Hi mamas…..Hope your days are going well.
Please don’t yell at me…. but I honestly didn’t even know there was something called World Bee Day until recently? Yep. Apparently, it’s celebrated every year in May to raise awareness of bees and their importance to our world. And once I found out, it kind of made sense why I had been seeing so many bee crafts all over socials this time of year.
So, of course we ended up making 10 bee crafts using random things around the house because that’s just the season of motherhood I’m in right now, if you know, you know.
But, if I’m being honest, these 10 bee crafts came together on one of those chaotic afternoons where my kids were fighting over absolutely nothing while bringing the building down, and all I wanted to do was just finish up a blog post I had been on for too long and send out an email quickly, but the noise. So instead of panicking, I took the toilet paper rolls, clothespins, the empty tin from the dustbin, and some other random stuff, sat down, and we made these 10 bee crafts together at the dining table (not on a stretch, though).
Why these 10 bee crafts are the best for toddlers and preschoolers
Bugs are celebs in our house, my six-year-old likes to pick them up and bring them home and act like they are her pet, and I literally have to beg her every time to let them go – but I’m glad the one bug she doesn’t pick up is a bee, because I fear their sting.
But these bee crafts are surprisingly good for early learning, because the black-and-yellow colour palette is good for colour recognition and pattern-making. Apart from that, these easy spring crafts for kids are one way to get them working on their fine motor skills, like squeezing the glue bottles, or cutting paper, or pressing down the ends of clothespins, without them even knowing what’s happening.
But most of all, bees are just plain cute, and I don’t know why. So if you’re celebrating World Bee Day this year, these easy bee crafts for kids are the simplest way to make the day feel fun.
10 Easy Bee Crafts Your Kids Will Love
Toilet Roll Bee
Take a toilet paper roll, yellow paint, paper for the wings, black marker and glue. All you need to do is paint the toilet roll yellow, add black stripes, glue the wings behind the roll, and draw a little bee face. If your kids love toilet roll crafts as much as mine do, you might also love these easy toilet paper roll activities.
Clothespin Bee
Use a clothespin, yellow & black markers, paper wings, a pipe cleaner and glue. Paint the clothespin yellow, add black stripes with your black marker, make your paper look like a bow tie, and clip the middle with the clothespin (those are your wings). Twist the pipe cleaner and clip that as well. My girls loved opening and closing these, pretending the bees were “buzzing” around the house.
Milk Tin Bee
Get an empty milk tin, yellow & black paint, googly eyes, and glue. Paint the tin yellow, let it dry, then paint black stripes around it, let it dry too. After the paint is completely dry, cut paper wings and glue them to the tin’s body so that when you hold the tin bee horizontally, it looks like a flying bee. Once done, put on your googly eyes and draw the face.
Rock Bee
Take smooth rocks, yellow paint, a black marker, and white paper for the wings. Paint the rocks yellow and let them dry. Then add the stripes with the black marker and a face. Cut out the wings and glue them to the top of the rock, then add your googly eyes.
Egg Carton Bee
Cut out a cup from an egg carton, then cut the same cup in half, and paint it yellow. Add black stripes with a black marker and the paper wings at the top of it, then add your googly eyes.
Popsicle Stick Bee
Paint three popsicle sticks yellow (I used coloured ones, so I didn’t need to paint them again). Lay all three sticks together on the table and glue them together. Then add black stripes with a black marker, and glue the wings in the front, but slightly slanted. Cut a pipe cleaner in two, bend it and tape it to the back of the sticks, then add your googly eyes and a cute smiley face.
Leaf Bee
Paint the leaf yellow, let it dry. Paint the black stripes over the yellow, let it dry. Cut your paper wings and glue them on the leaf, then put your googly eyes.
Leaf Print Bee
Paint the leaf in stripes in this order: yellow, black, yellow, black, yellow. Then press it onto paper like a stamp, and turn the print into a bee by adding wings and eyes once it dries.
Pompom Bee
Get a yellow pompom and a black pompom and glue them together with the paper wings between both pompoms. Add your googly eyes, and that’s it.
Playdough and pasta bee
Mould yellow playdough into an oval shape. Then roll black playdough into ropes. Wrap the playdough ropes around the yellow playdough mould about two or three times, then insert butterfly-shaped pasta on each side of the playdough for the wings, and then add your googly eyes.
Before You Go…
Did you notice how super easy all 10 bee crafts are?
Like… almost every single one took five steps or less, and used only what we had, even though most of them looked slightly smudged, crooked, and a little scraggly around the edges too haha, which is exactly why I fully believe when I say my kids and I made all 10 of these bee crafts in one weekend.
And that’s kind of my whole point here – if you’re going to craft with your kids, you really do not need to focus on making everything look perfect. Just craft away, use the random empty toilet paper roll still hanging beside the toilet, cut that empty Amazon Prime box into pieces, finish up the half-dried markers lying helpless under your couch, and just have fun. Because at the end of the day, the kids are just happy they’re creating something with Mama
The truth is that my biggest goal most afternoons is simply getting my kids to do something tangible that doesn’t involve them swinging from bunk to bunk and screaming at volume 100, and on the brighter side, these 10 bee crafts kept them creative and away from screens for a while, which we all know feels like parenting these days
So take these 10 bee crafts for your toddlers, preschoolers, and first graders, and add them to your activity list for celebrating World Bee Day today, because they are your simplest way to celebrate without adding more stress to your day.
