a decorator’s little helper) we can start sprucing Pride Rock a bit. 

*Lion Guard Color Scheme 
First things’ first – color scheme.  Lion Guard follows the tradition of its predecessor, so you’ll do fine with gold-red-black. 

*DIY Vine decorations
Then, it’s time to rock the jungle look. And what better place to start than by making some vines.  You can cut out giant leaf shapes out of green paper and make the vines by twisting butcher paper.  Don’t be scared to go a little crazy when covering things with vines. Once you’re done with that, you need to prep your jungle hallway with the aid of different shades of green streamers and looping garlands hanging from the ceiling. 

*Free Printable Lion Guard birthday banner
To send out the ultimate birthday message for your little lion/lioness, decorate further by making your own happy birthday banner with these free printable Lion Guard birthday banner templates.

*Free Printable Lion Guard Welcome Sign
As guests enter into the party room have this free printable Lion Guard welcome sign on display to welcome them to the party and to get them into the party spirit straight away. 

*DIY African Sunset Backdrop
You can also place a Lion Guard (lion king African sunset) backdrop – you can print, buy or even make it (it’s super easy to paint). 

*Lion Guard Posters 
Another great way to decorate your Lion Guard birthday party would be to use Lion guard posters available from places like Amazon as wall decor. The great thing about using posters as part of decorations is that you can use it as bedroom decor for your little one after the party.  

The Lion Guard Birthday Party Table Setup

No Lair is complete without some feasting grounds, unless you want your small Lion Guard horde to drag their spoils of war everywhere – they might do that anyway (who here hasn’t found food in the oddest of places after a party?) but at least it’s a bit more concentrated place. 

*Palm tree serving trays
You can start off with these gorgeous palm tree serving trays which are perfect for keeping snacks like potato chips, inside. 

*Jungle Watering hole
Another Lion Guard Party table idea is to turn your fruit punch bowl into a watering hole (make a sign with the indication) and then add cat prints, bird prints and hippo footprints next to it (you can place a light brown bit of cloth under it and add the prints to it). You can even add some bird footprints on the bowl itself with the aid of a marker.

*Jungle themed table decorations
The jungle undercurrent of Lion Guard lets you play with many, many table setting options, like having coconuts for bowls, or palm leaves instead of plates. You can even wrap the cutlery in leaves.

The Lion Guard Costumes and Birthday outfits

Every lion king (or prince/princess in this case) has to look his or her best. The good news is that there are plenty of lion and cheetah makeup tutorials and costume ideas. The bad news is that honey badgers, hippos and egrets are not as popular – who would have thought?. 

*Kion Costume Ideas
Let’s start with the head of the pack, the young Kion.  You can either do a Kion face paint (based on Simba, just add a red tuft of hair at the top of the head) or make a Kion Mask (here’s even an alternate mask). 

*Lion costume ideas
Now comes the fun part – the costume. Here are some 20+ ideas for lion costumes – lions are a popular choice and given the abundance of tutorials (this is just scratching the surface) you can just pick a look that you like (or looks easiest to make).  Out of all the ideas, here’s my personal favorite lion costume tutorial.

*Fuli Costume Ideas
On to Fuli. You can start with a Fuli face paint tutorial and then round off the look with this National Geographic costume tutorial – all you’ll need are scissors, furry cheetah material, black felt, wires, a glue gun and a stapler (add to that a light yellow shirt +pants combo and you’re set).

*Beshte Costume Ideas
If your child loves Beshte, then here’s a printable mask. For the costume, you can use grey clothes/PJs and attach a tail (you can make the tail with grey rope, or spray paint the rope and add a black tuft at the end). You can also use some pink felt for the soft hippo underbelly.  Just cut a big circle and attach it to the front of the costume/one piece PJ.  For more realism, add a pillow under the costume and secure it in place with a belt.

*Bunga Costume Ideas
Another Lion Guard birthday costume idea is to try and make a Bunga costume. For that you can use a honey badger mask . For the rest you can use a skunk costume as a base. Follow the tutorial but replace the hoodie with a light grey-purple hoodie.

*Ono Costume Ideas
Unfortunately, if your child loves Ono, then you’re out of luck. Or are you?  You can use this bird costume model  though you’ll have to play with the colors a bit. For the feathers you’ll have to use orange, white and yellow and the pants should be black with orange stripes, like so.

The Lion Guard Party Food and drinks

Once the preparations are complete, it’s time to brace yourself for the stampede – and the first place to go is always the food table. 

*Free Printable Lion Guard Food Labels 
With all this delicious food on the table, here are some free printable Lion Guard food labels so you can name each food something snazzy that matches with the theme.  

*Bug Grub 
Then comes the main feast, the holy grail of Lion Guard food items – the grubs.  Since the animals on the show are obsessed with bugs, bugs, bugs (Timon and Pumba have taught them well).  For grubs you can use gummy worms or strips of hot dog. You can make beetle wings with chips and present raisins as dried ant. In fact, you can make some ants on a log  with celery, cream cheese and raisins. 

*Corn Dog Centipede
Then there’s a corndog centipede for those that feel that gummy worms are not long enough (or those that like a bit more of a struggle from their meal). 

*Snail sandwiches and cookie crumble cheesecake caterpillars 
You can also try your hand at some snail sandwiches or make some cookie crumble cheesecake caterpillars. There should be enough bugs to satisfy even the hungriest Lion Guard members.  If you’re feeling punny, you can even serve them some cheetah Cheetos.

*Lion Food ideas
Another Lion Guard party food idea is to go slightly crazy with the lion theme. For instance, you can make some lion pizza or some chocolate cream lion brioches.  And if you’re looking for a healthier option you can even make a lion veggie dip platter.  

*Free printable Lion Guard Water bottle labels
To quench the thirst of your herd, you may want to have bottled beverages available for guests. A great way to stay consistent with the theme is to use these free printable Lion Guard water bottle labels to decorate bottled drinks. 

The Lion Guard Birthday Cake and Cupcakes

La crème de la crème, the tasty grub on top of the worm plate is the birthday cake.  A good way to go about it is to go to a cake decorating shop.

*Edible Lion Guard Cake Image
For a cheaper option, you can ask them to print a cake topper using edible ink or even search etsy and ebay to find custom Lion guard edible cake images.

*3D Kion Cake
If you’re thinking of giving it a go yourself, you can try to make this Kion 3D face cake – based on Simba. It’s moderately difficult, it just requires some good cake cutting skills – and the video is detailed enough to help you put the look together. 

*Rainbow Cheetah Cake or Hippo Cake
Another idea is to make a rainbow cheetah cake – that looks and tastes amazing. Or, you can try your hand at a hippo cake (here’s another easy hippo cake tutorial).

*Pull apart Lion cupcake cake
You could also try something a little different and make a pull-apart cupcake lion cake .

*DIY Lion Cake stand
If you have some time and don’t mind a bit of crafting, you can make your own Lion Pride Cake stand – based on this wild cat cupcake stand (use instead a hippo, a cheetah and a lion).

*Free Printable Lion Guard Cupcake toppers and wrappers 
If your planning on making Lion Guard themed cupcakes, use these free Lion Guard cupcake topper and cupcake wrappers to decorate you cupcakes. 

The Lion Guard Party Games and activities

When all that isn’t nailed down has been eaten, it’s time to entertain the tiny Pride Rock guardians. 

*Pin the tail on a Lion Guard Game
The easiest way to do that is with a put the tail on the Lion Guard member game (you can even include Jasiri as an honorary member). 

*Kion’s Roar Game
For something a little more complicated, you can have the kids play Kion’s roar (a version of stand up and roar).  For that you need to count the number of people – let’s say there are 16. Once you say start, people have to stand up and shout numbers sequentially from 1 upwards – till 16. Anyone can start. You can’t stand up twice or shout a number at the same time as someone else. The last person up loses.

*Monkey See, Monkey Do
Another Lion Guard party game idea is to play ‘Monkey see, monkey do’, but with a Lion Guard twist: roar like Kion, run like Fuli, fly like Ono etc.

*Laughing Hyenas
You can also play ‘Laughing Hyenas’ – the children sit in a circle. The game needs a judge, namely a parent (your lucky day). The judge designates a hyena.  The hyena has to sit in the middle of the circle and act silly to get the others to laugh. Whoever laughs joins the hyena in the middle. The last person left in the circle is the winner.

*Sleeping Lions
Another game variation is sleeping lions. The Lion Guard is asleep (the children are lying motionless on the floor) while a hyena is on the prowl (a single child). The hyena has to make the Lion Guard laugh without touching them. Who laughs is either eliminated or joins the hyena. Last lion standing wins.

*Jungle Animal Plate crafts
But the most fun to be had is with plates.  Here are just a few suggestions of animal paper plates: paper plate Beshte (hippo), leopard print plates, Kion and Fuli plates, Ono paper plate birds (use white or yellow/orange feathers).

*Duck Duck Goose (jungle version)
For another twist on childhood classics, play some ‘duck, duck, goose’ but with lions and hyenas.  Have the children sit in a circle. One child is the lion and has to walk on the outside and tap each player while saying lion, lion etc. The child that gets tapped with hyena has to catch the lion before he or she occupies the empty space left in the circle. If the lion manages to sit down, the hyena becomes the new ‘it’ and has to tap children. If the lion is caught, he or she has to be ‘it’ for another round.

*Fuli Obstacle course
You can also make a Fuli obstacle race game, if you have sufficient space in your backyard.  And if you haven’t had enough, here is a list of Lion Guard inspired activities (from crafting Ono binoculars, to making foam cheetah shoes).

The Lion Guard Party Favors

Once the party draws to a close, the pack members head home with little gifts to remind them of their time at Pride Rock. 

*Lion Guard Party Favor Ideas
You can fill their party favor bags with Lion Guard necklaces – based on these DIY necklaces, tattoos, bottlecap necklaces, wind up Lion Guard toys, Lion Guard rubber bands and mini collectible figurines .

*Bug Snacks
Let’s not forget the grubs – here’s where you can let your imagination flow (or include some of the bug snack from the food and drinks section). After all, the trip home is long and perilous, and the Lion Guard members need to keep up their strength if they want to be in top fighting shape when they spot a hyena.

*DIY Candy Favor Bags
Furthermore, you could use these free printable Lion Guard favor toppers to top of cellophane bags filled with bug candy, snacks or small favors. 

*Free Printable Lion Guard favor tags
To compliment Lion guard favors, here are some free printable Lion Guard favor tags you can attach to the favors you want to give to guests.

The Lion Guard Birthday Gift Ideas

When it comes to Lion Guard birthday gift ideas, the Disney store is a good place to start. You can find a pretty wide range of merchandise, from Lion Guard cups and t-shirts to character plushies. The nice thing about it is that each character gets to shine in the spotlight – want a plushy of Jasiri? No problem.  The same can be said for action figures – you can find them in mini figure set or individual characters.  There are also plenty of Lion Guard playsets that you can explore with the figurines (like the ‘Defend the Pride Lands’ set).

For the game inclined children (is there really a child who isn’t?) you can purchase a Lion Guard matching game. There are even puzzles ranging in complexity (from 12 to many, many more pieces).

Another gift idea is to go traditional with some Lion Guard backpacks or lunchbag – there are even bedheets available. And if your child loves activity, you can get a huffy lion guard bike (that’s how it was listed, believe it or not).