Bugs

We had a lot of fun with our Bugs theme and actually spent a whole week on it.

Activities
Make some bug wings, see our tutorial here.

Make some Antenas, see our tutorial here.

Watch "A Bugs Life" together.

Make spiders out of pipe cleaners, see our tutorial here.

Buy a solar powered bug light and put it in the garden (we got this cheep because it's the end of garden season) my kids love watching it change colors at night!

Put a worm in a jar with dirt and then place a leaf on top and have your kids watch the worm come to the top of the jar to eat the leaf. This is a great way to teach your children about worms. My little boy loved this and wanted to carry the jar around all day!

What happens to worms in the winter? I had no idea...I figured they probably froze but wasn't sure. To view some fun facts click here.

Go to the library and check out some bug books or read some you already have. This is a great way to learn more about bugs!

Pull out the play-doe and re-create scenes from movies or books. Need a play-doe recipe? Click here.

Make caterpillars out of an egg carton. See our tutorial here.

Make a bug net and catch some critters together. Learn how to make your own bug net, see our tutorial here!

Swat those pesky flies. Make it a game and see who can get the most.

Use your leftover pumpkins to make giant bugs. This idea was inspired while at the pumpkin walk.

These are spiders made from smaller pumpkins, paint and pipe cleaners.

My husband knew it was BUG week and brought home this awesome looking bug. We let him go but it was really fun to see a different kind of bug that blended into the leaf so well.

Snacks

Make Caterpillars by putting sliced bananas on a toothpick, a grape on the end and a pretzel stick cut in half for antennas.

Make these cute clothes pin butterflies and enjoy your favorite snack from a ziploc bag! (We used 1 pipe cleaner, 2 eyes, and a clothespin, the pipe cleaner is threaded through the hole in the clothespin...super easy!)

Make "Ants on a log" by putting peanut butter on a celery stick and raisins on top.

Make some yummy "Dirt Pudding." Click on the recipe to make it bigger.

Have your kids help make this snack with you, my little guy loved helping. He got pretty messy but we had lots of fun!

You can also make some friendly spiders. We made this with some things we had laying around...cookies, whip cream, fruit roll ups and M&Ms. (Frosting would have worked better.)

Bug Net Tutorial

Here is a very simple step by step tutorial for making your very own homemade bug net!

You will need:

half a yard of tulle or other mesh fabric

metal hanger

wooden dowel

Scissors

Pliers

needle and thread or sewing machine

floral stem wrap or electrical tape

The first step is to take the half yard of fabric and fold it in half . Next sew the bottom and open edge closed with a zigzag stitch. I used yellow thread so you could see the stitching better but you can use whatever you like.

Next you will fold the top part of the fabric over about 1 inch and sew all the way around using the same zigzag stitch. Leave just a small opening so there is enough room to put the wire into the sleeve. Now you are done sewing and the net part is complete. ; ) Good job so far!

Next take your metal hanger and bend it into a circle.

Guide the wire through the net all the way around. I put a little tape on the edge of the wire to prevent the wire from catching and ripping the fabric.

Pull the two ends of the wire together and twist to secure leaving enough of the wire to secure your handle.

Now wrap the ends of the wire around the wooden dowel and cover with tape to prevent any cuts.

That's it, you have a bug net!

Go catch some bugs and have fun together!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

2 cans of chicken (or 3 cooked chicken breasts shredded)

7 cups of water

1 can of cream of chicken soup

6 chicken bouillon cubes

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup peas

Directions:

In a large pot add all ingredients, let cook over medium heat for 15 min.

Make Egg Noodles as shown below.

Egg Noodle Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

6 eggs

1 tsp salt

Add eggs into center of flour (shown below) and mix well with hands.

Use roller to roll out mixture flat then cut into strips and add to soup.

Let cook 10 more minutes

Serve hot

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Ingredients:

1 medium sugar pumpkin

1 lb ground beef sauteed with

onion, celery, mushrooms and green pepper (1 cup of each)

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 T brown sugar

1 can sliced water chestnuts (drained)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cup hot cooked rice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Wash the outer surface of the pumpkin. Cut a circle of the top just like you would if you were carving a jack-o-lantern. Clean out the seeds and stringy pulp. Clean out the pumpkin and rinse. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the rest of ingredients; spoon mixture in pumpkin. Replace top. Place pumpkin on baking sheet. Bake 1-2 hour in preheated oven until pumpkin is tender. Serve cooked pumpkin along with filling.

Printable Recipe

Tutorial: How to Make an Egg Carton Caterpillar

Cut or tear the egg carton so it looks like this:

Color or paint the egg carton

Poke a small hole in the top of one end of the egg carton and tie a knot in the center of the pipe cleaner like this:

Poke the pipe cleaner through the hole and glue on the eyes

Have fun with your new Caterpillar

Tutorial: How to Make Bug Wings

Shape the hangers/wire

Pull nylon over the top of hanger/wire

Wrap remaining nylon around base of wings

Put the base of both wings together (overlap them a bit for support) and stretch nylon around them then use needle and thread to sew nylon tight and hold wings together

Sew elastic to nylon

Wrap piece of fabric/felt around the base of the wings then either glue or sew. (This mostly just makes it look pretty but helps to keep wings in position too)

Have fun playing with your new bug wings!