A Buggy Birthday Party

Four children's birthday parties down in the past few weeks, one more to go! My youngest turned two a few days ago. He has been interested in living things, but not ones that are larger than he is {unless they are his family members}. So I thought it would be great to have a bug birthday party for him. The funny things is, and I did not realize it until we picked up his balloons, that he does not like bugs! He was a bit terrified by the smiling lady bug balloon. Despite that oversight, he had a great day.

For younger children, I believe it is best {and sanest} to keep to fewer guests, so we only invited some family members to the celebration. We still had games and lots of food. The food was very much geared towards the younger crowd, but the adults thought it was not only adorable, but surprisingly tasty.

Food
I love coming up with cute foods for little kids to eat. I think if it looks fun, they will try it and eat it!

 
Ant Hill~
1 cup cream cheese, 1 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup chocolate chips mixed together and formed into a cheese ball. Roll the cheese ball in graham cracker crumbs, then poke a hole in the top. Place a line of chocolate sprinkles from the ant hill hole, down the side and around the edges. For an extra cute touch, sprinkle praline crunch around the bottom of the cheese ball. Serve with Bug Bites {graham cracker bug shapes}.

 
Caterpillar Kabobs~
Again, sweet and simple. Ball a canteloupe and a honeydew, then thread onto a wooden skewer.

 
Ants on a Stump~
An apple, sliced into rings, then cored; dip in lemon juice to keep from browning. Drizzle a bit of honey around the top {sap, of course}, then add some craisins. These were very tasty.

 
Dragonflies~
Celery stick with four mini heart-shaped pretzels attached with spray cheese {I don't know what it is really called}.

 
Centipede Sandwich~
Super hero sliced and shaped into curving shape with pickles added under and on the side of each piece for legs, green olives for eyes and celery sticks for antennae.

I think this looked more like a sick fish or turtle, but it tasted great!

Bug Juice~
I simply served limeonade. It is green. It is sweet. The children liked it.


Games and Activities


Put the Spot on the Lady Bug~ Very simple, just like the donkey version
Cut out from red poster board a ladybug shape. Add a head and face if you like. All you need are enough black spots {cut from black poster board or construction paper} for each participant to have one or two.

Buzz, Buzz, Sting!~ Again, like the traditional game, just different words
This is very easy for little ones to play, even if they don't catch on to taking the seat in the correct place.

Making Antennae~ Simple, creative, and fun
Only four things needed for these cute little things~ headband, pipecleaners, pompoms, and glue. Securely wrap one end of each of two pipecleaners around the top of the headband. Then glue one pompom to the other end of each pipecleaner. Allow to dry for a few minutes before wearing.

Other Ideas
We did not have time to get to other games I had planned to play, but here are some of them for those interested.

Bug eating contest~ Fill a plate full of chocolate sprinkles or other colorful sprinkles. With hands behind backs, children eat the sprinkles as quickly as possible. If you have various ages, give the older children more sprinkles than the younger ones.

Caterpillar Crawl~ Children, one at a time, manuever through an obstacle course or just across the room while in a sleeping bag.

Decorations and Cake
These were simple. Green tablecloth with little plastic bugs. Plates and forks and balloons in bright colors. The most elaborate decoration were the napkins.

A wooden clothes {not the spring kind} was used as the body of a butterfly. A bright yellow napkin {any color could be used} was folded accordion style, gathered in the middle, then inserted into the middle of the clothes pin. The napkin was spread apart to form the wings of the butterfly.


The caterpillar cake was made from about eighteen cupcakes, each iced in either bright yellow, green or blue. They were arranged to form a caterpillars body with the front one decorated with m&m's as eyes, nose and mouth. I few slivers of chocolate bar were used as antennae.

The cupcakes were perfect for serving up cake and ice cream quickly.

Hopefully these ideas will be helpful for your own buggy birthday party.

He wasn't so fond of this happy lady bug. I don't blame him; she kind of looks freaky.