Give your child a creative challenge to stretch their creative thinking and problem solving skills! This simple yet fun art project for kids combines science, art and problem solving to make it the perfect STEAM activity to engage your child in learning about bugs.

STEAM is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) with the addition “A” for Art.

STEAM activities are essential to raising creative thinkers and innovative problem solvers. A creative challenge like this activity will have your child thinking and problems solving as they create their own solution to the problem.

Creative Challenge: Build a Bug (or Insect)

YOUNGER ARTIST: If you are working with a younger artist you may wish to keep it simple and challenge your child to build a bug from the play dough and provided materials. Discuss with your child examples of different bugs and what bugs may eat or where they may live.

OLDER ARTIST: For the older child, challenge your child to build an insect. An insect has specific body parts such as 6 legs, 2 antennas and a body made up of 3 different parts.

My three year old and five year old had a blast as they discussed and built their own imaginative type of bug or to be more specific insect!

Read below for our whole tutorial.

Bug– an insect or other creeping or crawling invertebrate (as a spider or centipede) from Merriam-Webster.com

Insect– a small animal that has six legs and a body formed of three parts and that may have wings from Merriam-Webster.com

Materials

Play Dough

Googley Eyes

Pipe cleaners

Scissors

Items from Nature (optional)

Shallow Box or Container (optional)

build a bug play dough

Tutorial

Step 1: We discussed what an insect was and reviewed the different insect body parts. After our discussion my two young artists got to work building their own insect.

While this activity does have a challenge or prompt I still left it open-ended and let them be creative with their insects. I did not expect (or want) them to try to realistically create an ant or bumble bee.

build a bug collage Step 2: Let your child create! This is the fun part. Ask open-ended questions along the way to stretch and prompt their problem solving and creative thinking skills. Encourage your child to name and/or describe their own bug or insect.

You may ended the activity here or you can extended it one step further.

build a bug pipecleaners

Activity Extension: Build a habitat for your newly created bug/insect.

buid a bug habitat

build a buy outside

Lil B (5 years old) became curious about bugs and how some insects eat plants while other insects eat other insects. We took our bugs outside to build the play dough bug a habitat in the shallow container. Lil B and M-Woww gathered plants and grass for the (play dough) bugs to eat and sticks for them to rest on. Lil B then decided he needed to provide shelter and cameflouge his insect from other insect eating bugs.

This activity was a low-prep, inexpensive one that kept my two preschooler’s engaged and involved in learning. I love when my preschoolers are curious and want to learn more. Learning can and should be engaging!

If you like this activity be sure to also check out our Build a Bug Habitat.

Looking for more ways to encourage your Preschooler’s creativity? Be sure to sign up for our Growing Creative Preschooler’s Newsletter and receive our FREE download, How to Unlock Your Child’s Hidden Talents.