Friday 7 June 2013

Make your own magic Bee!

This is great for science as it's playing about with magnets but it's also a really fun art project for little hands.  My Harmonie was very frightened of bees and flies over the last week, she is now just very nervous so I thought this would be a nice thing for her to do to get over her fears, do a bit of art and learn a bit of science.  Of course, you don't need to limit yourself to a bee you can make it anything you like!
 
 
This is how we made it...
 


You will need:
  • Paper
  • Pens
  • Pencil
  • scissors
  • a paper clip
  • cotton sewing thread
  • Something to weigh it down, we used a roll of tape. 
 
How to make your own...
 
First draw out a bee, or if it's an older child they might want to draw their own bee or flying creature (mythical or otherwise) and colour it in.
 
 
Then cut it out.
 
 
You can just put a paper clip on the top of him or get some thread and sticky tape and stick them to the back of your be like this...
 


 
Then attach it to something to weigh it down, we used a roll of tape like this...
 
 

Then you can play about with it and have fun while learning a bit about the science of magnets!
 
 
 
 
If your child is a little older than my Harmonie, who is 3 years old, then you could try to see if you could stick the thread to a floor or a table and see if you can use the magnet to pick up the bee without it touching the paper clip so it looks as if it is magically flying!
 
What can be learnt from this:
  • The names of colours
  • Practising fine motor skills with colouring and if the child is ready cutting too.
  • Learning about nature, whether you choose a bee or another creature, you could talk about the number of legs an insect has and other parts of it's body like the wings, the thorax and so on.
  • Magnets attract to certain metals, you can show them how it doesn't will Aluminium but does with the paper clips, bull dog clips, keys ad even radiators and fridges.  Allow them to explore this but take care when using magnets as rare earth magnets is swallowed can kill.  You don't need to use rare earth magnets for this project, a fridge magnet would suffice.
  • Counting:  How many wings? How many stripes? How many legs? (if you draw them)
 
 

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