Squish Painting Beetles

I've been doing art time with Ro while we've been in isolation, and when I posted this project on Instagram everyone loved it so I thought I'd put together a little how-to and share it here!

Supplies:

Paint (Acrylic or Tempra)

Paper

Scissors

Construction Paper

Step 1: Make your squish paintings.

First I tore a few letter-sized pieces of paper in half, then I folded those halves again long ways (hot dog style) and then opened it back up. You need to put drips and drops of paint on one side of the paper for the effect to work best. When you are satisfied with the color combination you have created, fold the paper in half again and apply pressure, then open it back up. As you make more you'll be able to adjust the amount of paint and where you place the paint to make the beetle shells look the way you want. Drying time depends on what type of paint you use. Our paint was pretty glossy, so I let ours dry overnight.

Step 2: Cut out your legs and antennae.

Beetle legs can be as simple as little sticks sticking out, or as complicated as having three joints. I tended to stick with an L shape that bent in on the long part. You can look up beetles for inspiration. To make the symmetry easier, I folded my paper in half and cut out both legs at the same time.

Step 3: Cut out your beetles and attach the legs.

To cut out the beetles, I folded the squish paintings in half again and then cut along the edges. I found that the shapes made by the painting process were very organic and looked like shells with just a little editing. I cut off bits that were poking out, for example, to make the shell smooth. When that is done, flip over your beetle and tape the legs to the back, lining them up as well as you can.

Now you have the most adorable bug infestation ever. If you are interested in more bug activities, you can check out my posts about our "Bug Book Basket" or our "Bug Hunt."