Everyone made these as kids. It’s a good, fun childhood standard.
You will need:
- An egg carton
- Tempera paints
- Pipe cleaners
Good to have:
- Googly eyes
- Glitter
- Glue
- Small pieces of tissue paper (for wings)
- Pliers
The Project:
Before getting your kids involved (trust me on that), cut the bottoms off the egg carton with a serrated knife. You should end up with a dozen little cup-shapes per egg carton. Set up the table, giving each child an equal number of egg carton pieces and access to the paints. (Hold the embellishments off to the side for later.) Let each child paint the egg carton pieces in an array of colors; they can paint the inside and outside of the pieces, it really doesn’t matter. (My son loves to paint the inside. I think it’s because it’s easy to do.) After they finish painting, take away the paints (in most cases; that depends on your child) and then give them the embellishments. The ‘bugs’ can all be attached in a row to make a caterpillar by feeding a pipe cleaner through multiple egg carton pieces, or left individual for smaller bugs. Pipe cleaners can also be used as antennae. Glue or paint on eyes and embellish as you’d like with tissue paper wings, glitter, spots, etc.
Tips:
- It’s cute to twist the ends of the pipe cleaner antennae with a pair of pliers to give them a little curl.
- This project can be done repeatedly and produces different results each time by simply varying your supplies. Plus, kids get better at a project every time they redo it by building on past experiences. Now, that is good news!
PHOTO OP: A close-up picture of your child’s face as they examine their bug on a plant or in the grass would be great!
