So many fantastic ideas for entertaining young entomologists. Natalie shares: Beckett wanted a bug party for his 4th. I did not want a "cute" bug party by any means...no caterpillar cakes, no neon orange and bright green accessories. I finally saw a safari themed party in a magazine, that was very earthy- and thought how perfect that would be for a bug party!

I wanted the guests to feel like real bugologists, studying insects in the middle of the rainforest. We had bug/ forest sounds playing in the background. When the children arrived, we gave them a safari hat, a magnifying glass, and a booklet with pictures of bugs for them to find on our specimen table. The specimen table was an 8 foot long children's table, covered in burlap, with various containers I found at Michaels, filled with bugs- some fake, and some real. We bought real crickets, worms, ladybugs and fire ants from a local nursery and pet shop. We surrounded the table with tree stumps I found on Craigslist (listed under firewood). We draped ripped muslim over the top (not pictured), and lined a wall with a net and placed oversized bugs on it.

After searching for bugs and playing a game of bitten! (hot potato, but with a spider), we had a speical visitor. Steve the Nature Guy did an hour presentation showing off some exotic insects, and reptiles who enjoy eating insects. The children were mesmerized.

As a party favor we gave them each a mason jar (with a bulap cover instead of the lid, for breathing purposes) filled with ladybugs to release in their garden when they got home.

Thanks Natalie!