Bug Jar

The kids have been very interested in bugs lately. They love ctaching ants and fireflies. I made them these bug jars out of plastic peanut butter containers. I painted a bee and a lady bug on the lid and then we used a small drill bit to put a few holes in the top. The kids have been catching bugs all morning. So fun!!

Other crafts to do with Caterpillars and Butterflies

Button Caterpillars

Caterpillar Clip Magnets

Coffee Filter Butterfly

Egg Carton Caterpillars

Butterfly Clips

Butterfly Drawings

We have been all about butterflies this week! Since our field trip to the conservatory, we took our butterfly guide and colored butterfly cut outs to look like some of our favorites we saw. We had some great discussions about all that we learned about butterflies that we didn't know before.

Butterflies!

Last summer we raised some butterflies of our own and the kids had so much fun doing it. They were amazed at every step of the metamorphosis. We got caterpillars and everything we needed to properly raise our 5 new friends from Bugville. I highly recommend doing this with your kids. It comes with a DVD that explains the process and what to expect and tells you how to care for them. I can't tell you how engrossed the kids were. They loved it. I must admit that I thought it was pretty cool too. :)

Paper Plate Lady Bugs and Bowl Turtles

Using some things we have a round the house, we made some lasy bugs and turtles. We painted both first and let them dry. After the lady bug plate was dry we glued down some black spots and a head with googley eyes. We also included pipe cleaner antenae. For the turtly we used construction paper for a head, tail and legs. So cute!

Kid Created Flower Hanging Basket

My husband took the kids to the nursery to pick out some flowers and this hanging basket to give to me for Mother's Day, but it was so much fun for them that this could be done any time. They picked out some colorful flowers and planted them in the basket using their little shovels.

They were so proud of the finished product. Anytime someone comes over to our house, they take them in the back yard to show them the hanging basket they created. They also love to use their watering cans to water them. I will never forget to water them because they ask to water them all the time :)

Spring Felt Board

We made felt boards about a year ago by covering pieces of cardboard with felt and gluing it on. I cut out a bunch of basic shapes at first and the kids had a ball. Then I made them a set of cut outs that would help them build snowmen and it was a huge hit. As I noticed my son making another snowman today, I thought it was about time to cut out some spring shapes. Here are our creations today. :)

Button Caterpillars

My daughter and I made caterpillars out of buttons. They were so much fun and very cute. We also added some googley eyes so we could see where the head was. :)

We liked our caterpillars to be multicolored but you could easily make these using patterns.

Supplies needed:

buttons

pipe cleaners

googley eyes
glue

Homemade Bubbles

I saw this on Make and Takes and just had to try them.  We had so much fun!  

Supplies needed:

4 cups water

1 cup dish soap (we used Dawn)

1/4 cup Karo syrup

cookie cutters

bubble wands

pipe cleaners

Painting Planters and Planting Seeds

To celebrate Earth Day, we had some old, faded metal pails and we decided to liven them up a bit by adding our personal painted touches. The kids also planted some daisy seeds in them and can't wait to see them grow.

Simple Chick Craft

I found these cute little chicks on kiddio . They are so cute! We made these today and they are currently in little hands flying all around the house.

We used a cup and traced circles onto card stock and folded the circles in half. Then we made little beaks and the kids colored the bodies with crayons and colored pencils. We glued on some googley eyes and taped a couple of feathers underneath the body.

Supplies needed:

Cardstock

feathers

crayons/markers/colored pencils

googley eyes

tape

glue

Easter Eggs

We decorated foam shaped Easter eggs today with sequins, buttons, and pom poms. I especially like the 70s Disco Egg my son made :)

Sculpt and Bake Clay

We used one of our 40% off coupons at Michael's the other day and got some clay. We made some spring bugs and they are baking in the oven as I type. :)

The kids had a ball with it. They played with it for a long time this morning. I used a toothpick to put holes in them before we baked them so that we could hang them up too. Too cute!

Baby Chick Craft

I remember making these when I was little. You take some egg shells (make sure they are cleaned really well) and we put 2 yellow pom poms inside and glued on googley eyes and an orange felt beak. They are a cute little center piece to any table.

Supplies Needed:
yellow pom poms
googley eyes
orange felt
glue
egg shells (you can also use the plastic ones)

Caterpillar Clip Magnet

We are all very excited to order our caterpillars and watch them grow into butterflies and then release them. So in anticipation of receiving them, we made some caterpillar clips to hang on the refrigerator.

Supplies needed:

clothes pins

pom poms

googley eyes

pipe cleaners

glue

magnets

Egg Sun Catcher

I have been told many times by my son in the last few weeks that Valentine's Day is over and that we should take our hearts down that we made. I love them so much that I just didn't want to take them down yet. Today we made some eggs the same way we made the hearts from our previous post.

They look so cute on our sliding glass door.

Supplies needed:

card stock

contact paper

tissue paper

hole punch

cording or yarn

Water Bottle Flowers

I have seen these done on several blogs and REALLY wanted to try them out since Daisies are my FAVORITE flower. The kids had a great time with it. My son said it was just like stamping! We used a water bottle and dipped it in some paint and then used the cap of the bottle to stamp the center of the flower. Then we painted stems and leaves. We then used the cap again to make a sun and drew some rays. Ahhhh Happy First Day of Spring!

supplies needed:
paint
water bottle
paper
brushes

March is In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lamb Craft

Today we made lions and lambs for March. The kids had a lot of fun with them, especially when I said we would need to use a lot of glue to make sure the cotton balls stick. :)

It was funny too, because they understood completely what it meant to have March start out like a lion and end like a Lamb. No place illustrates that better than living in Ohio!

Supplies needed:

paper plates

construction paper

googley eyes

cotton balls

black marker

glue

scissors

UPDATE: I kept looking at these and thought something was missing...EARS!! I can't believe we forgot them. I'll try to upload a new picture with ears included soon! :)

Butterfly Craft

Today we made butterflies out of craft sticks and coffee filters. We used washable markers to color on the coffee filters and then we used a spray bottle to gently mist the filters to make the colors run. Allow it to dry or microwave it for a minute. Then we folded the top and the bottom of the filter and sanwiched it in between 2 craft sticks and glued them together. Lastly we added googley eyes and some pipe cleaner antenae!

Supplies needed:

coffee filters

craft sticks

markers

googley eyes

glue

pipe cleaners

Rainy day

Can you tell what kind of day it was here? The kids decorated some paper plates that were cut to look like umbrellas and then they glued on a handle and some rain drops.

supplies needed:

paper plates

scissors

markers

colored paper

glue