Crafts & Activities

Simple Egg Carton Caterpillars
Cut the bumpy botton of an egg carton in half.  Let children paint or decorate with felt pens and stickers.  Attach pipe cleaner antennae, and draw on eyes and mouth.

Egg Carton Caterpillars 2
white craft glue
cardboard egg carton (cut lengthwise)
shirt cardboard
pipe cleaner
poster paint or markers

Cut off the lid of the egg carton.  Cut carton cups in half lengthwise.  Cut the shirt cardboard into s strips - long enough to stick out from under the carton on both sides for legs.  Turn the carton over and glue the cardboard strips across the underside of each cup.
Poke two short pieces of pipe cleaner into top of the first cup for antennae.  Paint the caterpillar with poster paints or color with markers. 

Go On An Ant Hunt!
Have an ant hunt....go outside with magnifying glasses and hunt for ants.

Spiders
For small spiders, use one egg carton cup.  Paint it black and attach pipe cleaners for legs.  For larger spiders, decorate paper plates.  Fold strips of construction paper in an accodian style, and glue to the paper plate.  Attach a string to the body and hang from the ceiling.

Clothespin Butterfly
watercolor paints
paintbrush
container of water
white tissue paper or paper towel
spring-type clothespin
pipe cleaner

Paint with watercolors on tissue paper or paper towel, then allow to dry completely.  Fold paper accordian-style back and forth onto itself like a fan.  Pinch paper in center with clothespin for butterfly.  Wrap pipe cleaner around head of clothespin for butterfly's antennae.  With a marker, add eyes or glue on googly eyes!

Sensory Table
Add some colorful plastic bugs to the sensory table. 

Lady Bug Puppets
red & black felt pieces 
black felt for legs (or black pipe cleaners)
polystuffing
Cut one piece of red and black felt into a ladybug shape.  Attach six legs to the black shape(bottom).  Place the red shape on top and stitch around the outside edge leaving a space to fill with stuffing.  Finish the edge.  Add black felt spots, googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae! 

Paper Caterpillars
construction paper in variety of colors
white glue
pipe cleaners

Cut enough circles in a variety of colors, the same size, so that each child has 8.  Have them glue the circles in line to make a caterpillar.  Add a face, and pipe cleaner antennae to the last circle! 

Butterfly Prints
finger-paint (in a variety of colors)
finger paint paper

Fold paper in half lengthwise.  Open the paper and lay flat on table.  Ask the children to "finger-paint" on one half only.  When they are finished, have them fold the paper onto itself....and press firmly.  Open to let their "butterflies" fly!

Make Potato Bugs
Give each child a potato for the body of the bug. Provide toothpicks, pins with colored heads, pipe cleaners, buttons, and colored paper to complete the bug.

Make a Worm Farm
All you need is a 2L pop bottle and some black construction paper. Lay the bottle on it's side and poke some holes all over the top. Fill with soil and add worms. Cover with black paper (worms like it dark!). After a day or two, take off the paper and observe the worm holes that that they have made. Return worms to your garden. 

Felt Worms
Make felt worms by cutting out 2 identical worm shapes; sew around the edges, leaving a small area to stuff with cotton batton. Complete sewing and add googley eyes. 

Stringy Worms
Dip long pieces of string into tempera paint.  Drag string on on paper to create worms.

Exploring Kit
Place paper, crayon, magnifying glass, tweezers, and anything else you can think of in a small paper bag for each child.  Attach a piece string so that the bag will hang nicely around their necks. Take them on a nature walk and let them explore using their special tools.  They can use the bag to collect "specimens" to take back home or to daycare.

Wax Paper Critters
Shave old crayons and place between a sheet of waxed paper on newspaper. Cover with another piece of waxed paper. Press with a hot iron for a few seconds. Cut into butterfly shape or other critter shape and hang in front of a window.

Feet Butterflies
Have the kids dip their bare feet into a shallow pan of paint. Help them step onto a piece of paper so feet are going outward from the heels together. Allow to dry; add antenna with markers.

Baggie Butterflies
Fill the snack size ziplock bags with scraps of tissue paper and cellophane and then gather them in the middle with a pipe cleaner or piece of chenille stem. Twist and bend the stem into antennae.

Cupcake Liner Butterflies
Flatten out colored cupcake liners and color with markers or crayons many different colors. Pinch liners in the center and wrap with pipe cleaners using the left over to make antennae.

Inkblot Butterfly
Cut out a shape of a butterfly and fold it in the center. Have the children paint on one side. Fold and rub lightly, then unfold. The sides will be identical. 

Pompom Caterpillars
Glue three middle size pompoms together. Glue on googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae. Add a magnet to the back! 

Stained Glass Butterflies
Precut a butterfly shape out of construction paper. After cutting out the shape, cut holes in several spots in the butterfly shape. Glue squares of colored tissue paper over the holes. Trim off any excess tissue paper around the butterfly shape.

Blotto Butterflies
Add paint to one side of a butterfly shape and fold to make symmetrical wings. To make this craft "non messy" just use dabber paints or fill paint into roll-on deoderant bottles (the roller pops off and can be filled with paint - the children simply roll to get the paint onto the paper). 

Tissue Paper Butterflies
Cut butterfly shapes from white construction paper. Set out assorted colors of 1-inch tissue paper squares, small containers of water and paintbrushes.  Have the children paint the butterfly shapes with water and place the tissue paper squares randomly on the shapes. Have them count to ten, then remove the wet tissue paper to view their colorful creations.

Flying Butterflies
Fold a piece of construction paper like a fan. attach a pipecleaner to the center and twist it at the top for the antennae. The "fans" become the wings. Add a piece of twine or attach to a straw so the children can fly their butterflies.

Butterfly Windsocks
Cut the end off of a paper lunch bag, tape a pipecleaner around one opening for support and attach to a tongue depresser or large popsicle stick. Add tissue paper or construction paper wings to the top of the windsock. 

Foamie Butterflies Magnets
Cut a butterfly shape out of fun foam and have foam shapes available to make the patterns on the wings - Add a magnet to the back.

Lady Bug Pins
Paint half of a walnut shell red for the ladybug's body. Draw a black line lengthwise across the shell to show the divide of the ladybug's wings. Punch some dots from black paper (or felt) and glue them to the shell. Rub some glue inside the shell and stuff it with coton. Cut a head from black paper (or felt) and glue it to the top of the shell. Glue on some eyes from red paper (or felt, or googly). Draw black dots on the red eyes for pupils. Cover the underside with black paper (or felt) cut to fit. Glue a safety pin on the back.

Fingerprint Honeybees
Press your index finger on an inked stamp pad. Then press on a sheet of white paper. Make several fingerprints across the paper. With a fine felt-tipped marker, add wings, antennae and legs to your creations. Try making other bugs - black paint/ink for ants; red for ladybugs; 

Spider Webs
With black construction paper and a white crayon or chalk, the kids can make a "web".  Add spider stickers!

Watercolor Spider Webs
Read The itsy Bitsy Spider then show the children the last page, where the spider lies in the sun and rests. Have children paint with pastel watercolors on white paper. When dry, let them drizzle glue over it to make a web-- put glitter (silver, white or clear) on the glue.

Hatch a Butterfly! 
At the beginning of the week the kids can make a caterpillar from an egg carton; then roll it up in a cocoon (construction paper). Hang them around the room. Read stories throughout the week about caterpillars and butterflies. At the end of the week the children open the cocoons to find a beautiful butterfly!! You, of course, have replaced the egg carton caterpillar with tissuepaper butterflies...lol! 
 
 

Ladybug, Ladybug
   This is nice with a ladybug puppet. 
Ladybug, Ladybug,
fly away home.
Your house in on fire
And your children all gone;
All except one
And that's little Ann
And she has crept under
The frying pan.

Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey
Along came a spider
And sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Fuzzy Little Caterpillar
Fuzzy little caterpillar 
Crawling, crawling on the ground
Fuzzy little caterpillar
   Move hand forward, wiggle thumb.
Nowhere to be found.
Though we've looked and looked
And hunted everywhere around.

Roly Poly Caterpillar
Roly-poly caterpillar
   Creep index finger along arm.
Into a corner crept,
Spun around himself a blanket
   Spin hands around one another.
Then for a long time slept.
   Rest head on hands, eyes closed.
Roly-poly caterpillar
Wakening by and by
   Open eyes and stretch.
Found himself with beautiful wings
Changed to a butterfly.
   Hook thumbs together and wave hands.

Here is a Beehive
   This is nice with fingers or finger puppets.
Here is a beehive. 
   Make a fist.
But, where are all the bees?
Hidden away where nobody sees.
Here they come, out of their hive.
    Creep fingers.
1 - 2  - 3 - 4 - 5
   Extend fingers one at a time.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
   Buzz away.

Busy Ants
Busy ants are everywhere
Up the tree, and down the stair.
Hiding in the garden hose
And even biting at my toes.

The Bugs in the Garden
  (to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus")

The fireflies at night go blink, blink, blink
link, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink
The fireflies at night go blink, blink, blink
Out in the garden.

The bees in the flowers go buzz, buzz, buzz
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz
The bees in the flowers go buzz, buzz, buzz
Out in the garden

Other verses:
crickets/fields/chirp
ants/in the grass/march
caterpillars/on the leaves/munch
spiders/in the bush/spin their webs
butterflies in the sky/go flit,
ladybugs on the wall/have lots of spots
worms/in the ground/wiggle and squirm
mosquitos outside/they get smacked

I'm A Little Butterfly
  (sung to I'm A Little Teapot)
I'm a little butterfly
I have wings
I fly around
And see all things.
When I see a flower
That looks great
I call out
To all of my mates.

Ants
Ants, Ants, 
Everywhere, 
Rushing here, 
Rushing there. 
Carrying treasures 
To their nest, 
Never stopping 
For a rest. 
Ants, Ants, 
Here and there, 
Hurrying and scurrying 
Everywhere.

Recipes

Ants on a Log
Spread cream cheese, cheez whiz, or peanut butter on celery.  Add raisins for ants!

Butterfly Salad (Serves one)
2 pineapple rings
lettuce leaf
cottage cheese
green olives sliced in 1/2
food coloring
2 celery or carrot sticks

Place lettuce leaf onto a paper plate. Slice each pineapple ring in 1/2 (makes 2 sets of butterfly's wings).  Place on top of lettuce leaf to form 2 butterflies. Place carrot/celery stick in center of wings as the body.  Put a dab of cottage cheese inside each "C" of the butterfly wings. Decorate the cottage cheese with food coloring, pineapple slices and olives.

Egg Bugs and Toadstools (makes 1 bug and 1 toadstool)
2 cold hard-boiled eggs 
1 cherry tomato
1 medium tomato
4 oz. shredded carrot 
2 inch piece of cucumber, sliced 
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
a few pieces of water cress, optional

1.  Peel the eggs.
2.  Cut the cherry tomato in half and then cut in half into four pieces to make the egg bug.  Cut the big tomato in half for the toadstool.
3.  Arrange the shredded carrot on a plate, spreading it out to that is it flat.
4.  Cut two slices of cucumber to stand the eggs on. 
5.  Place the cucumber slices on top of the shredded carrot, then put an egg on top of each one.  Lay the egg bug egg down and the toadstool egg up on end!
6.  To finish the egg bug:  Using the mayonnaise as "glue" attach the cherry half to the beg end of the egg and the two quarter pieces on top for spikes.  "Paint" on eyes and mouth with mayonnaise!
7.  To finish the toadstool:  Put a blob of mayonnaise on top of the egg and place the larger tomato half on top.  Dot with mayonnaise for spots! 

Banana Bugs
Have the kids poke pretzel sticks into a not-too-ripe banana for legs and antennae.  Use peanut butter for eyes and use as glue to attach a raisin spine.

Ants for Snack!
With cherry tomatoes (3 per child for body segments, and pretzels for legs and antenna, let children make ants for snack.

Worms In Dirt
Make "Worms in Dirt" using chocolate pudding, cookie crumbs and gummie worms.

Spider Crackers
2 Round Crackers
Peanut Butter
8 Pretzel Sticks
2 Mini Chocolate Chips or M&Ms

Spread peanut butter on one side of each cracker. Stick the pretzels on the peanut butter on one of the crackers so they look like the spider's legs sticking out (4 sticking out on each side). Then put the other cracker, peanut butter side down on top of it to hold the spider legs; in place. Using the peanut butter as your glue add two eyes using the chocolate chips