This project came up by accident. We were at the pond and we watched small bugs and tiny new frogs get on the lily pads. We started talking about different plants and I asked my son if he knew that some plants can actually eat bugs. His eyes almost popped out of his head.

So we went to the library that afternoon after I was bombarded by a million annoying curious questions. We found a kid’s book about the Venus Fly Trap that was a really cute fiction book. We also got online and looked up pictures and information about real life Venus Fly Traps.

Then it hit me. We needed a craft/game. So I came up with this. What you will need: cardboard from a pizza (or just cardboard cut in a circle), green paint, green paper, scissors, glue, and a few pieces of black paper.

Paint your circle green. We used the small paint roller (that Allie always uses) and it worked great because the paint came on thin and even. The paint dried really quickly. For a paint free version you can just glue some green construction paper onto the cardboard. You will want to make both sides green.

While the paint is drying you can cut out triangles of green construction paper.

Cut the black pieces of paper into strips or small pieces and then wad them up into small little balls.

After your paint has dried, put a bead of glue around the edge and have your child place the triangles with long points out. I had to do a few to show my son, but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.

When you are done it should look like a big green sun. My son was a tad confused until I folded it in half.

Then he grabbed it and made it chomp. After I finally got him to stop chasing the dogs with his new Venus Fly Trap, I had him stand in one place.

I tossed the wadded up pieces of black paper (our flies) and had him catch the flies with the Venus Fly Trap. He did really well. We counted the flies as we caught them.

We learned all about a new plant (along with a whole new aspect of nature – carnivorous plants), made a cool puppet-like toy, played a fun game, practiced motor skills, and sharpened our eye coordination.

Here is the information on the book we checked out from the library.

Venus the Very Proper Fly Trap by Lynne Burton-Hupp

____________________________________________________________________________________________