The Party Place : A Summer Bug Party

By Tania K. Cowling

While school is still out and the weather is warm and beautiful plan a party with a nature theme. Why not plan a bug party for the kids and their friends. It’s ooey, gooey, and oh so much fun. A great birthday party theme too.

Decorations:

  1. Make a cooperative mural with all the kids at the party. Make a “ handipillar” (caterpillar) on a long sheet of butcher paper. Paint each child’s hand with poster paints and instruct them to make a print on the paper in a straight line. Place each hand next to each other. Draw in a cute caterpillar face using a black marker — also have each child print their name under their handprint. How long is your “ handipillar?” A cute way to remember this special day.
  2. Cover your food table with a green tablecloth. Scatter Gummi Worms and plastic bugs all over the table.
  3. Place green and yellow helium balloons all over the party place.
  4. Hang paper spiders and bumblebees from the ceiling.
  5. Cut large construction paper leaves and place these on the walls. Attach ladybugs that the kids have made on those leaves.
  6. Hang lots of green streamers as if you’re walking through the grass.

Activities:

  1. Play stick the spot on the ladybug. A blindfold is optional according to the ages of your party guests.
  2. Dance the jitterbug. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the steps; just put on some music and let the kids make it up as they go.
  3. Get some exercise with the bug boogie. Sing this verse to your own tune:
  • Grasshoppers go jumpity, jump, jumpity jump (jump up and down)
  • Caterpillars crawl bumpity, bump, bumpity, bump. ( crawl on the ground)
  • Playful crickets go hoppity, hop, hoppity, hop. (hop up and down on one foot)
  • As we boogie, happy children like you will jumpity, bumpity, hoppity too. (jump, hop and dance around).
  1. Have some “slime time.” Set up a table with green Play- Doh or goop for the kids to play with.
  2. Plan a bug hunt. Hide a large amount of toy bugs around the party place. Let the children find them and keep the bugs. A variation of this game is to fill a large dishpan with rice and several toy bugs. The children can take turns catching the bugs by pulling them out with tweezers.
  3. In the tall, tall grass party hat: Take a large sheet of green construction paper and fit it to the child’s head. Leave about four inches plain as the headband and above draw strips that look like blades of grass. The children can have fun cutting on the lines. Provide bug stickers and bug stamps and ink for the kids to decorate the hats. Staple or tape the hats to fit.
  4. Antennae: Provide a plastic headband for each child. Attach two long chenille strips (pipe cleaners); curling them first. Winding the strips around pencils can do the curling. At the tops, glue on pom-poms or poke small Styrofoam balls into the strip.

 

Songs:

The Bug Song (tune: “The Wheels on the Bus”)

Dramatize this song as you sing—

The fireflies in the air fly up and down,

Up and down, up and down.

The fireflies in the air fly up and down,

In the summer.

 

The ladybug on the ground runs back and forth,

Back and forth, back and forth.

The ladybug on the ground runs back and forth,

In the summer.

 

More verses:

The grasshopper in the fields hops up and down…

The ant on the ground works hard all day…

 

Bugs (tune: “Frère Jacques”)

Big bugs, small bugs

Big bugs, small bugs

See them crawl, on the wall.

Creepy, creepy, crawling,

Never, never falling,

Bugs, bugs, bugs,

Bugs, bugs, bugs.

 

Goodie Bags:

An easy party for goody bags. Use simple brown lunch bags and decorate with bug stickers. Tie the bags shut with curling ribbon. Fill with glow-in-the-dark plastic bugs, Gummi Worms, Silly Putty, bag of Slime, spider tattoos, etc.

 

Snacks:

Caterpillar Cake —

Make enough cupcakes for the guests. Frost with green icing. Set them side-by-side to form a wiggly caterpillar. Make eyes with gumdrops; cut lengths of licorice or fruit shoelaces for legs and antennae. Add spots with Sweet Tarts.

 

Spring Bug Punch —

2   10-ounce pkgs. frozen strawberries, defrosted

1   6-ounce can lemonade concentrate, thawed

1 quart ginger ale

2 cups raisins

6 Gummi worms

Mix the strawberries and lemonade concentrate in a blender until smooth and thick. Transfer this mixture into a punch bowl and add the ginger ale. Stir in the raisins. Place the Gummi worms on the rim of the bowl for a swampy effect. Makes about 10 servings.

 

Ladybug Muffins —

You will need:

English muffins

Cream cheese

Red food coloring

Raisins

Lettuce leaves

Color the cream cheese with the red food coloring prior to this activity. Have each child spread cream cheese onto his/her muffin and dot with raisins. Place on a lettuce leaf. While eating this snack, read the story,” The Grouchy Ladybug” by Eric Carle.

 

What’s in the Dirt? —

You will need:

Clear plastic cups

Chocolate pudding

Chocolate cookie crumbs

Gummi Worms or bugs

Whipped cream

Layer pudding and cookie crumbs in the cup. While making layers, hide the Gummi bugs in the pudding. Top with whipped cream and garnish with a Gummi bug on top.

 

Tania Cowling is an author, former teacher and mother. She lives in south Florida .

 

Tania Cowling

660 South Old Nob Hill Road

Plantation , FL 33324

954-474-8945

Tkcowling@bellsouth.net