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Bug Party Supplies
A bug party is a great idea for Halloween, or just for entertaining the child that loves creepy crawlies. Bug parties are ideal for pre-schoolers, as they are a bit zany, a bit creepy, and quite a lot of fun! Children are always entertained by bugs, and if there is a zoo or similar nearby, then the parent can arrange for both a birthday party and a day out to meet some real-life insects. There are plenty of bug party supplies available for the parent looking to host a good time for adults and children alike.
Invitations should be top of the list of bug party supply necessities – people need to know where to go if you are going to ask them around to ‘bug’ you. With pre-school children, it might not be necessary to provide invitations, as the details can be passed directly to the guest’s parents, but with children over the age of five, the party invitation is a must. Invitations can be made at home, if the parent is feeling creative, or they can be bought in ready-made packs with bug images and witty invite messages – the birthday child may enjoy handing around invitations with ‘bug us’ written on the outside!
Decorate the party room with a range of bug party supplies; ideas might include all those spiders left over from last Halloween, maybe strung together, or hung separately on ribbons from the ceiling Add mylar balloons with pictures of bugs printed on them (perhaps one that features spiders and webs), as well as pastel balloons to extend the bug party supplies budget a bit further – the main colours for a bug party are green, red, blue, and yellow – pastel balloons can be positioned along the walls, or connected to streamers, in order to give them a bug-like appearance; plus big white or yellow pastel balloons to represent insect eggs – put them in groups with a large plastic insect or shaped balloon for greater effect. Another idea is to hang green and yellow streamers from the ceiling to represent grass stalks; cover the furniture with brown fabric – this is now the ‘earth’. Dimmer lighting or coloured bulbs can also add to the effect. Parents might like to create ‘earthworm burrows’ or similar using brown fabric – this is something that the children can do while they are waiting for other members of the guest-list to arrive.
There are plenty of great items of tableware for the bug party supplies box: there are some great little plates and cups out there if the parent looks hard enough: finding good tableware online is just a click away – in particular ‘spider frenzy’ “Boo” plates can provide great entertainment – consider serving sandwiches or other finger food on here, and what the children reveal the ‘boo’ as they take food off of the plates. Parents hoping to be thrifty might buy a bug party supplies pack, which will include sets of party tableware such as plates and cups – these are often sold in ‘sets’ of 8, meaning that if there are more than 7 guests the parent will have to buy additional individual tableware to ensure that all the children get the same.
The best food to serve at a party with children under ten is finger food – sandwiches, sausages, crisps – that can easily be managed by small kids. Parents can add insect touches to the food by using colour dye, or using hotdogs with regular horizontal cuts along the sausage to give it an earthworm appearance; putting crunchy peanut butter between two crackers, and adding liquorice ‘legs’ around the edge. Parents might also include ‘trail mix’ for slightly older children. Of course, the most important item, the birthday cake, should also be bug-related: parents can either purchase a bug-shaped cake from a local bakers or store, or make their own –perhaps using plastic critters around the outside of a green icing cake, or making a spider’s web pattern on a round cake and then putting on insects made from cake (as the ‘wings’ are made on fairy cakes) – round ball cake confectionary could be the cocoons spun around captured flies. There is plenty of advice online about making birthday cakes, so parents should have a good look and pick a design that fits well with their theme.
Games might be centred on bug life – for example there are many bug-shaped pinata’s on sale that can be filled with treats, but what if the parent redesigned the piñata breaker to the shape of a fly-swatter? This might make it slightly harder to break the piñata, but that is half of the fun, surely. More traditional games might also be adapted: “Pin the leg on the spider” perhaps; there are a number of ways in which the imaginative parent can adapt ordinary games to suit an insect theme. It is important to remember that the children are very young, and are likely to become bored and frustrated at long and complex games; parents should therefore try and organise ‘quiet times’ – perhaps a nap room could be arranged away from the party so that children may have a short sleep before food is served.
Modern parties have encouraged child guests to expect to leave with a gift, or loot bag, which contains items such as a piece of the birthday cake, a toy, and a treat; party favour bags in the theme of bugs can be bought online in packs; it is also possible to buy bug party supplies kits which contain assembled loot bags. For a parent unwilling to go to that expense, there are plenty of other options; favours can include items such as toy insects, ‘pop up’ insects, insect-shaped party treats, and of course the ubiquitous colouring pad, note book, and pen, pencil or eraser.
Planning a bug party can be hard work, but decorating the room and organising games can be great fun, particularly with scary beasties such as insects – there are plenty of ways to entertain the children just with a plastic spider: the most important thing about any party is that everyone should have fun.
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