Bug Painting, Literally!

We have been doing daily activities, as part of homeschooling preschool, and I think this was one of my kids favorite activities so far. We went outside to one of our flower pots by the pool where we can easily find bugs, frogs, geckos, etc., and gathered a couple worms, grubs, a beetle and an earwig. Going on a bug hunt was fun! Then we dipped them in paint and watched them move. … …

Supplies needed:

• Half a dozen or so different types of bugs
• Tweezers, paint covered bugs are slippery!
• Different colors of water soluble paint – so the bugs can live through this experience.
• Paper

What to do: drop an insect into paint, drop them on the paper and repeat with different bugs and colors.

Learning Opportunities:

Make predictions about which bugs would be the fastest. Were they? We predicted that the beetle would be the fastest. The paint, however, made the beetle really sluggish while the worms, if they were really wet with paint, would move very fast across the paper. As the paint dried a bit they slowed down considerably.

Make a graph of the fastest bugs and their accomplishments, chart the fastest and the slowest bugs. Does the bugs speed change if you mix the paint with water or with oil?

Dip a bug in blue paint and drop it where there previously was a red or yellow bug trail, does the new bug’s squirming introduce new colors by mixing the paints?

How do the various bugs move? What does a worm do to move compared to a grub or a beetle? Can you see the foot prints of the bugs?

What does the bug do when touched or threatened? Does it curl up into a ball? Does it bunch itself up? Does it run? Does it freeze?

How are bugs different from animals? people? cars?

Hope you enjoy exploring with paint and bugs!

Rachel is mom to three and a regular contributor at Quirky Momma.  This activity was part of our learning theme “Bugs.”

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3. Mothers Day Garden Craft
4. Edible Paint Crafts for Kids
5. Nontoxic and Zero VOC Paints for the Nursery