Paper Plate Bugs

For the month of May we have been learning all about bugs. If you have figured out by now, I love arts and crafts. Since my kids are still little the easiest, and super cute, crafts are made out of paper plates. We use paper plates to make so many different things.

The past 2 weeks we have been working on making different bugs out of paper plates. They turned out so cute! I love them!

Here are the supplies you need to make these: Glue, pipe cleaners, jumbo popsicle sticks, googly eyes, pom poms, construction paper, scissors and of course paper plates. You can get all of these supplies at any Dollar Store, including these little paint trays. For the paper plates you can choose to use paint, do-a-dot markers, or Kwik Stixs. We used all 3 for different bugs to switch things up.

To make the grasshopper we cut a paper plate in half and painted it green. We cut a head and legs out of green construction paper, added eyes and antennas. Done! And one of my favorite ones!!

To make the ladybug and bumble bee we painted the paper plate red and yellow, then used pom poms dipped in black paint to add the spots and stripes.

To make the caterpillar we cut the top half of the paper plate (in a crescent-like shape.) This time we used do-a-dot markers to create a pattern. We added legs and antennas with pipe cleaners.

To make a butterfly we painted the bottom side of the paper plate. Once dry, we cut it in half and curved the edges a bit. Switch them to opposite sides and glue together. We colored a jumbo popsicle stick with our Kwik Stixs and placed it in the center as the body. Eyes and pipe cleaner antennas to finish.

And lastly, for the snail we painted the entire inside of a paper plate. Cut a body out of contraction paper and glue together. We added a swirl in the center of the plate “shell,” eyes and antennas. This one turned out so cute also!

All of these bugs turned out so cute and were so simple to make. I hung them all up on a clothesline in our homeschool room.

(Tip: pipe cleaners do not like to stick well with glue so to save time, and some frustration, I just use a stapler to staple them on and then paint/color over the top of the staple.)