Spielideen Englisch 21. April 2020 · AK

Ideas for games at home: Bee Crafting

The bee is one of the most important animals and to draw attention to it, you can make a big star out of this small insect.

An idea from the FRÖBEL Kindergarten Wunderkind in Kerpen.

In Germany there are - according to the Bee Careful initiative - several million bee colonies, each individual bee colony has its own collection area, covering 50 square kilometres - roughly the area of Cologne city centre. For 500 grams of honey in a jar, a single bee flies a distance as long as 3 times around the world. This performance is remarkable. To make the bees more visible, here is a crafting instruction. Afterwards you can let the big star made of paper mache "fly" in the window.

Material:

  • Wallpaper glue
  • Brushes
  • Balloon
  • Newspaper
  • Colour (black and yellow)
  • Craft wire for the probes

 

Instructions:

Step 1: First of all, a large working surface is prepared, in case glue gets out of place.

Step 2: Then the newspaper is torn into many pieces, about 4 to 5 cm in size. It is best to make a few spare snippets right away, because with sticky fingers it is difficult to rip the paper later.

Step 3: Now mix water and wallpaper paste or use ready paste. This should not be too liquid, but also not too thick. The best consistency is one that is easy to spread.

Step 4: Then the balloon is inflated - to the desired size. One balloon will be the body and a smaller one the head of the bee.

Step 5: Now the balloon is getting fully covered with glue. Once this is done, the newspaper pieces are stuck onto the balloon piece by piece. The individual pieces of paper should always be placed on top of each other so that the balloon is no longer visible. The area with the knot will remain uncovered. The balloon will be removed from there later. Always let it dry a little bit and then repeat the procedure. Two to three layers of newspaper should be enough.

Step 6: When everything is dry, the balloon can be opened to let the air out.  The newspaper and paste are so stiff that the shape of the balloon remains.

Step 7: With a good handicraft glue both shapes are glued to each other and after drying they are painted like a bee.

The wings are made of soft craft wire. Once everything is dry, the bee can "fly off".