Earth Day Grass Caterpillars

Celebrate Earth Day

and the Letter C

I found these adorable caterpillars all over the Internet while searching for crafts my playgroup could do for Earth Day. It looks easy enough for a bunch of 2-4 year olds to accomplish mostly on their own! So I gathered up my troop of princesses and headed off to Lowes to pick up some grass seed, potting soil, and some cute shovels for the kids. After much searching I found a small bag of grass seed, and several other seeds I wanted to try out with the kids as well.

Our playdate began with the moms prepping our breakfast counter. We poured soil into 2 containers figuring more then one kiddo would want to participate in the craft at one time. In a large bowl we mixed the grass seed with the soil then cut up our pantyhose. I never knew how much fun it would be to destroy my pantyhose! 

We set up the kids with a bowl of soil and grass seed mix, handed them shovels, and opened the pantyhose for them to pour it all in. It was a mess, but fun none the less!

FamilyFun Magazine says to use ponytail holders and we tried that on one of the caterpillars. That worked well as long as you use the thin holders, the thick ones were too hard to wrap around the worm. But it did work well. Another mom brought regular rubber bands, hers turned out great as well. 

I refused to part with any of my pony tail holders and honestly didn't want the girls to think they could use their small ones for anything other then their hair. So I wrapped the pipe cleaners tightly around the worm making segments then used what was left over as legs. These pictures also show the placement of the tie off and I personally prefer making it the nose as seen in the first photo!

Earth Day Grass Caterpillars
Caterpillar with rubber bands and legs pushed into the side:

Caterpillar with pipe cleaners wrapped around then used as legs:

*Tip - You may want to wait on putting the eyes on. We didn't, as you can see and were worried they'd come off during the soaking. So far neither of mine have lost their eyes but that may just be luck!

After the legs are done its time to work on the antenna. There are a couple ways to affix the pipe cleaner to the caterpillar. You can cut the pipe cleaner in half and push it through the pantyhose 0r you can cut 2 slits in the hose and feed the pipe cleaner through. Bend in the middle and curl the tops.

Now its time to soak! Soak for 10 minutes.

After your caterpillar is done soaking its time to put it in the sun. Since the girls garden is barren in the middle I thought it'd be a nice home for ours till we can plant the seeds we bought at Lowes.

Once your caterpillar has dried out a bit, you can affix the googlie eyes on without much worry. Water your caterpillar every other day. Have your kiddos go out with you to observe how the grass is growing, the texture, color, and length. I measure out the water for each girl and let them water their own, otherwise they'd be mud by now!


*Additional note: Once the grass begins to grow the eyes you glued on will disappear. The FamilyFun site says to use a bobby pin and glue the eyes on that way. I tried that but had an impossible time keeping the bobby pins upright. I also didn't find the need for a yogurt container or pom poms.

Cothespin Butterfly Crafts

Clothespin Butterfly Craft

This is a fun, easy, and educational craft for your little one! We did this craft as we learned about the Letter B. As we put it all together we talked about how pretty butterflies are, the stages they go threw to become butterflies, and of course the sound B makes! Somehow both girls already knew the Spanish word for butterfly, mariposa! We also learned how to sign butterfly in ASL.

Supplies:

• Wooden Clothespins - I used regular non-painted clothespins then painted them with regular Washable Tempura Paint the night before. I bought mine from Amazon: Clothes Pins Old-Fashioned Wood w/ Spring Action Pack of 50 Wooden Clothespins by Whitney Design
• Tissue paper 12 x 18 Art Tissue Paper (50 sheets) $1.98
• Pipe Cleaners Chenille Stems, 12"L, 6mm x 12", 100 CT, Assorted Colors (LEO65600) Category: Paints and Brushes 100cnt for $1.98
• Children's Safety Scissors Sargent Art 22-0903 5-Inch Childs Safety Scissors, Blunt Tip Stainless Steel Blades, Yellow Handle $1.99
• Googly eyes

*You can also decorate with glitter glue, crayons, markers, etc...

Pre-cut the wing squares - Cut a strip 6 inches long and 4 inches tall then fold in half. Draw a B on one side for your child to cut out. *Always supervise your child around scissors.

Cut the pipe cleaner to 6 inches.

After your clothespin is dry from decorating, take the B that has been cut out and place into the clothespins mouth as seen in the picture.

Take the pipe cleaner and bend in half then place where the wings are, curl the ends to become antenna.

Apply googly eyes and draw on a smile - Done!

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

Earth Day is right around the corner and I wanted to do some things to make the day more special. We were working on the letter B this week so I thought it'd be fun to make a Pine cone Bird Feeder.

Living in Las Vegas makes finding pine cones a little harder then when I lived in Seattle! All three girls and I set out to find some regardless. We found tons of neat nature things to put in the bottom of Little Misses stroller. By the time we got back to the house I had 12 pine cones, a small bucket full of dandelions, several rocks, and a couple cherry blossoms.

They were happy to take a nap after we got home so I set all the goodies out in our backyard in hopes in bugs would wonder out and off our nature findings. I don't want to trap some poor spider in his home with peanut butter!

Once the ladies all awoke from slumber we started our craft:

How to make a Pinecone Bird FeederHave all your supplies ready:

Pinecone

Birdseed *I bought ours at the Dollar Store

Yarn

Scissors

Creamy Peanut Butter

Shallow Bowl

Cookie Sheet

I set out a cookie sheet so both my girls could cover the pinecone with peanutbutter easily. We did this outside on the grass which would have made a mess without the cookie sheet.

Using your shallow bowl, fill with bird seeds. Let your child(ren) roll the pine cone in the seeds. GG thought she's lick some peanut butter of her fingers and was very upset with the amount of bird seeds now stuck in her teeth! It took a couple flushings before she was satisfied they were all gone. *I used a fresh jar of peanutbutter only to realize half way through: Eew, they are dipping a spoon several times into a fresh jar of peanut butter and smearing it onto a dirty pinecone. Not the best plan. Next time I'll put some in a tupperware container for them!

Cut off some string, I made ours 2 feet long to give me plenty of string to tie. Wrap the string around the top of the pinecone, then to a tree branch. All done! This took us from start to finish 15 minutes.

Toilet Paper Roll Binoculars

This is a super easy craft and the kids go buggy over it! I've been collecting toilet paper rolls since December - needless to say, we have a ton. So its time to start working with them. BB and Gigi had finished putting on and taking off most of their princess dresses so it was time to sit down to a craft.

Today we are working on The Letter B so I thought it'd be fun to go on a Bug Safari!

Supplies:
*2 toilet paper rolls (or one paper towel roll cut in half)
*Crayons, markers, glitter, stickers, jewels - whatever your little one likes to decorate with*Colored paper to cover the rolls with, if you'd like*Hole Punch*Yarn *Tape or school glue

Set up your little one with the 2 rolls and let them decorate! *If using glitter I suggest placing a baking sheet underneath to help the containment of glitter. I'm positive I'll have glitter in my carpet for many, many years regardless!

Once they are satisfied with their artwork, tape or glue the rolls together. Punch a hole into the outside of the tubes and tie your yarn to make a necklace.

Now the fun starts, hide several plastic bugs in your home or backyard and have them find them! Definitely count how many your hiding - I've found lizards in my playroom in odd places weeks after this game.



I bought some butterfly nets at the Dollar Store to help with the collection of bugs. They collect just about anything they can fit into those nets at least once a day!

Letter H Playdate and Valentines Day Craft

We actually made this craft during a Letter of the Week playdate but I hung them up during February as well. We made different heart hand print crafts to give to the grandparents, I'll post those next.

Using red washable tempura paint, paint the palms of your childs hands. I do one at a time to cut down on the mess.

Place their hands as seen in the photo. Outline the prints with a red marker or a glitter pen.

Please visit my blog Playdates and Playgroups for more ideas to present this to your playgroup!