Fun Bug Party Games to Play

Bees in the Garden
You Will Need:
Three plastic eggs, poster board, a black marker, dried beans (optional), and a wooden stake

Before the party

• Draw a flower shape on a large piece of poster board. Cut out the center of the flower to make a hole. Attach the flower to a stake or stick that can be placed in the ground.
• Make three “bees” for the flower by using a marker to add black stripes and antennae to plastic yellow Easter eggs. (You can add beans for weight and glue closed.)
• At the party, line the guests up, one behind the other. Place your flower in the ground approximately 6 feet away from the guests. Give the first guest the three bees.
• The guest tries to toss the bees through the hole in the flower. Award the guest a small prize, such as a sticker, for each bee he/she gets through the flower’s center. Allow each guest to have at least one turn.

Cocoon Wrap
Divide the guests into teams of three or four. Give each team a roll of toilet paper and have them wrap up one teammate like a cocoon (avoiding the face). If the children start wrapping too fast, the paper breaks causing more confusion and fun. Play several rounds.

Nature Hunt
You Will Need:
Bags, plastic spoons, and copies of the enclosed list of items

Divide children into teams of two or three guests per team. Give each team a copy of the list of items, plastic spoons (for collecting a bug) and bags. The first team to successfully find all its items wins.

Caterpillar Races
Before the party:
Mark a finish line with paint or masking tape.

At the party:
Divide the guests into two teams. Line the children up in two straight lines directly behind each other 30-60 feet from the finish line. Have the children put their hands on the waist of the child in from of them, forming a “caterpillar.” When you say, “Wiggle,” each team must run, staying connected, to the finish line. If a team becomes disconnected, they must stop and reconnect before continuing. The first team to the finish line wins.

Pom Pom Caterpillars
You Will Need:

Assorted pom poms, Wiggle eyes, Colored Felt, Adhesive magnet tape, Craft glue

Before the party
Cut out large leaves from green felt--one per child.

At the party:
Show guests how to glue pom poms to each other to form body and add eyes. Guests can cut out small stripes, dots, etc from the felt and glue to the caterpillars body to decorate. When finished, glue the caterpillar to a leaf and attach a section of magnet tape.

Flying Bug Craft
You Will Need:
Yellow balloons (1 per child), yellow cellophane, black marker, string, tape, and ribbon

Inflate one balloon per child. Using the marker, children can draw a face and stripes on the balloon.  Cut wings out of cellophane and tape them to the balloons. Tie a ribbon to the knot of the balloon. If children run with their balloons, the wings should flap.

Ladybug Toss
You Will Need:
One red sock per guest, dried beans, a black permanent marker and a green blanket.

Give each guest a red sock. Ask each guest to fill the sock one-quarter of the way up with dried beans. Tie the top of each filled sock tightly for your guest. Once the sock is tied, allow each guest to decorate the ladybug beanbag by adding black spots and a face with black marker. Have the guests place their initials on their ladybug creation. Spread the green “leaf” blanket out on the ground. Place all the ladybugs in the center of the blanket. Position the guests around the blanket’s edge. Ask each guest to grab the edge of the blanket to lift it. With music playing, let the guests heave the blanket up and down--sending the ladybugs flying. The last ladybug left on the leaf wins.

Smell like a Bug Game
You Will Need:
One small canister per child (plastic film canisters work well), cotton balls, extracts such as peppermint, vanilla, lemon, almond, spearmint, or other smelly substance such as vinegar.

The object of the game is to find your secret matching scent using your nose. Place a cotton ball inside each container. Add at least 4-5 drops of an extract to two containers. At the party: Each child is given a container with a scented cotton ball. 
There are two containers with each scent. Guests try to find their partner by smelling each other's containers.

Fly Away Home
Before the party:
Cut out one large leaf from green construction paper per guest.

At the party:
Place the leaves randomly around the party room floor. Explain to the guests that they will be ladybugs flying around the garden and when the music stops they must find a leaf on which to stand. Begin playing some music. In the first round, there should be one leaf per player. To start the second round, remove one leaf. Start and stop the music appropriately. One player will be left without a leaf.  That child must “leave the garden.” Continue playing, removing one leaf per round, until only one child remains on a leaf--the winner. For younger children, consider giving the child without a leaf to stand on a small prize such as a sticker.

ABC Bugs
Have the guests sit in a circle. Explain that the object of the game is to think of a bug for each letter of the alphabet. The birthday child will start with the letter A. (A is for ant) The guest to the right must think of a bug for B. (B is for Butterfly). If a player can not think of a bug for his/her letter, the player must act like the bug used for the previous letter! Continue around the circle until Z is reached!
Hint: Some suggestions for the more difficult letters include Inchworm, Japanese Beetle, Knock Beetle, Unicorn Caterpillar, Viceroy, Yellow Jacket, and Zebra Butterfly. We suggest omitting “Q” from the game, as we could not find a qualifying insect.

Come Into My Parlor
Mark two lines in the play area at least 20 feet apart. Pick one player to the “Spider.” The other players are bugs, and they stand behind one of the lines. To start the game, the Spider yells, “Go Bugs,” and all of the bugs try to run across the web past the other line without being tagged by the Spider. If the Spider tags a bug, that bug becomes part of the web for the next go round. The bugs that are caught must hold hands with the Spider and run together as a chain for the next bug crossing. Play continues until only one bug remains, the winner.

Catch the Scorpion’s Tail Tag
This is similar to “crack the whip.” Have the children form a line (the Scorpion) with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. When you say, “Go,” the child at the front of the line tries to run and tag the child at the back, and the child at the back tries to avoid being tagged--all the while, the entire group must stay connected. When caught, the child at the back goes to the front. Play several rounds.

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