Butterfly Themed Birthday Party for Girls

Invitations, Decorations, Games, Favors, and Cake for a Girly Day

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Decorated Butterfly Wings - Jenny Evans

Butterflies are a great theme for a girl's birthday party. It's easy and inexpensive to plan a butterfly party, and guests get completely unique favors to take home too.

  

Preschool and elementary school-aged girls will be thrilled with this fun-filled butterfly birthday party. Here are ideas for invitations, decorations, games and activities, party favors, and cake appropriate for a butterfly theme.

Homemade Butterfly Birthday Party Invitations

With a few basic scrapbook supplies, it's easy to create fantastic invitations for a girly butterfly party. In purple script write a short butterfly-themed message on a 5x7" piece of white paper. An invitation for a 5-year-old's party could read: "Flutter on by—[NAME]’s turning 5!"
Leave 3 to 4 inches of blank space, then list the party details like place, date, time, and RSVP information at the bottom of the invitation.
  In the blank space, cut two vertical slits in the paper using an Exacto knife. Cut out a silhouette of small butterfly wings on scrapbook paper and slide them into the card. Fold the butterfly wings together for a 3D look.
Use a decorative corner punch on the corners and mat the white paper on a piece of patterned pink cardstock. This will add sturdiness to the invitation and cover up the backside of the butterfly wings.

Butterfly Party Decorations

Besides the standard pastel balloons and streamers, there are a wealth of appropriate butterfly themed decorations for a birthday party. Spring brings a lot of inexpensive butterfly garden accessories and home decor to craft stores like JoAnns and Michael's. The birthday girl can also draw sidewalk chalk butterflies leading toward the front door the morning of the party.

Butterfly Themed Activities and Games

Games and activities are the most important part of a child's birthday party. Here are some butterfly suggestions:

Decorating Butterfly Wings
Letting each guest decorate her own set of wings to wear is a great way to kick off a butterfly birthday party. Wings made from white posterboard are cheaper (and more decorate-able) than the standard nylon-over-wire wings. Here are instructions on how to make them:

1. Draw large butterfly wings on white posterboard, two per girl expected at the party. Three wings fit on a standard size sheet of posterboard.
2. Staple lengths of elastic or ribbon to the inside of each wing.
3. Tape sets of wings together, covering the staples with masking tape in the process. The finished product is a set of wings that slips on like a backpack.
4. Make sure to test the wings out before the party to make sure the tape will hold and that the straps are the right length.

As guests arrive, provide them with with markers and stickers to decorate their wings, but stay away from glitter glue or other materials that require drying time.
Butterfly Dance
Play a CD of light classical music and let each girl dance in her butterfly wings. For extra fun, give each guest a stick with streamers to wave as she dances. Wooden dowels cut in half with a few pastel crepe paper streamers tied to the ends work wonderfully. Secure the knots with a dot of Elmer's glue to prevent them from slipping off the dowel.
Pin the Antennae on the Butterfly
In this twist on the classic pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game, use colorful scrapbook paper to create a butterfly. Make a bunch of antennae by folding pipe cleaners into a V shape and twirling the ends around a pencil.
Butterfly Go Round
This game is a variation on musical chairs. Ahead of time, prepare large flower cutouts in bright colors that are easy to see. Each should have a number printed on the back, and there should be one for each girl at the party. Place them flower-side up in a large circle on the floor, and let guests walk over them until the music stops. When the guests tire of the game, have them turn over the flower they are standing on and choose a gift bag with the matching number.

Butterfly Party Favors and Gift Bag Ideas

A good way to create numbered butterfly bags is to wrap party goodies in saran wrap, tie with a colorful ribbon, and tape on a paper butterfly with the number printed on it. Good party favors include:

• pencil
• butterfly eraser
• suckers
• taffy/candy
• butterfly hair clips
• lip gloss
• nail polish
• costume jewelry

Butterfly Shaped Cake Instructions

All that is needed for this butterfly cut-up cake is a 9x13" pan. Directions are as follows:

1. Place the cooled cake on the table and cut a 1" strip off the short side. Set aside; this is the body of the butterfly.
2. Cut an X across the remaining rectangle. The two elongated triangles will be the butterfly's upper wings, and the two equilateral triangles will be the butterfly's lower wings. Arrange.
3. Frost the entire butterfly with colored frosting.
4. Add accent pieces of gumdrops and candy, or use a second color of frosting.
5. Use two pieces of black licorice for the antennae.

At the end of the party, everyone gets to take home a gift bag, a set of wings, and their dance streamers. This is such a fun party idea for girls of any age. Don't be surprised if the birthday girl wants to wear her wings for weeks after the party is over!
Visit Theme Birthday Parties for Kids to see pictures and directions for making invitations, decorations, cake, and games and crafts on a budget for a variety of other birthday party themes.