Sweet Gum Tree Ball Bumble Bee Craft

-

Little Bee

Little bee of twig and thread,
buzzing softly overhead,
made from treasures we can find
out in nature, warm and kind.

Branches, fabric, string, and seed,
simple things are all we need.
With our hands and imagination too,
we can make a bee that flies for you.

Supplies:

• a stick
• yellow yarn or string
• black string
• sweet gum tree balls
• a rectangular piece of white fabric
• scissors

Directions:

Wrap the sweet gum tree ball with yellow yarn twice, going front to back and then back to front, beginning and ending at the stem. Tie off the yarn securely, then cut away the stem.

Take a rectangular piece of white fabric and fold it in half. Cut out a soft semi-circle shape to create the wings.

Place the wings on top of the sweet gum ball, then tie a piece of black string around the center to hold the wings in place. Leave enough extra string to attach the bee to the stick.

Tie the remaining string to the stick.

Voila! Your child now has a little bumble bee to fly around the house or garden :)







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Memorial Day

-
Image
It was supposed to be day one of our summer homeschool schedule, but I forgot about Memorial Day. I recently stopped taking ADHD medication because I’m going through perimenopause and can no longer handle the added anxiety and overstimulation to my central nervous system. Since today is a holiday, we’re going to treat it as an extended weekend while also remembering those who fought in wars, something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Speaking of enemies, have you read the children’s book The Enemy by Davide Cali? The story begins with two soldiers trapped on opposite sides of a war. Each has been taught that the other side is evil. They are told the enemy is cruel, monstrous, and less than human. But as the story unfolds, we begin to see something unsettling: both soldiers are scared, lonely, exhausted, and manipulated by the same fears. Some people believe evil is literal and comes from the devil. Others see the devil as a metaphor for our shadow qualities: greed, contempt, hatr...
Read more

How to Make a Rainstick

-
Image
 Rainsticks are a beautiful way to explore sound, rhythm, creativity, and recycled materials with children. This hands-on activity combines art, engineering, music, and sensory play into one simple project. For our rainstick, we used cardboard tubes, nails, dried beans, and decorative paper to create a calming instrument that sounds surprisingly similar to falling rain. Supplies: • a long cardboard tube • small nails or toothpicks • dried beans, rice, lentils, or small pebbles • tape or cardboard circles for the ends • hammer • decorative paper, paint, or fabric • glue or tape Directions: Carefully hammer small nails through the cardboard tube in a spiral pattern. The nails should poke into the inside of the tube without going completely through both sides. Pour a small handful of dried beans, rice, lentils, or pebbles into the tube. Seal both ends securely using cardboard circles and tape. Decorate the outside of the rainstick using paint, paper, fabric, yarn, o...
Read more

Replicube, Programming, and Creative Problem Solving

-
Image
One of the most interesting programming tools we have been exploring lately is Replicube, an open-ended programming puzzle game centered around logic, code, mathematics, creativity, and three-dimensional design. In Replicube, students write code to recreate voxel-based 3D objects by giving precise instructions to a virtual construction system. What begins as simple shapes quickly develops into increasingly complex exercises in programming, spatial reasoning, experimentation, and computational thinking. Unlike many traditional educational programs, Replicube encourages students to learn through exploration, trial and error, and creative problem solving rather than memorization or passive instruction. Students are constantly asking questions such as: • How can this shape be recreated more efficiently? • Which patterns repeat? • How can code be simplified or optimized? • What happens if variables are adjusted? • Can one system solve multiple problems? As students experiment, they naturall...
Read more