What is in our own backyard that is similar to what we could find on an African safari?
Well, there's grass.... trees... water.... birds... and even beetles!
There are over 350,000 different types of beetles! In our Invitation to Create, we designed our own beetle today to add one more to the mix. It was so much fun and kept my preschooler engaged for at least 45 minutes!
Can I just say that Mother Goose Time makes it so easy for us to do this!
They sent us everything pictured below except the scissors, glue, and hole punch.
Those black things, my friends, are black twist ties! Do they even sell those in packages at Walmart? Because seriously, those twist ties were my girl's fave.
We first looked at the inspiration photo, and I asked my girl some questions
that were in my Teacher Guide:
- What colors do you see on the beetles?
(she pointed and said all sorts of colors)
-What shape is a beetle? What shape do you want your beetle to be?
(Oval! Momma, can you help me make an oval?)
-How many legs does a beetle have?
(after counting, she said 6 legs and 2 antennae)
-What could you use the twist ties for?
(We can make an antennae!)
-How will you use the hole punch?
(I don't know how to use that. Can you help me?)
I showed her how to make an oval by folding her paper in half and drawing a semi-oval on it.
She then cut along the lines.
My hole punch is super old school and pretty hard to squeeze. She told me where she wanted the holes and placed her paper in the puncher while I held it. I just did all the hard work squeezing :)
Her beetle had a billion holes! Not gonna lie... my hand hurt a little.
Then it was time to bedazzle her beetle! MGT sent us sequins which were perfect for making
"two red eyes and a red smiley face."
I keep telling my girl,"One dot does a lot!" when referring to the amount of glue,
but I guess "dot" and "blob" are interchangeable at this age.
I'll get another bottle of glue soon.
Twist tie time!
The twist ties are what totally make this beetle design AHHHH-MAZING!
I don't know where you can get a bunch of black twist ties, but it came in our daily discovery bag from Mother Goose Time which is one reason why I LOOOOVE this curriculum so much!
Who wants to hunt down black twist ties? Not me.
But it seriously makes this beetle a beetle!
My girl worked on bending them this way and that, creating the legs and antennae for her beetle.
Obviously she didn't really care that beetles have 6 legs- hers has like 23.
I didn't count... but it's a lot more than 6 :)
She decided her beetle needed a few more sequins on its back after attaching all the legs.
We worked on the one dot does a lot glue method some more. She's starting to get it... I think.
Her completed beetle creation is below.
I love how her beetle stands up off the ground!
"Avaleigh, what do you like about your beetle?"
"I like its red eyes and smiley face, and all its legs."
Me too, my dear, me too.
Need more Safari ideas? Check out these posts from me and other blogger friends!
Your beetle came out so awesome! I didn't think of using the hole punch that way! :D #MGTblogger
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