Bug Party

THEME:
For Evan's 4th birthday we had a Bug Party. I have to admit that the whole party was inspired by the cute party favors that I found at Dollar Tree that were bug-themed. I'll explain more about them later, but it was a very fun theme to plan around, and great for a 4-year old and his playgroup friends.
Years ago I helped my friend plan a Ladybug party for her daughter's birthday and I will also tell about some of the ideas from that party here.

INVITATIONS:
Front. I cut the jars out of vellum from a die-cut. The bugs were 3-D stickers that I actually just had laying around, but they were super cute!

Back. I'm pretty sure I got the idea for the wording from birthdaypartyideas.com.

DECORATIONS:
The back yard served as our decor for this party. But it would be fun to decorate with oversize flowers and things to make it seem like you are a small bug. You could hang pictures of bugs, flowers, or decorate with butterfly nets. We have a small bee tent that we set up to put the gifts in.

ACTIVITIES:
As the kids showed up my daughter painted the bug of their choice on their faces. In the photo below you can see the centipede she painted on my son's forehead (not a big ugly scar as you might think)! You can also see the cute bee pinata we had. It was such a shame to beat it up! No blindfolds for this age, it was a hard little sucker to break open.

We gave each of the kids a bug mask (leftovers from a Pack Meeting - purchased at OTC), taped 8 pipe cleaners on each of their backs and had a bug leg grab. They had to try and grab the legs off of the other bugs while trying to protect their own.

In our sandbox we buried a bunch of plastic bugs and each child had 30 seconds to dig for as many as they could. Then we washed the sand off and dried them in the sun before putting them into their bug-catchers I found at Dollar Tree (photo below).

At the ladybug party my friend hid the plastic bugs around her backyard and told each of the kids how many they could each find. They also played pin the spots on the ladybug.

At the end of our bug party my husband gave the kids rides in the wagon behind the lawn tractor while we waited for parents to come pick them up.

MUSIC:
Another One Bites the Dust, Butterfly Kisses, Firefly (A*Teens), Fly On the Wall, Come Fly with Me, The Ants Go Marching, Flight of the Bumblebee, The Bird and the Worm, Glow Worm.

FOOD:
You can add clean plastic bugs into red or green Kool-Aid in a clear pitcher for bug juice. We purchased individual bottles of Bug Juice at the local convenience store. We didn't have a meal at this party, but some ideas are picnic foods, sandwiches cut in flower shapes, ants on a log, or a big sub sandwich made to look like a caterpillar. I always label their drinks or drink cups so you don't get them mixed up. It's important to keep the kiddos hydrated on hot days!

THE CAKE:
These cups are layered with crushed Oreo 'dirt' then a small chocolate cupcake, chocolate pudding, more Oreos and filled with gummy bugs and worms. The gummy bugs were awesome because the were Fruit Gushers and had liquid in them that squirted out when you bit into them.

This was the family party cake covered in Oreo 'dirt' and awesome bugs from a local store called Dilly Dally's that carries all sorts of plastic animals and bugs for a great price.

I have a better photo of this cake somewhere but I can't find it! So you can get the gist of it from this little one off a proof sheet. For my friend's daughter's ladybug party I made this daisy cake. The center is a rounded cake baked in a glass bowl and frosted yellow with yellow star-tip dots all over it to make it textured. The white petals are actually Twinkies frosted with white frosting. And one ladybug cupcake for the center because black and red frosting always tastes disgusting whenever I make it. There are black licorice pieces for the antenna and chocolate chips for the spots.

FAVORS:
I think treat bags and party favors are my favorite thing to do for a theme party. And as I mentioned before I got some cool stuff from the dollar store. The first thing I found were some little plastic jars with glow bug suckers attached to the lid. When you pushed a button on the top the candy lit up like a firefly in a jar. We also got some really cool gummy bugs that were big and squishy in bright colors. Then they also got a mini magnifying glass, a personalized bug catcher, candy from the pinata, their plastic bugs and their masks.

I made labels for the yellow bags that said, "We're so glad you could 'bee' here for my party. Thanks so much for coming. Love Evan." I always recommend labeling treat bags with the kids' names. No doubt someone will set it back down somewhere, and then you know who it belongs to.

These are just a few ideas, but it was a great hit for my little 4 year-old and his friends!