Children's Bug Crafts
by Wendy Pan

Description: Great for preschool-aged kids. Make a clothespin dragonfly, ladybug windchime, or a paper plate bee.

Sponsored links:

There are an estimated 1,017,018 species of insects in our world, so it's no wonder that children have an endless fascination with them. When they're outside playing, insects are everywhere, and while the majority of them don't hurt people, they are extremely interesting to look at. Therefore, childrens bug crafts are very popular with kids, because they love making their own insects.

Children can make an easy dragonfly by painting one old-fashioned (not clip) clothespin and four 3/4" craft sticks pale green. Prior to painting cut each craft stick at a 60 degree angle by cutting off about 1" of the stick. Let the pieces dry, then have the children paint a veined pattern on the sticks with a darker shade of green. They can also add some darker green to the clothespin including two dots on the front for eyes. When everything dries, glue the sticks into the groove in the clothespin to form two pairs of wings.

Clay pots make great childrens bug crafts. Start this ladybug windchime by painting a 4" clay pot bright red, inside and out. While the pots are drying, have the children color 3/4" sticker circles (available at discount stores) with permanent black markers. Each child needs to make two stickers into eyes and color eight more solid black. When the pots are dry, the children will paste their stickers on the pot to form the eyes and spots. Cover the entire surface with Mod Podge to make it weatherproof and keep the stickers from falling off. Fold two black craft stems in half, link them together, and thread them through the hole in the bottom of the pot. Glue the edges of the inside stem to the pot surface. Curl the ends of the stem sticking up slightly to form feelers. Feed a string through the hole around the craft stems with both ends inside the pot. Knot about 6" above the pot for a hanger. String a few pony beads onto the ends of the string and knot the strings securely. These will provide a little noise when wind blows the ladybug pot.

A third insect craft is to make a paper plate bee. Start with a heavy duty paper plate. Draw lines across the back of the plate about 2 1/2" apart. Have the children paint every other stripe bright yellow. When the yellow dries, paint the alternating stripes black. Glue two large craft eyes on the sloped edge of the plate. Punch two holes about an inch apart in the top of the plate a little ways behind the eyes. Thread a black craft stem through the holes and twist them to form antenna. Cut four wings from waxed paper and glue to the top of each bee.

There's nothing kids love doing more than painting, so you know they'll really enjoy doing these childrens bug crafts. You'll love seeing the delight in the eyes of the children over the cute insect crafts they have made all by themselves.

Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about children's bug crafts, please visit Crafts With Your Children for current articles and discussions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Pan

	Web http://www.crafty-moms.com