Lady Bug Party

 For my daughter's 6th birthday she wanted a Lady Bug themed party.  She ended up wanting a lot of the same activities we had done the year before at her Butterfly Birthday Party - so see game details under that blog entry.  The party went 1 hour:

-Make headbands as guests arrive
-Play 3 games
-Open presents
-Eat Ice Cream
-Secret Message activity


Lady Bug Head Bands:
My daughter helped paint styrofoam balls black.  I stuck a toothpick in the ball and she painted them using sponge brushes and craft paint.  When they were dry (approx. 24 hours) she stuck a piece of pipe cleaner into each ball.  We used 1/2 a piece of pipe cleaner for each antennae.

 The antennae were taped using masking tape to the back of a strip of red cardstock.  I cut circles out of felt made with a sticker backing.  Each girl stuck their own dots on.  We then fitted the headband to their head and taped it.  The sticker backing proved a little more difficult for the 5 and 6 year olds to remove than I had hoped.  You could also use rubber stamps with black ink or crayons and markers or paper dot and glue sticks.

Lady Bug Birthday T-Shirt:
I picked up a red t-shirt and drew a lady bug on the front using a black Sharpe marker.  As guests arrived they signed the back of the t-shirt (I placed cardboard between inside the shirt so the marker wouldn't bleed onto the front).  My daughter slipped it on just before we started the games.

Lady Bug Wrist Band:
Hobby Lobby had 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of felt with lady bugs printed on it.  We cut it into strips and made wristbands out of them using stick-on velcro circles.

Secret Lady Bug Message:
I cut 4" circles out of black construction paper and wrote one letter on each spot which, when put together, spelled "Happy Birthday!"  We taped the spots all over the back yard and the girls had to find the spots and figure out the secret lady bug message.

Games:
As usual, I take tried and true games and change them to fit the theme.  Usually is means just changing the title :)  See my Butterfly Birthday Party entry for details on these games.

What Time is it Mrs. Lady Bug (What Time is Mr. Fox?)
Butterfly, Butterfly, Lady Bug (Duck, Duck, Goose!)
Lady Bug Freeze Tag

*BONUS Idea
One idea I found online which we didn't get around to prepping was buying live ladybugs at a nursery and letting the guests release them into the yard.  I think they would LOVE that.