Tissue Paper Bees
These tissue paper bees are so cute, and they’re great for helping preschoolers polish fine motor skills. Add them to your spring and summer craft list.
This spring, as you begin preparing for your upcoming bee activities for kids, be sure to include a cute craft or two. This bee craft is simple to make, and it will look adorable on display in your learning area.
Tissue Paper Bees
With just a few simple supplies, your preschoolers can whip up this simple bumble bee preschool craft in no time. For a little extra scissor practice, you can have preschoolers cut out and trace the templates. If they aren’t ready for this, you can do the cutting for them.
What You’ll Need
- scissors
- glue
- pencil
- hole punch
- toilet paper roll or cardboard
- {black, yellow and white} tissue paper
- googly eye
What You’ll Do
Print and cut out the preschool bee template provided.
Trace bee template on cardboard and cut out.
Cut (3) 4” x 8” pieces of both the yellow and the black tissue paper.
Twist each individual piece of tissue paper into a long/skinny strip. Gather all strips together and cut them in half lengthwise.
Glue tissue paper strips onto your bee, starting with two black strips, then two yellow strips and continue that pattern until your bee is covered.
Turn the bee over and use scissors to trim excess tissue paper off of the cardboard bee.
Punch a hole in the top, center of your bee, about ⅜” from the edge.
Cut a strip of white tissue paper about 4” x 8”, fold in half lengthwise; trace the provided wing template over the tissue paper with the straight bottom part of the template on the fold; cut out around sides keeping the fold intact.
Unfold the wings, squeeze them into a long skinny strip, and feed the strip through the hole in the bee; center the wing strip and flatten each wing out.
Glue googly eye onto the bee.
PRESCHOOL BOOKS ABOUT BEES
Fill your book basket with a great collection of books about bees. Most of these books can be found at your local library or used bookstore.
If you have a hard time finding them, you can order them through my Amazon affiliate links by clicking the images below.
Bee & Me – A little girl befriends a bee that takes her on a journey of discovery, revealing an action that every child can take to aid in conservation.
The Honeybee Man – Every morning, Fred climbs three flights of stairs—up to his rooftop in Brooklyn, New York—and greets the members of his enormous family: “Good morning, my bees, my darlings!”
His honeybee workers are busy—they tend the hive, feed babies, and make wax rooms. They also forage in flowers abloom across Brooklyn… so that, one day, Fred can make his famous honey, something the entire neighborhood looks forward to tasting.
The Life and Times of the Honeybee – Why do beekeepers use smoke machines when collecting honey? Can a bee really sting only once? Why do bees “dance”?
In concise, detailed text and abundant illustrations that range from the humorous to the scientific, Charles Micucci offers a wide-ranging and spirited introduction to the life cycle, social organization, and history of one of the world’s most useful insects.
RESOURCES I LOVE
Teach your children the role of bees in our ecosystems with a Save the Bees Adventure Box. This kit will provide you with all of the resources you need to begin your journey of becoming a lifelong caretaker of the bees.
Let your kids play with honey bee slime that smells just like honey!