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It won't be very long before all the bugs, bees, and other creepy crawlies are gone for the year, so I thought we better get this theme in before it's too late... Enjoy the crafts and activities!

Little Kid^TM Crafts

• Squished Bugs - This craft will bring lots of giggles as you make it. According to my kids, this craft was one of the best ones we've ever done... I know they sure did laugh a lot about their smashed bug.

• Potato Ladybugs - I saw this idea in a magazine years ago. Draw some black spots on a piece of construction paper with a black crayon. Cut a potato in half and dip half in red paint. Stamp potato over the black spots and let dry. The crayon resists the paint and makes a cute ladybug.

• Name Bugs - An interesting idea and unique activity. The basic idea is to use the child's written name to make the shape of the critter. When we tried it they all came out looking like worms with big heads, but maybe you'll have better luck. This kids had fun with this one anyway!

• Bee Puppet - This is an easy and fun craft made from a paper cut and a plastic spoon. Younger kids will really like this one because they can play with it too!

• Grass Hats - You'll need green construction paper, scissors, a stapler, and bug stickers for this craft. Use the green construction and stapler to make a hat band that is the full width of the paper and goes completely around the child's head. It will look a little like a green top hat. Then have the child cut vertical slits all the way around top of the hat band. Be sure to leave at least 2 inches at the bottom. This will make the basic grass hat. Stick stickers randomly in the "grass." The kids love this one!

• Egg Carton Ant - This is an easy project that makes an anatomically correct ant from a painted egg carton and pipe cleaners. You could use this basic idea to create a large variety of bugs... both real ones and made up one.

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More Challenging Crafts

• Bug Bead Patterns - This page has designs for beaded safety pins... the patterns include Bumble Bee, Butterfly, Dragonfly, Ladybug, and Spider.

• Flutterbys - I think this craft would be a great decoration for a child's room. It looks a little bit complicated at first, but it's really pretty easy to make.

• Bug Catcher - This little contraption is a lot of fun and it will save you a lot of money over the expensive ones you can order out of catalogs. You may be able to do this craft with younger children with a lot of supervision.

• Creepy Crawly Bug Box - The craft project shown on this page is pretty elaborate, but I think it would be really easy to simplify it so that a child could finish it in a reasonable period of time. It's a really cute idea!

• Don't Bug Me Door Hanger - This is another one of those crafts that can be adapted to use different materials if you want. I think this basic idea would be really cute if you used a pre-cut foam door hanger and then cut out foam scraps to make the other pieces.

• Pony Bead Dragonfly - When complete, this would make a nice backpack pull, keychain, or a fun room decoration. This craft is good practice for children learning to read and follow directions.

• Walking Sticks - Make a "stick bug" (at least that's what we call them) out of a stick and pipecleaners. Some younger children can make this too. You could use this same concept to make lots of other "bugs" out of things you can find in the yard like sticks, pinecones, leaves, sead pods, acorns, etc.

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