Keep reading to see how I pulled off the Butterfly Party, as well as other ideas I came across but wasn't able to (read: was too lazy to) incorporate this time around.
Decorations:
Anything butterfly will do. I hung two of the wind socks (shown below) outside to greet the guests, and had each child's name written on a foam butterfly and stuck to the windows. These were later decorated by the kids as an activity.
Activities:
Face painting (butterflies, of course!) and butterfly tattoos
Butterfly colouring sheets (make it a colouring contest if you feel like it)
Pin the antennae on the butterfly
"Butterfly landing": Make flowers out of large paper and spread them on the floor. Play the game like musical chairs: the kids flutter around when the music is on, and when it stops they have to land on a flower.
At our party, the kids decorated the butterfly with their name on it (using markers, stickers, glitter, etc.) and also did a foam butterfly craft (I bought a kit at Michael's, and it came with everything but the glue, and enough to make 24 complete butterflies. The little pieces were self-adhesive, so only the clothespin had to be glued on.)
Food:
Gummy worms (caterpillars)
Sandwiches, pancakes, pizza, jello jigglers etc. shaped with a butterfly cookie cutter
Bowtie pasta
Honeybee crackers
(We had non-butterfly-shaped pizza, pasta, salads and biscuits. Not everything can go with the theme, especially when you're feeding more adults than kids!)
Cake:
We enlisted our fabulous baker to make a cake in the shape of a butterfly. I wasn't sure if it would be enough to serve everyone, so I ordered a dozen cupcakes to go along with it...which was smart on my part, as everything was eaten. (Ordering three pizzas too many wasn't so smart...but you never know!)
Loot bags:
Here are some pics of what our party-goers fluttered away with (the wind socks were from Zellers, everything else from Dollarama):
Other ideas include butterfly stickers, clips, cookie cutters, and flower seeds.
This was a fun, girly, springtime party...and it was very easy to find supplies and decorations. Pulling this one off in November, however, might be a little more difficult.
Please feel free to add any other Butterfly Party ideas you've used or seen...or just comment to let me know what a fantastic party planner I am! (Hint: my three subscribers who were at the party are obliged to comment!)