Ladybug Party Ideas

They’re cute, they’re colorful and they even bring you luck… What little girl doesn’t love ladybugs? The ladybug party is an adorable theme, simple to plan and perfect for younger children and toddlers. Whether hosting a ladybug tea party in your backyard, a picnic in the park or turning your living room into a magical garden, we have some suggestions to plan a darling birthday party your little ladybug and her friends will never forget.

We’re sure you’ll want to find the perfect invitation to summon a “loveliness” (yes, that’s really the name for a group of ladybugs) to your party. There are many charming ladybug and garden-themed designs to choose from, or you may prefer cards with polka dot borders in ladybug colors such as black, orange, red and green. Choose a whimsical typestyle in complementary colors and ask your guests to “buzz on over!”

Another increasingly popular choice is to send personalized photo invitations of your child in their party costume. It’s the perfect way to set the mood, as well as inspire her guests to arrive dressed as little ladybugs themselves.

Costumes aren’t a necessity at a ladybug party, but they do make it a lot more fun. You can even provide the costumes yourself. To make antennae, wrap black pipe cleaners around headbands. Add a small styrofoam ball or cute curl at the end. The wings can be made from poster board, foam core or cardboard cut to shape and painted red with black circles. Ask the girls to arrive dressed all in black and greet them at the door with their antennae and wings!

Another fun option is to ask your guests to wear ladybug-friendly clothing in red and black or polka dot patterns and let them accessorize with red tulle petticoats, costume jewelry and even face paint as they arrive.

Outside of the house, let your guests know they’re at the right place by drawing a trail of ladybugs, leaves and flowers with sidewalk chalk. Line the walkway with pinwheels and artificial sunflowers, and hang a banner over the door declaring, “Ladybugs welcome!”

When choosing balloons and streamers, red, orange, pink and black are the colors of the day. Accent with a little bit of green to evoke the colors of nature. At the serving table, try a leafy green tablecloth under red and black plates, cups, and napkins. For the centerpiece, use plush or ceramic ladybugs to weigh down helium-filled mylar balloons.

As an alternative you can usually find tableware with ladybug themed designs at craft and dollar stores, as well as other knick-knacks for the party. Don’t be afraid if they don’t match, as that’s just part of the charm.

Your guests will probably be on the younger side so you’ll want to prepare plenty of games and activities to keep them busy throughout the party. Variations of popular games include “Pin the Ladybug on the Flower” and “Musical Spots.” For the latter, prepare black “spots” from cardboard or poster board on ahead of time. Make sure they are big enough for one girl at a time to stand on and play the game just like musical chairs.

A similar game is to have a “Jitterbug Contest.” Play a fun dance tune and ask them to dance along. When the music stops, anyone still moving is eliminated. The last one remaining wins a prize. If your guests are very young, you may not even need to make it a competition, they will be more than entertained simply dancing!

Whether the party is indoors or outside your guests are sure to enjoy a ladybug hunt. Hide ladybug toys (plastic, plush, even bean bags) around the area beforehand. Give your guests baskets and see how many hidden bugs they can find. Award a prize to the girl who finds the most and let them all take the ladybugs they found home.

Another classic game is guessing how many “ladybugs” are in a jar. Fill a medium sized glass container with red and black jellybeans, gum drops or licorice whips. The partygoer who guesses the closest without going over gets to take the whole jar home… Unless she decides to share!

Bring out the creativity in your little ladybugs with an art project or two! Have them decorate plastic or terra cotta flowerpots with non-toxic paints, or picture frames with paints and plastic and ceramic beads in ladybug colors. Both of these make nice gifts for your guests to take home to their parents.

Your guests will also enjoy designing their own ladybug T-shirts. Buy more than enough oversized white, pink or light blue shirts to go around and let their imaginations run wild drawing ladybug scenes with fabric marker, paints and glitter. These are wonderful souvenirs that the girls will undoubtedly want to wear long after the party is over.

It only takes a bit of imagination to add a little ladybug flair to your guest’s favorite foods. Serve “ladybug sandwiches” by topping bread cut in rounded shapes with a thin layer of peanut butter covered with red strawberry or raspberry jam. Top with raisins for “spots.” You can also use a melon baller to scoop watermelon and add raisin “spots,” or cut apples in half to resemble ladybugs and adorn with chocolate chips.

To make the beverages a little more fun, pour red soft drinks (tropical punch, pink lemonade or strawberry soda) from clean plastic watering cans. You can even serve ice cubes containing candy bugs. Simply add them to the tray before freezing. Another deliciously disgusting treat your guests will love is edible “dirt.” Mix cream cheese with chocolate pudding and layer with crumbled Oreos or graham crackers. Decorate with plastic flowers and gummy worms!

If you’re baking your own cake use a round cake pan (you can even find them in ladybug shapes) and ice with red frosting. Garnish with black gumdrops for spots, green gumdrop eyes and black licorice antennae. You can also make cupcakes in a similar manner, frosted red with chocolate chip spots. Serve in green cupcake liners trimmed to resemble a jagged leaf.

After the party you’ll want to send your guests home with goody bags. Picnic or Easter baskets are excellent containers, or decorate red paper bags with black spots. Fill with gumdrops, jelly beans, licorice and strips of candy dots as well as little ladybug gifts such as wind-up or plush toys, pencil toppers, pinwheels and cute bug stickers. If you’d like to add gifts that are educational as well as entertaining, add magnifying glasses with bug-identifying books or small flowerpots and packets of seeds.

Be sure to take plenty of pictures of your loveliness of ladybugs to send along with personalized ladybug thank you notes!

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