We got soooooooooo excited about these little critters!! Recycled bottle top bugs!!!! We actually get excited about anything Bees – Bugs and Butterflies!!!….
The kids LOVED them and so did I!
There is something wonderful about making something to decorate the garden with, especially when you can use recycled materials!!
We have tried our hand at making movable baby jar lid caterpillars, and these were a hit – to make and play with!
The class has a little garden outside the window and all the children have been very excited about planting their own little plants. Some brought veggies, others plants and flowers! In this fast paced world of instant gratification there is something wonderful about waiting for plants to grow – especially the eating kind!
Everyone was asked to collect bottle tops! WOW oh WOW did we have a mountain to start with!!
They were all washed and sorted!
I then chose like sized bottle tops and made the base for all the bugs and stuck them onto wooden skewers.
I wanted the make sure that they were completely stuck together – and this requires hot glue (or very strong glue.) I am prepared to sit quietly with my own 4 year old and work with hot glue, but with a class of 26 I prefer not to start working with glue or hot glue that may cause an accident! It is up to you to decide if your child is ready to work with a hot glue gun or with glue that may burn the skin if it comes into contact!
Some bugs ‘bodies’ were a single big round, others had 4 or five little bottle tops… and everything else in between!
I used wooden skewers because we wanted to plant them into our garden and we wanted a sharp pointy bit on the end! You can use any stick or wooden
Go wild!!
I then set up the bug making station with anything and everything I could find that may (or may not) fit onto a bug!
When I selected things to make the bugs with I made sure that they were rain proof – plastic, wood or foil, no paper!!
The children then selected a bug body and started gluing and sticking!
The results were fantastic!
Some bugs looked like actual things… and others completely make believe!
I love them!
The following day – once finished and dry the kids took turns to stick them into the garden!
They spent a fair amount of time selecting the “best spot” for their bugs!!
Putting the bugs into the garden was almost as much fun as making them!!!!.
Best bugs ever!!
Looking for more Bug Ideas? Here is our Bee Bug & Butterfly Selection!!!
