I make bugs. Well, in the summer, I catch bugs. But since it's winter, we had to make them before we could play with them. And I have to find things to occupy a very active not-quite-three-year-old little boys that don't involve: a) feeding banana peels to his sisters, b) playing Kick-the-Can with full cans of Budweiser, or c) me being forced to listen to obnoxious cartoons on the TV for hours at a time. So, I turn off our TV (blessed silence!) or set it to a music channel and get creative with him. He LOVES to do artsy stuff, so this was perfect. And what made it better was the fact that it was multiple projects in one (well, accidentally so) as well as spanning two mornings!
I present, Egg-Carton Bugs*!
(*I don't think this is an original idea... I think I did this in elementary school way back in the day...)
Step 1: I cut an egg carton into quarters - three "sections"(?) each - and let Jack loose with (washable!) paint. I didn't want to deal with clean-up on my dining room table, so I overturned a box I had and made that his own little work table (and the decoration there-of became the mini-project!).
Step 2: I used a screw-driver to poke holes in the painted bug bodies to make room for legs... I also, with Jack's help, determined which end was the "head" and poked two holes on top to make room for the antennae. (Caution: Don't be me and do this on your leg. It ended poorly for my leg.)
Step 3: Turn toddler loose with glue and whatever other decorations you might have... I had some pom-pom thingies and google eyes, and pipe-cleaners for legs and antennae.
Step 4: Wait for your decorations to dry so you can attach the legs. Though I helped him thread the pipe-cleaners through the holes for the antennae and legs, I let him pick the colors and I asked him if he wanted the antennae to "zig-zag" or "twist" or "wiggle" etc. Then I showed him how to bend the legs at the bottom for feet and let him do the "shoes"... (Note the lovely box-decorating!)
Ta-da!
This was Jack admiring his work... they're pretty sturdy so they were fun to play with for a couple of days until the bugs "learned how to swim" in the sink and died.
Yay! I love that I have a craft-loving kiddo - I have a nerdy obsession over the smell of crayons and school glue so I'm totally in my element with stuff like this.
What crafts do you like to do?
3 comments:
Oh, we are SO doing this!!! Yeah!!! Thanks for the awesome idea. Miss you!
This will be fun to try out. I actually think we have a bunch of stuff for crafts since my husband led Drew's scout group for a couple years.
Just wonder if Addyson is ready for it. Only one way to find out, I suppose.
Wow, I totally remember making those in school! I had forgot about it! Thanks for sharing, I'm going to have to do this with my son! :)
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