One sign of spring being in full swing is the appearance of splendid ladybugs. Their simple black bodies, red wings, and minuscule dots make for an interesting and amusing craft idea for children.Crafting and creating ladybugs can teach preschoolers about these intricate bugs, be a number teaching tool and enrich their understanding of how nature works.
Painted Objects
Source: By Camile @ My Mommy Style, “15 Ladybug Crafts for Preschool” (https://www.mymommystyle.com/15-ladybug-crafts-preschoolers/)As long as red, white, and black paint are available, you can paint almost any round object as a ladybug. Things like rocks, bottle caps, plastic gallon caps, used guitar picks and old golf balls can be a perfect canvas for these diminutive critters. Of course, you don’t have to use red. You can make your ladybugs any color. They can be purple, blue, gold, or even copper so long as they have the black spots with the look of two wings, eyes and antennae.Do a small test to ensure the paint will adhere to the surface you choose. Certain paints do not work well on some plastics and natural surfaces. Always wash rocks or other earthen objects before painting so that the color goes on smooth and even.
Windsocks
Source: Inspired by @ Kids Love What, “20 Easy To Make Ladybug Crafts For Kids” (https://www.kidslovewhat.com/20-easy-to-make-ladybug-crafts-for-kids/)Making windsocks for your porch, patio or yard is an adorable way to craft ladybugs with your special little angel. There are a myriad of materials you can use to make these and it doesn’t have to require a huge investment.
Primary Considerations
You will have to use a little foresight and planning before you attempt a windsock. There’s some engineering involved because you want to make sure air flows through it effortlessly. If you must, do a little research online to see other examples of how people made theirs.Make sure you can also decide what parts of it the child can do and which ones you will have to undertake. But regardless of how you dole out the tasks, always include the child with some aspect of it as much as you can.
Structural Schematics
Your base object and materials should be soft and pliable. So, this means using things like mesh, fabric, ribbons, crepe paper, or foil for covering and ornamentation. You can use stiffer substances on the body, but you’ll want the overall structure to flow and dangle.You can design the ladybug to expand when the wind picks up. Or, place the wings in such a way that they flap a little or a lot depending on how hard the wind blows. A little shiny foil or glitter can make the wings and body glisten in the sun.
Body Materials
For the body, use empty toilet paper rolls, old garden pots, plastic bottles, or disposable cups. So long as it’s round in some way, it will do. You want to cover this object with paint, fabric, or some kind of color to denote the ladybug’s body.
Figure Elements
You can design the wings as a separate element or color them onto the object. Don’t forget the eyes and the wing spots. Then, you’re going to want some string, rope, or wire so you can create a fixture for hanging. This is where the fabric comes in handy; you can securely sew this onto the windsock.
Basic Ladybug Constructions
You could always color, paint or make a ladybug out of colored construction paper or cardstock. This will require things like glue, scissors, crayons, markers, colored pencils and etc. You can put these on paper or you can make them 3D by gluing wings and antennae onto the surface.You can turn ladybug constructions into hanging mobiles, wall decorations or refrigerator art. You could attach something such as rubber bands, safety pins, or magnets to the back for places like window curtains, lampshades, clothing, or even hair.
Counting Games
Source: By Housing a Forest, “Ladybug Number Game” (http://www.housingaforest.com/ladybug-number-game/)One point of doing activities with preschoolers is to ready their brains and learning abilities for school. So, taking every opportunity to make numbers and letters a part of their daily life is essential.Regardless of how you create your ladybug, you can use the opportunity to teach your child how to count. You can do this while you construct, place or paint the spots on the ladybug’s wings.If you create many ladybugs, as with small rocks or bottle caps, you can have varying numbers of wing spots. Have the child count all the ladybugs present and the total number of spots on each wing. Also, if it’s not beyond their mathematical ability, have them add how many total spots are on all the ladybugs.
Ladybug Cupcakes
Source: By The Typical Mom, “How to Make a Ladybug Cupcake” (https://temeculablogs.com/ladybug-cupcake/)Aside from making fantastic works of art, you can also bake it! Because of the many approaches available, take the following procedure as an impetus of inspiration rather than direct step-by-step instruction.Do some planning and consideration ahead to determine how you want to create ladybug cupcakes. Will you use the entire cupcake or only the top portion? How intricate will they be? Also take into account that you want, as much as possible, to make every part edible.
To Cup or Not to Cup
Cupcakes cups are optional. There are some available in an array of colors and patterns. But, at the very least, try to get red, black, or white. Black ones are often available around Halloween. Yet some people opt to not use cups and simply grease and dust the inside of a cupcake pan.
Dark Cake
You want to use a darker colored cake-like devil’s food, dark chocolate, black forest torte and etc. This will serve as the base for the body. You could make the top only for the wings and put its eyes and antennae into the side for a dimensional effect.
Frosting Ideas
For frosting, buy or make a white, vanilla, or cream cheese frosting. Half the batch you can color with beet juice or red food dye. The other half can stay plain. These halves will serve for the white and red colors for the ladybug’s eyes, body, and wings.
Design Suggestions
Toothpicks or sandwich ties make suitable antennae. But you could also use birthday candles or pipe cleaners. Of course, you could not have them at all or use a bit of frosting to draw them onto the cupcakes. You can make dots or lines for this.Brown M&Ms, chocolate chips or other candy can be for the wing spots and eyes. For the eyes, set chocolate chips on larger dabs of white frosting. You could also get craft eyes or make some out of construction paper or cardstock.If you want black frosting, use chocolate or purchase a confectioner’s cake decoration in black or dark brown. But you can easily create darker areas indicating black by not placing any frosting in certain areas; like down the back to indicate the separation of wings. Chocolate chips work for this purpose too.
Creating Ladybugs
These ladybug craft preschool ideas are merely suggestions to inspire your imagination and innovation. Besides, who doesn’t love ladybugs? Being resourceful is the basis for true artistry, creativity, and genius. It teaches children about problem-solving, cognitive ability, and how to make decisions. The child will learn how to turn fantasy and ideas into tangible reality while developing critical brain functions.
Comments
0 comments
