Spring Art and Craft for Kids: Cute Backyard Bugs

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I love Valentine’s Day because, to me, it means Spring is on the way.  There are so many super cute crafts that kids can enjoy during this season.  One Spring art and craft for kids that I love is this backyard bug paper chain.   It really is easy and you probably have most of the materials in your home already. Be sure to read until the end for a teaching tip.

Supplies

• Construction paper: purple, white, pink, yellow and red
• Googly Eyes
• Glue stick
• Tape
• Scissors
• Pipe cleaners: purple, yellow, and pink
• Hole punch
• Sharpie

Instructions

1. Take purple, red and yellow construction paper. Turn the paper horizontally and cut a 2” strip down the length of the paper, cutting through all 3 papers at the same time.
2. Add google eyes, eyelashes, and a cute smile to the middle of all the strips.
3. Let’s work on the butterfly first, cut two hearts out of pink construction paper. Use a black marker to decorate these heats and the body of the butterfly as desired.
4. Glue or tape the hearts to each side of the strip, creating the butterfly’s wings.
5. Punch two holes above the eyes for the antenna. Feed a pipe cleaner through the holes and curl up to form the antenna. Secure at the back with some tape.
6. Loop the whole strip and secure with tape.
7. To finish the bee, use a black marker to create stripes.
8. Cut two small pink hearts and decorate them with the black marker.
9. Attach the pink hearts to the back to form wings.
10. Punch two holes at the top for the antenna. Feed the pipe cleaner through these holes and bend upwards. Wind the pipe cleaner around a pen to create curly antenna.
11. Curl the whole thing around and secure with tape to create a loop.
12. Cut out about 6 tiny hearts and decorate them with the black marker.  Glue these to the body of the ladybug to create the spots.
13. Again, hole punch the top and add the pipe cleaner to make an antenna.
14. Finally, secure the whole loop with a piece of tape.
15. To connect the loops, cut 2 x 2” strips of white paper. Feed through two bugs and secure with tape. Repeat with the other two bugs and it’s finished.
16. Add as many bugs as you’d like!

 

Teaching Tip

My teacher’s heart exploded with this craft because I started thinking through all the ways this fun activity could be used as a learning experience.  One of my favorite books to read to my daughter is Backyard Bugs by Jill McDonald (Definitely check out her other books here.)
The illustrations are so bright and fun and fit perfectly with this art and craft.

For Math, you can have your kid count the chain links, eyes, and antennae.  Science is easily incorporated as you explore insects. Maybe go on an insect hunt or read non-fiction books on each insect they create.

 

 

Other Craft Ideas

40 Bug Crafts for Kids

23 Easy Valentine’s Day Crafts for Kids