Kids Party Game Ideas
For A "Gone Buggy" Party

EXTERMINATOR - This is an outdoor party game, especially great for a hot day. Set off a game area and spread several beach towels on the ground in various locations. These are the anthills.

One child is designated the "Exterminator" and is armed with a spray bottle of water. The other guests are ants. The Exterminator must get rid of the ants by spraying them with his bottle of insecticide.

When a player is sprayed, they must lay on the ground with arms and legs in the air - like a dead bug!

The other players rescue the dead ants and bring them back to life by carrying them by the arms and legs to one of the anthills. (While an ant rescue is taking place, the Exterminator cannot spray any of the rescuers.) Once placed on an anthill, the dead ants come back to life and can rejoin the game. This game can go on for quite awhile and is sure to wear out your little bugs!

BUG DISCOVERY - Divide kids into teams of two or three. Give each team a large white sheet, have them place it under a small tree, and let them shake the tree to see what kinds of insects they discover. Have prizes for the biggest bug, most unusual bug, most colorful, etc.

COCOON - Divide the children up into teams of two. Give each team a roll of toilet paper. Have them decide who is going to be the caterpillar and who is going to be the wrapper. At the starting signal, see who can wrap up the caterpillar first using all the toilet paper.

ANTS AND SPIDERS - One person is "It" and has to run around tagging as many people as they can. When they have tagged someone, that person has to stop and stand with their legs apart and their hands outstretched, until another player crawls through their legs. A player who's been caught three times is out. The game ends when everyone left is standing still.

~ Kids Party Game Ideas for Gone Buggy Party ~

JELLYBEAN JAR GUESS - Fill a jar with colored jellybeans and let children guess how many are in the jar. Use red and black for a ladybug party, yellow and black for a bee party, etc.

THERE'S A BUG ON MY BACK - This is a good ice-breaker game. Pair up your party guests and put a sticker or a picture of a bug on each child's back. Have the guests try to guess what the bug is by asking questions that can be answered with only "yes" or "no." For example, "Do I have legs?," "Can I fly?" and "Am I Green?"

BUG TOSS - Throw beanbag or plastic bugs into ceramic flower pots. The child with the most "potted" insects is the winner.

PIN THE LADYBUG ON THE LEAF, PIN THE SPIDER ON THE WEB, PIN THE BEE ON THE HIVE - Draw a spider web on a large sheet of poster board and see which child can get the spider closest to the center of the web. Draw a large leaf and mark a spot on the leaf where the children should try to place the ladybug. Draw a beehive and mark a spot where the children should try to place the bee.

MUSICAL ANTS - Use pillows for "anthills". Provide one fewer "anthill" than the number of guests at your party. Start the music (or adults can sing "The Ants Go Marching") and have the children walk in a circle around the pillows, until you stop the music.

When the music stops everyone tries to sit on a vacant "anthill". The "ant" who doesn't find an anthill is out. One pillow anthill is taken away and the game continues until only one person (the winner) is left.

~ Kids Party Game Ideas for Gone Buggy Party ~

BUGBITE - Play this kids party game with a ladybug beanbag or a big hairy plastic tarantula (available around Halloween). Children sit in a circle and pass the bug while an adult plays music. When the music stops, the child holding the bug (the one "bitten") is out and the game continues. The winner is the last player left who has not been bitten by the bug.

BUZZ, BUZZ, STING - Gather your guests to sit in a circle and let the party child begin as the "Bee." He/she walks around the circle tapping each child lightly on the head, saying "Buzz" with each tap. At any time, the party child can choose the next person to be the Bee, by saying "Sting" when tapping that person on the head.

That child gets up and chases the birthday child around the circle. If the new Bee does not tag the birthday child before he makes it all the way around the circle and sits in the open spot, then the new Bee becomes "It." If the new Bee tags the birthday child, then the birthday child remains "It" for the next round and the game continues.

CATERPILLAR CONGA LINE - Everyone forms a line with their hands on the hips of the person in front. All sing out "Caterpillar!" and dance forward. This crawling caterpillar conga line can weave all over, in and out of the house.

~ Kids Party Game Ideas for Gone Buggy Party ~

BUG DERBY - Make egg carton bugs and race them. Just cut an egg carton into individual sections. Have guests draw eyes on them and color them with markers. Add two pipe cleaner antennae and they're done. Place a marble or jawbreaker under them and race them down a slanted board or table.

CATERPILLAR RACE - This kids party game is a definite "photo-op"!Divide the children up into teams. Have the children race to the end of the room and back while they are inside a sleeping bag. They cannot touch the floor with their hands or feet, only with the sleeping bag.

BUG IN MY SHIRT - Divide the children into two teams. Give each teach a ball of yarn with a bug tied to the end. Have the first player on each team put the bug up or down their shirt and pull the string through. The first player than hands the bugs to the second player in line and he does the same thing. They keep passing until they get to the end of the line.

This kids party game can end here or have players reverse the process and take the bug back out of their shirts. The first team to get the bug all the way back to the first player wins.

~ Kids Party Game Ideas for Gone Buggy Party ~

SPIDER CRAWL - Line guests up and arrange a finish line about 10 yards away. Show them how to hold their ankles and run like a spider. If a child lets go of his ankles he is out of the race. The winner of this kids party game is the first child who reaches the line.

SPIN A WEB - Divide guests into two teams of four or more players. The teams line up and face each other. The first player on each team is given a ball of string. At the starting signal, the first player hands the ball of string to the next person in line, while holding onto the end of the string. The ball is then unwound a little more and passed to the third player, and so on, unrolling as it goes.

When the ball of string gets to the end of the line, the last player passes it behind his back and back up the line again. This is repeated until the whole ball is used up. The first team to finish is the winner. This kids party game can end here, or you can have an untying relay, with the first team to untie itself the winner!