Messy Buggy Party 6yr - Bug Bags Invites

For my daughter’s sixth birthday she could not decide whether she wanted to have a ‘messy’ party or one with a bug theme so we combined the two.        

The invitations went out in little paper totes (made on the computer) and said Come to Cassidy’s Sixth Birthday Party   They had bugs all around the words and on the sides.   Inside the tote was a snack baggie full of crushed graham crackers (sand), raisins (beetles), red hots (lady bugs), chocolate sprinkles (ants), and chocolate chips (spider eggs).   A topper was attached that had the party information on one side (I warned them to wear old clothes) and on the other was:     Lots of bugs crawling in the sand Ants, ladybugs, beetles,  and spider’s eggs Just open up the bag and stick in your hand pop some in your mouth don’t they taste just grand?         

When the kids arrived (we had all ages from 2-16) I got out the bubble solution (I’d made 5 gallons!) and handed out the large wands (you can buy them at the Dollar Tree or just use cups with the bottom cut out) so they could play while I finished lunch.   The plates, cups, and napkins all had bugs on them and since it was a messy party there were NO utensils!        

I posted a Buggy Menu and this is what we served:   worms (hot dogs cut into slivers lengthwise and then boiled (they curl up) and piled on a plate),  bug blood (ketchup I relabeled with a computer label with bugs and drops of blood on it),  bug guts in rolls (pizza rolls),  albino bugs (stick cheese cut in fourths with chow mein legs, eyes, and antennae added),  caterpillars (puffed Cheetos),  bug juice with worm ice (green Kool Aid with gummy worms hanging out of  the ice).         

After lunch we had a ‘no hands allowed’ Jell-O eating contest.   Then we armed the kids with water guns and had them shoot a tissue paper pinata (I put some plastic bugs and snakes in sandwich bags and wrapped them in tissue paper and hung it up)  until it ripped and the goodies poured out.   Then the kids were free to play on the swing set (we hooked up the sprinkler to spray on the slide (we have a 12 ft. plastic slide), added a little dishwashing detergent, and put a tarp at the end so they could slide down the slide and then slide on the tarp).   They also had the water guns and those balls you soak with water and throw.   They did this so long we didn’t do any of the other activities I had planned (We were planning to make slime (glue, water, and borax) and spray tie dye socks).        

Then we all came back to the carport and had a bug cake (The bug cake was a cake made in a bowl and placed on top of a 13X9 cake to make a hill, we iced it all with chocolate icing, crushed 2 kinds of chocolate cookies (we used chocolate Teddy Grahams and all chocolate Oreos for contrast) and pour over the cake (you kind of have to pat them in to make them stay), then we added plastic bugs and snakes.   My cake ended up with several holes but we just had snakes crawling out of them looked cool; very easy cake for those who are not good at cake baking and decorating (like me!) and also an easy one for my 6 year old to help decorate because since the cake is supposed to look like a dirt mound it's hard to mess it up!   She put a giant cockroach right on top not real appetizing but she just loved it!   We also served individual cups of ice cream.       

The goodie bags started out as plain yellow lunch sacks.   I used napkins from the party and after taking off the white part (they were 3 ply) I glued half of the napkin to the front and the other half to the bag and then trimmed around it, so the front and back had bugs on them, but the sides were still yellow.   They looked really good, like I’d bought them that way.        

For party favors the kids got to keep their bubble wands, loot from pinata, and water pistols along with packs of chewing gum that had a wrapper on it with a worm curled around it and the wrapper said Thanks for coming to Cassi’s party, squishy sticky roach bugs that looked real (and felt gross), arm bracelet tattoos with bugs on them, pencils with a frog eraser topper, several strips of bug stickers, and candy.