A Bumblebee Birthday Party for Wee Ones! by Kathy Kress  Our 3-year-old daughter began talking about her party far in advance after preparing for and attending her big brother's party. He had been Harry Potter for Halloween and had a Harry Potter birthday party in January.  Maya assumed that since she had been a bumblebee for Halloween that she would have a "bumblebee birthday!" We had months to prepare.  When our oldest child began to have birthday parties, we decided on some basic tenets that were important to us:  We want our birthday child to be the center of attention and, therefore, would not hold parties in the same place where other kids would be celebrating (ie amusement center or restaurant).   We would keep the crowd manageable and, therefore, limit the number of guests to the age of our child (not counting family).  We would include our child in the planning, but save some surprises to add to the magic of the day.  We would make sure that the party would last no longer than the attention span of our child. We would enjoy the planning, not stress about it. We would spend under $10 per guest.  So, Maya's bumblebee party was held in our yard with 3 pals + family and several age-appropriate activities. It cost under $30 and lasted all of 45 (after-nap) minutes! I bought yellow tee shirts at the Goodwill and painted black stripes on front and wings on the back for each guest (including the adults!) so everyone was dressed as a bumblebee. Each guest was given a bottle of bubbles to entertain them until all had arrived. We played Pin-the-Stinger-on-the-Bumblebee (blindfold was optional for the little ones) and "Fly, Fly, Bumblebee" (our version of Duck, Duck, Goose).  Then we snacked on bumblebee cake and lemonade.  I had a bumblebee craft project (from Oriental Trading Company). Maya opened her gifts and then gave each guest a gift bag with bee-related goodies. The 3 pals buzzed home and the family relaxed together the rest of the evening.