Archive: bug activities

Bug Crafts for Kids

Express some critter creativity with this bug crafts for kids:

Fuzzy caterpillars

Glue different colored and sized pompoms to a popsicle stick. Then, glue on two googly eyes and one pipe cleaner smiley mouth. You’ll have a herd of fuzzy friends in no time.

Paper inchworms

Cut green construction paper into three-inch strips. Tape the end to a sheet of paper and loop it around the first 1/5 of the paper strip (almost like a paper chain). With the remaining 4/5 of the paper, bunch it up, making waves and gluing the paper down at the bottom of each curve. Stick on two googly eyes and two pipe cleaner antennas. Draw on a smile and you’re good to go.

Painted butterflies

Grab some gigantic, white sheets of paper and a variety of paint colors. Have your children go to town. Show them how if you place a blob of paint on a piece of paper and fold it in half, it can come out looking like an abstract butterfly.

Styrofoam spiders

Take a three-inch Styrofoam ball and paint it black. Stick three pipe cleaners out of each side for the legs. Paint on a red smile and stick on two googly eyeballs. We’ll bet these little guys turn out to be the friendliest spiders you’ve ever seen.

Paper plate ladybugs

Staple two paper plates together, creating a small pouch. Paint it black. Next, take a third paper plate and cut a pie-slice-shaped chunk out of it, the remaining portion will be the wings. Paint the plate with the missing piece red with black spots and staple it onto the black pouch body. Cut legs and a round head out of construction paper and glue or paint on eyeballs and a smile.

Sources:

-“Bugs and Insect Activities for Kids” Pinterest

-“Kids Bug Crafts” All Kids Network

-Photo courtesy of Salvatore Vuono/freedigitalphotos.net

Ant and Worm Activities for Kids

Mom Trusted put together a few fun ideas for critter-crazy children. These will help them expand their scientific knowledge and have a great time. Here are some bug activities for kids. Some are educational and others are even tasty:

Invest in an ant farm. Your kids will have fun for hours watching the ants dig mazes.

Eat dirt for dessert! Make some chocolate pudding, following the instructions on the box, and pour it into small, plastic cups. Then crumble chocolate cookies on top of the pudding. Stick a few gummy worms in each cup. You can even add green coconut shavings (dyed using a few drops of food coloring) for grass if you want to get extra fancy.

Make a worm hotel. All you need is a big glass or plastic jar and some worms. Fill the jar with dirt, stick a few worms in and watch them wiggle through it. Note: the worms will be happiest if you alternate dirt and sand every few inches. Make sure to return them to their natural habitat after a few days.

Make compost in your own backyard. Gather veggie kitchen scrapes, some leaves or cut grass and place in a large pale with a lid. When it starts to decompose into dirt, add a few worms to help the process along.

Feed the ants and watch how much they can carry. Be sure to do this activity far away from your home! Grab some lunch leftovers and take them out to a field with a few ant hills. Drop the food in large chunks and watch as tiny ants come to take away pieces many times their size.

Sources:

-“Bugs and insect activities for kids” Pinterest

-“Creepy crawly activities for kids who love bugs” education.com

-Photo courtesy of antpkr/freedigitalphotos.net