Ever heard of story time + art, or 'stART'? We found this great art + literature connection activity over at Adventures-In-Mommy-Land and thought it would be a great fit for several different units depending on how you wanted to use it - i.e. Eric Carle author study, spring unit, or a bug/insect unit.

After reading Eric Carle's children's story, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, Charlene and her kiddos crafted these super cute beetles!

Materials

Styrofoam balls cut in half

paint in assorted colors

kids paint brushes

craft glue

chenille stems in assorted colors, cut into halves

wiggle eyes

Crafting the Beetles

Armed with paint and brushes, invite your kiddos to cover their Styrofoam ball halves with color. Solid colors, blocks of color, stripes, polka dots - invite them to let their imaginations run wild!

Once the paint has dried, your kiddos can use glue to add chenille stem legs and wiggle eyes! And voila - they have a finished beetle!

Cool, right!? For the full project post, be sure to visit Adventures-In-Mommy-Land!