This craft can be adapted to almost any ability, as your child is able do less of the steps for them. Obviously my almost 11 month old had limited participation but letting her loose with the marker was the highlight of her day. She kept squealing so loudly I thought the neighbor’s dog would start howling. To say she was happy was a huge understatement and that is the point of activities with such young children, happy experiences, exploration and play. No need to turn it into a bee if you want to keep their masterpiece the way it is but let little ones explore ( with you in arms reach for safety).

1. Gather your materials. You will need some yellow construction paper or card stock, some ribbon, black construction paper, scissors , pipe cleaner,  a black marker and painters tape.
2. Start by taping down the yellow paper with painter’s tape. This is a must with toddlers.
3. Hand the marker to your child. My daughter was sorta like… hmmmm what is this ? So my son jumped in to demonstrate.
4. She got it all over her hands and started making prints, which works fine too!
5. Next fold the colored paper in two. So it’s colored on both sides. Cut into the shape of a bee.
6. Make a slit in the bee’s back.
7. Make a rectangle of black paper and fan fold it.
8. Using some of the extra black make a triangle for a stinger.
9. Using double stick tape ( or glue) put the bee together with the stinger on the bum.
10. Thread the fan folded paper through the slit. Trim if needed.
11. Draw a face .I don’t use googly eyes with baby/toddler crafts usually but if you are doing this for older kids feel free.
12. Poke a hole for the antenna and thread the pipe cleaner through, poke a hole and thread the ribbon through.
13. Hang up!

Great Book About Bees

Buzz by Eileen Spinelli is a really sweet tale about a little bee who loves everything about being a bee, especially flying! When she finds out that bees should actually not be able to fly her confidence in herself and her favorite thing about being a bee is lost.  Luckily that is not where this adorable tale ends and your children will love it. My son came running into the kitchen where I was reading this to my daughter who screamed at me until I let her hold the book so she could touch the adorable little bee. * She is in the ripping books phase so when I read her books with paper pages ( vs board) I pop her in her booster.