Insect Unit #4: The Ugly Bug Ball

No bug unit would be complete without a buggy party! In this case--I threw an Ugly Bug Ball and invited the nearby cousins. Good times were had by all.

My sister Megan provided two insect crafts that she ordered from Oriental Trading. We both relied heavily on Oriental Trading for all our bug needs. They came through for us.

I know it has been done before, but I couldn't resist making bug cupcakes. It is just so much fun to pretend you're eating dirt. Again, the edible bugs that the kids placed on top were from Oriental Trading, as were the big bugs I used to decorate the tables.

As it was a costume party, my children wore (for about thirty seconds) the butterfly masks they'd made several days before. The pattern can by found on DLTK. Didn't Miriam look so enthused? I think Cowen was trying to look buggy. I think.

I love balloons. They make such lovely decorations and then, later, such lovely entertainment.

My brother Wyatt manned the video camera.

And that is all the pictures I took. WHY???? I don't know. Maybe I was too busy partying. Or maybe I just plum' forgot. Either way, I regret the lack of pictures. You'll just have to imagine the goings-ons. First, we danced with our costumes on because it was, after all, a ball. Next came the "Tape the Wings on the Insect" game. My hubby has skills--including "draw an insect" skill. It came in handy for the making of the afore-mentioned game. After that I led the children to the far wall where I'd taped a series of pictures of different insects. The children identified as many of the insects as they could and then whoever identified the most, won. There was a three-way tie for first place for the three contestants who got nine out of ten. (Miriam was one of them--yeah, Miriam!) My sister, Megan, who is a smarty-pants, was mad she missed one. Termites. You just don't see as many pictures of them as you do albino praying mantises.

After the game we did some buggy crafts, ate pizza, and decorated our bug cupcakes. Then we let the kids go wild with the balloons while the adults cleaned up. It was a lovely party and a fantastic way to end our insect studies.