This is a great craft to encourage imaginary play. Even though I have girls, my husband introduced playing with cars a long time ago. They would love to play with this craft, and with our son not too far behind in playing with cars, I’m sure he will love it too! The craft features all Martha Stewart Paint and Tools. Head on over to brown paper packages for the tutorial.
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Playing with and Learning about Bugs
Spring seems like the perfect time for talking about bugs in the classroom or at home, but kids tend to love bugs all the time. Here are some educational ideas having to do with bugs as well as bug crafts and sensory activities.
Learn about the life cycle of a fly with Living Life and Learning. The post discusses all the stages a house fly goes through, and there’s a free printable with the stages labeled and a worksheet where kids can fill in the stages. You could also cut them apart and have kids put the back in the right order and label them.
Active Little Kids has some basic insect worksheets for kids, and Living Life and Learning also has a great set of insect counting cards and puzzles.
You’ll find lots of fun bug activities and worksheets at Teachers Pay Teachers, including a cute bug bingo from Preschoolers and Sunshine to help them learn spring vocabulary and a huge printable set from Pocket of Preschool that includes life cycle, parts of bugs, fun facts and information on determining what is and is not an insect.
This bug sensory bin from Crafty Kids Play looks like a lot of fun, and it uses black beans and paper crinkles as a base so it’s pretty easy to pull together.
Make some playdough and play with bugs in it with this idea from Ruffles and Rain Boots. The color on theirs ended up perfect for the color of dirt we have where I live, but you can make it more brown or red or even black depending on what your local dirt looks like.
Get outside and do a letter recognition “bug spray” activity like this one from Toddler Approved. So cute!
Ice excavation is another classic craft you can give a buggy spin by freezing bugs in your ice. Get all the details from Friends Art Lab.
If you have an outdoor place where you can observe bugs, you might want to make an easy bug hotel like this one from Happy Toddler Playtime. It’s easy to do with stuff from the yard or playground, and a great way to invite bugs to a place you can observe them.
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