# Propeller Seed Bugs
> Collect maple propeller seeds on a nature walk and turn them into insect wings. Make tape butterflies, stick dragonflies and Play-Doh bees with toothpick legs and googly eyes, then display them in a homemade insectarium.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/propeller-seeds-bugs/
- Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: low
- Time: prep 10 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: fine-motor, nature-exploration, sorting-by-size, vocabulary, creative-thinking, life-cycles, insects
- Cautions: wheat-gluten, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- Maple propeller seeds
- 1 roll Clear tape (cello tape) (household)
- Elmer's glue
- Small thin sticks
- Play-Doh or Model Magic
- 2 piece Googly eyes
- 2 piece Toothpicks (household)
- 1 piece Scissors (household)
- 1 piece Small bucket (optional) (household)
- 1 piece Magnifying glass (optional)
- 1 piece Tweezers (optional) (household)
- 1 piece Small notepad and pen (optional) (household)
- 1 cup Cup of mud (soil) (optional) (household)

## Substitutions
- Instead of play doh: Model Magic (The author lists Play Doh / Model Magic as interchangeable for the bee body.)
- Instead of glue: Clear tape (Dragonfly wings can be attached with glue and/or tape.)

## Safety
- Small parts (seeds, googly eyes, toothpick pieces) are choking hazards. Supervise closely, especially with kids who still put things in their mouths.
- An adult should break the toothpicks. The broken ends are sharp and pointy.
- Propeller seeds are a craft material, not food. Wash hands after collecting seeds and playing with mud.
- Play-Doh is wheat-based. Check for wheat or gluten allergies before using it.

## Before you start
- Go on a walk or bike ride and collect maple propeller seeds and small thin sticks in a small bucket.
- Optional: put together an 'Exploration Tools' kit (small bucket, magnifying glass, tweezers, notepad and pen) for the walk.
- Adult: break toothpicks into fourths for bee legs.

## Steps
1. Look closely at the propeller seeds and talk about what has wings that look like them.
2. Butterfly: choose two sets of seeds of the same size from the pile.
3. Cut a small piece of tape and place the seeds on the sticky side to form a butterfly. Attach a thin stick for the antennae.
4. Dragonfly: use a small stick as the body. Attach propeller seeds with glue and/or tape for wings.
5. Bee: make a Play-Doh shape for the body and press in propeller seeds as wings.
6. Push toothpick pieces into the Play-Doh for legs.
7. Fix on the googly eyes and you have a bee!
8. Set your bugs among houseplants to make an insectarium.

## Tips
- Put together a small bucket, magnifying glass, tweezers, a small notepad and a pen. Call it 'EXPLORATION TOOLS' and take it on walks and bike rides to collect specimens of leaves, flowers and pebbles.
- Kids say 'Eeewww, bugs are nasty'? To make things sound better, call them INSECTS and say you are making an INSECTARIUM.
- Talk about how insects are hard-working creatures that recycle waste, pollinate plants and support the entire cycle of life.
- Choosing matching sets of seeds from a pile is a nice way to practice sizes.
- Save the leftover seeds to throw around and make into helicopters, twisters and tornadoes!

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2012)

###

Nature has a ton of unique and fun craft materials to offer and with just a little imagination we can do wonders. One such activity is our propeller Bugs . Have you noticed the propeller seeds from the Maple tree?
On our walks, Big S noticed the propeller seeds falling down and was so fascinated by them. Upon close “investigation” Big S realized that they look like wings, which opened up a whole new world of artsy crafty play and learning. It was interesting to see a kids perspective of how nature evolves. It was all about “Lets Investigate and Explore” Here's a thought - Put together a small bucket, magnifying glass, tweezers and a small notepad and a pen. Call it "EXPLORATION TOOLS". Take it with you on walks and bike rides. Teach the kids to collect "specimens of" leaves,flowers, pebbles etc. We took our tiny bucket and collected some seeds. We talked about how trees make seeds and how the seeds grow into new trees. To understand it better, we took some mud in a cup and sowed some seeds to learn “**germination**” . She was having so much fun. It truly was a science exploration. We had to do some crafts with them. Since the seeds looked like wings, It was time for “*Ask Questions*”

What have wings that look like a propeller seed?

Big S: Butterflies, dragon flies and Bees and Airplanes.

We decided to make bugs ! ---------------- Eeewww Mom ! Bugs are nasty ! Why do we think bugs are nasty? I don’t know – Well to make things sound better – We called them INSECTS and we were making an INSECTARIUM.

- Propeller seeds
- Tape
- Elmer's Glue
- Small sticks
- Play Doh/ Model Magic
- Googly Eyes
- Tooth pick

Let's get crafting, Shall we ?

- Tape
- Propeller Seeds
- Thin sticks

Choose two sets of seeds with the same size. These make the wings for the butterfly. Cut a small piece of tape and place the seeds on the sticky side to form a butterfly. Attach a thin stick for the antennae. That’s it !





- Small sticks
- Propeller Seeds
- Glue
- Cello Tape

The sticks make the body of the dragon-fly. Attach the propeller seeds onto the stick with glue and/or tape to give the dragonfly its wings.





- Propeller Seeds
- Play-doh
- Googly eyes
- Toothpick

Make a Play-doh shape for the body of the bee and place the propeller seeds to replicate the wings of the bees. Break the toothpicks into fourths and attach them to the playdoh for legs. Fix the eyes and you have a bee !







 Insects are definitely underrated. They are not "yucky or nasty". They are very hard-working creatures. Without them our world will never be the same. We spoke about how they recycle waste, pollinate plants and support the entire cycle of life. After the big lecture, Big S comments - **" Oh boy , I'm happy that I'm just a kid "**





- Words : Insects, Germination, Seeds, Insectarium, Pollination
- Learning Sizes: Choosing sets of seeds from a pile to use in the project.
- Fine motor skills: Molding, sticking, cutting and crafting
- Creative Thinking: Propeller Seeds to Insects – This is Creative thinking at its best !

It was a fun day and whats better we had a lot more seeds left to throw them around and make them into helicopters and twisters and tornadoes !

Thanks for reading

Happy Sharing