Locations

• Some museums offer special birthday party events with an explorer theme. Depending on the individual museum's policies, children are allowed to explore the locations within limits, and participate in activities, including arts and crafts and science projects. The events cost between $100 and $800, food not included, at several venues surveyed in April 2011.
  
  Other locations for explorer-themed parties are offered by restaurants, arcades and theme parks. However, these parties are also easy to arrange for at home, inside or outdoors. You will need to do some work to provide for decorations and the entertainment.
  
  

Invitations

• Once you have decided on a location, you can send out explorer-themed party invitations. You can create them yourself by cutting out jungle pictures, maps or photos of vintage ships, balloons, planes, rockets or other images to make a collage based on the specific party events and venue. You can also using party invitation templates available online or invitations offered by a specific venue.
  
  

Costumes

• Ask your guests to come dressed up as an explorer. Let them choose, but have a list of famous explorers ready in case someone should get stuck for ideas.
  
  Dress-up ensembles can be rented online or from local costume shops, but will mainly consist of Indiana Jones-type outfits that easily can be created at home with the help of khaki clothes, soft hats and colorful bandannas tied around the neck or hat. Arctic explorer costumes can be made from track suits with fake fur added to the seams and Spanish conquistador equipment is available in toy shops.
  
  

Decorations

• Jungle and safari party decorations are available to buy online, but an explorer effect can also be achieved by simply adding various houseplants with lots of green leaves to the party location. Raid your children's toy boxes or thrift shops for exotic toy animals, including monkeys, crocodiles and birds, and place them on shelves or tables. Use wooden bowls for snacks and ask travel agencies for posters with palm trees or jungle pictures to hang on the walls.
  
  

Food

• Tinned food, as used by some explorers, might seem an appropriate, but not much appreciated food choice for an explorer party. However, you can use freshly prepared finger foods and present them in metal containers and wooden or metal bowls to create a rustic ambiance.
  
  Grilled meat, sausages and fish are also good explorer food, because the barbecue can stand in for the adventurer's campfire. Present exotic fruits and vegetables, in salads or cooked dishes, to provide a healthy or vegetarian option. Exotic fruits and vegetables can include pineapples, mangoes, bananas, okra, colorful beans, or red and green salad leaves; these can also be used to create table centerpieces.
  
  

Games

• Scavenger or treasure hunts are ideal games for an explorer party. Instead of a treasure, the guests can attempt to discover a country, city or location by being given written or physical clues related to the place. For children's parties, an obstacle course where the kids have to climb, jump or crawl in order to get to a specific location can be a good entertainment.
  
  Other games suitable for explorer-themed parties can be charades with exclusively adventure-related topics to guess, or cryptic clue quizzes with questions about famous explorations. Well-chosen or planned games can be highly educational as well as loads of fun.