Budget Friendly Bug Birthday Party

My youngest requested a bug birthday party for his 8th birthday, and it was a lot of fun to plan and fairly easy to pull off. Our family loves nature hikes and exploring, so a bug party was the perfect theme for celebrating with an outdoor birthday party.

I love party planning, but as the years pass and life seems to get busier, I really love easy party planning. We were able to have a fun party with friends while also maintaining our sanity and sticking with a frugal budget.

Bug Party Decorations

With nature as our inspiration, the colors were greens and browns. Some of the activities did double duty as decor. The centerpiece was a runner of craft paper decorated with large bugs, a real bug display my kiddos made in homeschool, real bugs inside magnifying containers, fake moss and paper shred.

Bug Party Food

My son requested pizza and chips, so that made the food super easy and a hit with the other kiddos. I added some kid-friendly trail mix, gummy worms and bug juice (green Hawaiian Punch) to the menu.

I always make my kids’ birthday cakes, and since I’m no professional, I keep it super simple. This cake was a basic chocolate with frosting with plastic bugs and candy rocks and dyed graham cracker “moss” added for decorations. We kept the ice cream super simple with individual cups and a fun selection of toppings.

Bug Party Activities

Since the party was outside, kids were able to play freely. I personally think that’s the best activity to start a party! After we ate, we did two group themed activities. The first was a nature scavenger hunt. We spent about 15 minutes collecting as many nature things from the list as possible and then the children were able to show off their finds.

The second activity was digging for bugs. I put garden soil into clear totes and buried lots of small bug toys in them. The children had a blast digging in the dirt to find the bugs to put into their bug jars!

We don’t do “friend parties” for our kiddos every year, but when we can it’s always a fun time!! I’ve learned through the years to keep it simple and kid-friendly and as stress free as possible!!

Sources

Amazon: balloon arch kit, bug stickers, small bug toys, magnifying containers

Walmart: water bottles, all food!

Target: scavenger hunt papers

Dollar Tree: bug jars, craft paper roll, paper shred, large bugs, fake moss

I used my Cricut to personalize the bug jars and bug juice bottles and to make the cake banner.