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I am the Mom to three boys and a baby girl, so crafts, books and science ideas are always happening in this house!   Boys and bugs just go together- they love to explore, learn and dive deep into anything that would encourage their learning new things (our daughter is too young to see if she will love it, too, but if she is following in their footsteps, I’m sure she will!).   

Our son was studying ants in his class at school, so to take this to the next level at home (extension ideas really help to drive a subject home!), we went onto the Orkin website (The Orkin Ecologist)  to learn more about this (they have such a huge amount of information about insects).   We all learned things that we hadn’t known before!   (We like to consider ourselves Ecologist in this house of boys… luckily these boys keep their Mama safe from bugs, frogs & all other “boy” things!  haha! See more great tips here for your family of ecologists- The Orkin Ecologist)
So, moving on… To make this lesson even more fun, we decided to ALL make our own ants!  It is a really easy and fun project (and you could decorate the house for Halloween with this!)
Here is how you make your own ant: 
Materials: 
  • Used (washed) egg crate
  • Googly/ wiggly eyes
  • Black (or dark colored) pipe cleaners (or red if you are doing a red ant)
  • Black or Red paint (depending on which kind of ant you are making)
egg carton ant craft
 Directions:
  1. Take an egg crate and cut part of it to create the body.  ( I cut the bottom off where THREE eggs went)
  2. Poke 6 holes in it for the legs (space them evenly- 3 small holes on each side.  We used a nail to make the holes just big enough for the pipe cleaners)
  3. Paint it red or black – let it dry
  4. Glue the wiggly eyes onto the ant
  5. Insert them as legs.  Bend them at a 90 degree angle to make them “hold up” the ant.
That’s it!   This is a really easy, fun, education project!  Our kids really enjoyed this!  I hope that yours do, too!   If you are looking for more great “buggy” ideas- you have to check out this page The Orkin Ecologist.  You will find ENDLESS ideas!
egg carton ant craft
And… before you go-  you can now win aOne (1) $100 gift card (AMEX or VISA)!   Yahoo!   Just enter this giveaway below!

 

 

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Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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18 Comments

  1. That craft is too cute! I will definitely have to try that one!

  2. If I seen something like that egg carton bug… I would need Orkin for sure. I am having so problems with spiders in my basement.

    1. You are hilarious!! 🙂 I know- that picture even scares me & we made it! haha.

  3. I actually made one of those spider egg cartons as a kid and I loved it! Bugs are fascinating and I’m glad you are educating your kids on the beauty and intricacy.

  4. Great idea! It is still best to keep the kids interested in science and the world around him. Technology nowadays brings kids in a world far far from reality.

    1. haha!! I know! The picture looks so much worse than the actual craft. LOL.

  5. Oh, it’s a really smart craft! And you can easily occupy kids with something like this 🙂