Xander’s Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party had bright invitations and decorations, but everyone knows that one of the most important parts of throwing a good party is the food. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the perfect book for the job. I decided to focus on all of the foods the caterpillar eats on Saturday for the menu. Instead of serving lunch I chose a party time that allowed me to serve just finger foods (3:00-5:00 pm). For those who don’t know the book…
On Saturday the Hungry Caterpillar ate one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.
Very Hungry Caterpillar Party Food
I made the chocolate cake using the same recipe I did for the Devil Food Chocolate cupcakes with Nutella Frosting.
If you are familiar with the book, you know that the caterpillar eats lots of goodies on Saturday including ice cream in a cone. Instead of serving just cake and ice cream, I wanted to have a very hungry caterpillar party with many different sweets including ice cream cones made with confetti cupcakes and nutella buttercream frosting.
The mini cherry pies were made with the Betty Crocker pre-made crust and can cherry pie mix. I really wanted to make the pies with fresh cherries but at $4.99 a pound I just couldn’t stomach the price it would cost to make even a dozen.
I made the lollipop tree by spray painting a styrofoam cone and hot gluing ribbon at the top and bottom. The kids loved the lollipops the most! Every time I turned around Xander had a different color in his mouth.
In order to balance out all the sugar I wanted to bring in a bit of the healthy food from the book. What’s more festive for a very hungry caterpillar party than caterpillar fruit kabobs? The kids and adults loved these! I present you with the complete “Put you in a sugar coma” dessert table.
I wanted to serve a bit more at the party than just dessert, so I included salad to represent the nice green leaf the hungry caterpillar eats. I also included Swiss cheese, salami, turkey pepperoni,Pepperidge Farm Butterfly crackers, Gherkin Pickles and watermelon (the birthday boy’s favorite fruit).
Surprisingly enough the only food I had for leftovers at the end of the very hungry caterpillar party were the desserts. The salad, watermelon, cheese, meats, crackers and fruit kabobs were devoured.
Very Hungry Caterpillar Party Activities
After the guests arrived and had time to mingle and eat, we gathered the kids for a few very hungry caterpillar activities. I chose two simple projects that didn’t require many steps. In an attempt to keep the budget low, I used art supplies that were around the house. The canvas was half off at a local craft store. I also supplied crayons and very hungry caterpillar coloring pages (which no one used).
Hungry Caterpillar Thumb prints using 2 x 2 canvas from Michael’s and acrylic paint
Coffee Filter Butterflies, clothes pins, googly eyes, markers, and pipe cleaners
Very Hungry Caterpillar Party Favors
I almost was going to skip the party favors altogether. I’m not sure why mom’s feel the need to do goody bags, when most of the time they are just filled with crap that is thrown away. I guess it’s just a nice way of thanking the guests for coming to celebrate, which is the reason why I caved. My great friend, Heather, nabbed these great small boxes in the dollar bin at Target (where else). I filled them with everything colorful including swirly straws, Crayola crayons, bug and animal board books (for the kids under one), ice cream chalk, and Caterpillar food (M & M’s). I hope the kids and parents get some use out of at least a few of the items.
See pictures of my sweet boy enjoying his very hungry caterpillar second birthday party !
Food sources:
Food table set up and menu inspired by Pink Pistachio
Cake inspired by Me and My Boys
Devil Food Chocolate Cup cakes with Nutella frosting
Confetti Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream frosting
Mini Cherry Pies
Lollipop tree and caterpillar fruit kabobs inspired by Diary of a Preppy Mom
Craft Sources:
Canvas Prints
Butterflies (adapted by me)
Coloring page
Goody Box Sources:
Caterpillar food inspired by Lil Sugar
Tin from Specialty Bottle
Labels printed using Avery 2 inch round labels and free online template
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What a cute party…I LOVE the hungry caterpillar theme. So glad that you liked the ice cream cone cupcakes
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Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your
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I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the issue solved soon. Kudos
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Thanks for letting me know. It seems just fine in my internet explorer. I’ll look more into it but so far haven’t had any problems on the various computers I use.
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