Kids' Arts & Crafts Ideas With Bugs
Many young kids are fascinated by bugs. Instead of discouraging their fascination with creepy crawlies, plan a few cute arts and crafts projects that feature their favorite flying, slithering and crawling bugs. Most craft projects do not require any expensive or special materials and can be modified to work with several different age groups and developmental levels.
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Paper Circle Caterpillars
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This craft can be made with just a few sheets of construction paper and some pipe cleaners. Trace several small circles, about two inches in diameter, onto construction paper. You may choose to use all green construction paper, or allow children to use several different colors. Thread the construction paper circles onto the pipe cleaner in an alternating pattern. Draw eyes and a smiling mouth on the front paper circle. If you choose to, you can use craft wire to make antenna. The pipe cleaner can be bent into several different shapes, bringing your caterpillar to life.
Coffee Filter Butterflies
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Spread out newspaper or a cover your workspace with a tablecloth. Use an eyedropper to drop several different colors of food coloring onto a coffee filter. Be careful to avoid getting the food coloring on your clothing, as it will stain. Allow the coffee filter to dry completely. Decorate the circular top of a one piece wooden clothespin (the type without the spring) with eyes and a smiling mouth. Glue curled pipe cleaners on top of the circle for antenna. Push the dried coffee filter into the opening of the clothespin, spreading out the wings. Use several coffee filters for fuller butterfly wings.
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Thumbprint Insects
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This is a very simple craft activity that is perfect for toddlers and young preschoolers. It also works well as a class project. Use green, black, and red inkpads and allow children to make thumbprints on a large piece of posterboard. Children can create caterpillars and centipedes using many green thumbprints in a row. Ants consist of three black thumbprints, while ladybugs can be made with just one red thumbprint. Use a black marker to draw legs on the ants and dots on the ladybugs.
Styrofoam Spider
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Collect several different sizes of styrofoam balls. Have an adult cut the foam balls in half using a sharp knife. Children can paint the balls with black or brown paint and allow them to dry overnight. Use black or brown pipe cleaners, and insert them into the ball for spider legs. Use this craft as an opportunity to practice counting how many legs a spider has. Use felt pieces and googly eyes to complete your spider. String white yarn in the corners of your classroom and attach spiders to the "webs".
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References
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