Need Ideas for Party Games

Every little kids party has a ballon race in it when I was growing up. You blow up ballons and put them in a box. Divide the kids into two groups. they take a ballon run down a bit and then sit on it till it pops. They run back and tag the next person.

Do you remember the Ladybug Picnic song from Sesame Street years ago? It was one of my favorites - but maybe you can take some ideas from that - kind of use it as a theme. In the song the ladybugs had sack races, jumped rope, and told knock-knock jokes. You can google it if you want. Good luck!

Hi S.,

You've got already a lot of good ideas. Just one more, go to the website of Oriental trading.com, you will find a lot for Ladybug party.

They do have several options for kids crafts including "ladybug bell ornaments" just in time for Christmas?

Garden pot craft kit... cute as a bug photo frame, foam ladybug craft kits, bracelet craft kit, bug catcherbox kit AND paint your own ceramic ladybug bank... I think all kids enjoy painting and glueing and all the crafts.

Even being December maybe a small moonwalk?, something really small, you may be able to get a very good deal because is not season and if it si early and sunny with the kids well covered would be good. Check the weather, a day like today or even a little colder is perfect for it.

If money is not a question here you can even rent a small tent with "walls" and put the bouncer there.

Hope you have a great party!
M.

Someone's probably already suggested this but since I didn't read anyone else's response, I'm just going to add it here. What about having them go on a ladybug treasure hunt. You can cut out ladybug pictures (about the size of your palm so they're fairly easy to see) that are not colored in and then you could hide them all over the house. Make it a game that the kids have to find all the ladybugs and then when they do, they need to sit down and color each one in. Whomever has the most ladybugs collected could take a swing at the pinata first or get the most swings at it? That game should take at least 20 minutes or so in its entirety.
Hope this helps,
Jen

S.,
Your party idea sounds really cute. If you are doing face painting, offer the boys to be a walking stick or beetle...a bug that is more tough!!!

When I read your post two suggestions for games/activities came to mind. 1) a lady bug scavenger hunt. You can make lady bugs from construction paper. You hide them/place them throughout the house. The kids have to find as many as possible. You can label them with a prize and they turn in their ladybugs for candy, a necklace, bubbles. If you don't want to do individual prizes, the child that collects the most ladybugs gets a prize. (the latter rule could cause a mob in your home) 2)find the big coloring books with bug pages. You can have each child pick a page and sit in the floor and color as they arrive. (I just did this activity for my daughter's LPS 7th birthday.) Everyone loved it!!! 3) since you are doing face painting, you can do lady bug balloon animals. You can get the blow up gun and balloons at Target. They are super cheap and kids love balloon animals. I looked up animals online and practiced making them.
Ok, I think I gave you more than 2 ideas. Good luck with it. You have several fun things planned. Don't stress over it. Pick one of the above and then let them play until the party ends.

You can do an I Spy game. Find some pictures of ladybugs, dragonflies, and butterflies for girls and spiders, snakes or anything else boyish. Cut them out and tape them in differnt places around the room. As they spy them take them down to help keep track of who has how many then have a special gift for the one that gets the most.

S., having worked with boys and girls club and having small nephew to care for, I noticed how boys love dirt and bugs. Suggestion: get small drink size clear cups, break up orea cookies and put gummy worms and bugs in them. cover with green color coconut or icing with a ladybug tootpick in it (might have to just put stickers on it). For party favors, small insect puzzles or who can find the ladybug? Also, set up designated area in your home and have a ladybug scavenger hunt. Everyone gets a prize of some small kind. A large bag of bugs is cool. Also, magnifying glasses get in a party store or dime store. THey love to look at things in the magnifying glasses. Let me know if my ideas were helpful. thank you, best wishes. Terry

How about "pin the ladybug on the nest" instead of tails and donkeys, using velcro instead of pins. Make a cute tree and a ladybug nest, not too hard and part of your decor for the party. Ladybug cake should be easy enough too.

Scavenger hunt. Instead of giving little bags of party favors, hide them all over the house, give the kiddos the little bags and a list (maybe a list with pictures?), and have them search. Just spread out the bug theme - those little plastic magnifying glasses, different plastic bugs, bouncy balls with pictures of bugs on them (or just black or red ones!), stickers....just walk the party favors aisle at a party store - you'll find lots of fun stuff!

you could break the party into stations:

dress like a lady bug (face painting and antenaes)

act like a lady bug (play a variation of pin the tale on the donkey except you will put the spots on the lady bug. You can blind fold them and spin them once and have them "fly" to the lady bug and put a spot on it)

eat like a lady bug (snack time)

dance like a lady bug (play music and have them dance around: you could call out various actions for them to do so it's more controlled and less chaotic)

hope this helps! have fun

C. H,

What about 'pin the dot on the ladybug?' (Pin the Tail on the Donkey)

If you can find some plastic ladybugs then you can put them into a big bowl of rice (maybe a few) and then blindfold each kid and have them try to find one.

You can also do the same thing around the house and have the finds Find the Ladybug.

Buy the art supplies and have them each make a ladybug out of felt/fuzzies/pipe cleaners/etc

Hi Saraqh.

On one of our kids radio channels, there is a song called lady bug with no spots. It's a hysterical song by a "boy" ladybug who wants spots. If you have an ipod, you can download it and play it at the party along with the other party music.

Boys love bugs and I don't think you will have to go to any extra measures to entertain them.

As far as games:
Pin the spot on the bug might be fun. You can make a ladybug and her spots out of colored felt and let them try to get the spots on the ladybug. Use the velcro to apply the spots.

You can also print off free ladybug coloring pages and have a 5 minute coloring contest.

Google kids games. You can imporovise the ladybug for some of them. Kids this age will have fun just playing together, so any kind of game you can throw together should be fun.

This is one of the best tips I ever received for parties and the kids actually like it. At gift opening time have the kids form a circle and have each of them hold the gift they brought. The birthday child can sit (with no gift) any place within the circle. Start some music and have the kids start passing the gifts around the circle when you stop the music the birthday child opens the gift they are holding at that time. This gives total control over the gift unwrapping process. It also gives the birthday child a chance to open their gifts without all the other kids being on top of them. It doesn't hurt that it takes up some time for the party too!

pin the dots on the lady bug, make your own feelers (headband, pipecleaners and foam balls), make ladybug nametags, make ladybug magnets, ok not really games, but craft ideas...sorry. i'll have to think about it some more.

C. w
work-at-home mommy

Here's a link that you might find helpful.

http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/party.ladybug.htm

One thing that was fun for my son at that age was a mummy-wrap contest with toilet paper. You could make it a "hatch the ladybug " contest or some other name. Kids paired off- one got a roll of TP, the other gets wrapped. Blow the whistle and see who can wrap their kid the fastest. Extra points go for doing the best job. Then they get to break out of all the paper. Switch. Makes a mess of toilet paper but it's fun. After my son's party he went to three other parties that year that adopted that game....so I figure it must have been a hit!

Pin the spots on the ladybug...
Do the ladybug crawl...
The boys could do orange ladybugs if doing any crafts...
Ladybug Twister...
Musical Spots(use spots on the floor instead of chairs)...

Take heart on the preschool invite thing. My daughter invited every girl in her preschool (about 20) and 4 showed up. Most parents do not want to take their kid to a preschool birthday party unless they know you or your kid is the one their kid doesn't stop talking about.
Boy like there face painted and antennas too. They may not be ladybugs but you can make them other bugs... also remind them the ladybug in bugs life was a boy.
As for games... musical chairs is always fun at that age. You can keep it ladybugged theme by playing that children song about ladybugs (i don't remember it but my kids have a childrens song cd somewhere with a ladybug song on it). Scavenger hunt as Amanda said is always fun. Pin the (whatever on the whatever...nose on the ladybug or even spots there is no right place for spots as long as they are on the bug so everyone wins!) is great too. Bean bag toss. Bingo is always fun.. they have party bingo ( i think at factorycard.com) that is perfect for preschool because they are just pictures (soda can, ice cream, kite,etc.). Kids like to move so organized active games are gonna be your best bet, limbo is fun although little kids will not actually get how to do it right. You could play find the ladybug. Get a bag of bugs from like the dollar store and hide them around your party room. Make rules for the game... like first bug you see is yours, no tearing the sofa apart etc, and whoever has a ladybug gets a special prize and everyone gets to keep the bug or trade with someone else. There are tons of fun ideas.
We are having a mickey/minnie party for my 4 year old also in december so for the pinata instead of having the kids dive for candy we are putting the party favor bags sealed up inside. I have a teenage sister that is going to put names on bags and stuff them in once all the guests have arrived... that way boys won't be getting rings. And it adds to the fun that you have to find the bag with your name on it. Bug temporary tattoos are fun. You can get a ton of them cheap from oriental trading online and they are really cute.
At VBS this summer my kids made bug crittlers that were on wheels.. that was fun but you would would want to pre-paint them (half egg made out of styrofoam) and just have the kids stick on little black dots, wiggly eyes and pipe cleaner antennas. The wheels were on tiny nails that were glued in. The boys loved it because they could race them.. the girls wanted theres to be cute. Everyone enjoyed them.
Hope this helps:) Have fun

Check with the school on the policy, most say that if you pass out the invitation at school. If you mail them, you can be more selective, maybe just the girls.

Ideas
Pin the Ladybug on it's leaf or Pin the Spots on teh Ladybug - make a big leaf out of posterboard and you can buy some ladybug stickers or make a Ladybug wings (cut out red circle, then half, have top part touch and bottom spread out a little like open wings)make smaller black circles for the spots.

Musical Leaf - like musical chairs but you have leaves on the ground (construction paper or poster board cut outs)

Make ladybug antennae headbands to wear

Decorate small clay pots with red fingerprint and decorate like ladybugs.

I found some great links to ideas

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/ladybug_parties_3....

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/ladybug_parties_18...

Have fun!
C.
www.momsmaterial.com

Boys love anything having to do with BUGS, even ladybugs. They do enjoy having their faces painted. The only party I could think of that boys may not like would be a Princess party, but I know someone who called it a Princess and Knights party with a castle bouncy thing, etc. At this age boys and girls just love parties.

How about a scavenger hunt? They could be in groups and you could hid silly little things around the house. We did the sit on a balloon and pop it race for my daughter's 4th birthday and they LOVED it!! You might could manage that in your house. Freeze dance...or that hurry and get a chair before the music stops game? Bingo-you cold make your own bingo cards with something more interesting than numbers?

Make it a bug party. Boys love bugs and your daughter doesn't have to sacrifice. We made a pin the spot on the ladybug game. The ladybug was hung on the wall. Her spots weren't filled it though. Each player opened up an oreo cookie and liked it and tryed to place it in the spot that wasn't colored in. Good luck!

You could play pin the antannae on the lady bug. I think boys would enjoy getting their faces painted.