Bugs are beautiful party (ages 3 to 10): iVillage

Party ideas: Beautiful bugs (ages 3 to 10)

From bees to butterflies, kids just love bugs. Encourage your future entomologist with a bug-themed bash, perfect for bug lovers of all ages!

Invitation ideas

Buy large or small plastic insects at a toy shop and glue them to the party invitations or to plain white cards. Write the party details around the insects and place the cards in envelopes. Drop a few more insects into the bottom of each envelope for an added surprise, and post to your guests.
Create your own critters from thick black craft paper. Trace or draw bug shapes on the paper. Cut out the shapes and glue them onto sheets of white paper. Use metallic paints to write out party details.

Decorations

Fill the party room with plastic spiders, beetles, worms, ants and other creepy-crawlies.
Sprinkle plastic ants on the table, stick jelly worms in the snack bowl, hang spiders from the ceiling, and spread bugs all over the floor.
Tuck some insects under a napkin or on a chair for an added surprise.

Games

Have a bug race and see how many insects the children can spot in the garden or park in five minutes. Draw sketches of insect types or give the kids charts to help them identify bugs they find.
Have the children collect insects. Give them boxes to hold the specimens. Return the insects to the garden when the activity is over.
Play Caterpillar. Have all the guests stand in a line, bend over, and hold onto the guest in front of them. Then have the first player in line lead the rest of the 'body' in a game of follow-my-leader. Give each player a chance to be the 'head' of the caterpillar.

Activities
Make fridge magnets Spread out newspaper on the party table. Place bug-making materials on the table, including small pom-poms, felt, wiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, feathers and other art accessories available at craft or toy shops. Have the kids cut out felt shapes to use as foundations for their bugs. Them have them glue on pom-pom bodies and heads, wiggly eyes, and other details. Suggest that the kids make ladybirds, beetles, worms, caterpillars, or create a strange new species. When the insects are complete, give each child a strip of magnetic tape (available at craft and hardware shops) cut to fit the length of the felt foundation. Peel off the paper, and stick the magnetic strip to the bottom of the bug. When the bugs are finished, watch them magically stick to the fridge!

Food ideas

Serve a ladybird salad. Spread lettuce leaves over individual plates. Set a canned pear half in the centre. Top the pears with raisins to make the spots. Set two canned apricot halves on either side of each pear to make wings. Make antennae from strings of celery and top the antennae with cherries or grapes.
Make buggy ice cubes. Place jelly insects in the bottom of an ice cube tray, add water and freeze. When the ice cubes are frozen, place them in the party drinks.
Make spider webs from candyfloss.
Create bug nests from coconut or shredded wheat.

Bake a Wormy Dirt Cake:

Make a sponge cake or fairy cakes, adding raisins to the cake batter; cool.
Cover the cake(s) with chocolate icing.
Sprinkle crushed chocolate wafer biscuits over the icing to look like dirt.
Add jelly worms and spiders to the dirt.

NB: Make sure you tell the children when the insects are plastic and non-edible.

Party bags

Send the entomologists home with a bag of plastic insects.
Give the kids a bug boxes to use for studying insects in their own gardens.
Hand out books to help identify insects or give them storybooks about bugs such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle.