Make giant, colorful bugs from foam sheets and pipe cleaners, then put them on sticks to display in a flowerpot, wave around during a puppet show, or hide in the garden to surprise someone.
Materials
Supplies:
- Foam craft sheets in assorted colors
- Pipe cleaners
- Googly eyes
- Craft glue
- 1 wooden dowel or craft stick per bug
Tools:
- Scissors (grownup help needed for younger kids)
- Pen or marker
Don’t have foam sheets? Construction paper or cardstock works. The bugs won’t be as sturdy, but they’ll still look great. No wooden dowels? Try chopsticks, unsharpened pencils, or sticks from outside.
Steps
- Fold the foam. Fold a foam sheet in half so the two sides match up evenly.
- Draw your bug. Use a pen to sketch one half of a bug shape along the fold. Think about the body, head, and wings. Keep the top of the bug on the fold so the two halves stay connected when you cut.
- Cut it out. Cut along your outline through both layers, keeping the fold intact. When you open it up, you’ll have a symmetrical bug body.
- Attach the stick. Slide the top end of a wooden dowel into the fold of the bug body. Wrap a pipe cleaner around the body and twist it around the dowel to hold everything in place.
- Add legs. Wrap short pipe cleaner pieces around the dowel below the body. Bend the ends outward to look like legs. Use glue to keep them from sliding.
- Add antennae and wings. Twist pipe cleaners into antennae shapes and tuck them into the top of the fold. For extra wings, cut wing shapes from a different color of foam and glue them on.
- Give it a face. Glue on googly eyes. Use a marker to draw a mouth or other details.
- Display your bug. Stick your puppet in a flowerpot, a vase, or hold it up for a puppet show.
Grownup help needed: Younger kids may need help cutting the foam, especially around curves and small details.
