Halloween Science – Unidentified Bug Specimen Craft
Are you ready for Halloween? Maybe you and the kids already have the porch decorated, pumpkins painted, and an adorable paper plate vampire hanging on the refrigerator. Now you’re looking for a fun activity to do with them that’s easy, fun and a little spooky. How about some Halloween Science? Yes! In this post, we are sharing how we made an unidentified bug specimen craft that is both spooky and fascinating to make and play with. Take a look and gather your materials.
Unidentified Bug Specimen Craft
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Supplies Used:
- green glitter glue
- plastic bugs
- plastic tube
- Halloween duct tape
- loose glitter; optional
Instructions:
We recycled a plastic tube that was a toy package. You could also use empty test tubes.
Have the kids place a few bugs in the tube. Add some glitter glue, amount can vary. Ours had about a tablespoon of glitter glue and then a pinch or two of fine glitter.
Next, add lukewarm water leaving room at the top. We left about an inch and a half at the top. If you fill it too high, it will be hard to shake the glitter around inside it.
Since we used a cheap plastic tube, I secured the ends with spider duct tape. I also labeled it with the words, “Unidentified Specimen.”
Now it’s ready for observation and playing with! It might be fun to make several unidentified specimens using different colors and other small items such as beads, foam stickers or mini toys.
Play Ideas:
This makes a neat sensory activity that can have a calming effect – it’s mesmerizing to watch the glitter fall when flipped! The white bugs are actually glow-in-the dark and might even show up under a black light for added fun. Check out this creepy crawly bug bottle for making them glow without a black light and this glowing centipede discovery bottle.
Don’t forget to make this little scientist lab coat! It takes less than 10 minutes and no sewing is involved.
Give the kids their own notebook for writing down observations.
Some ideas are:
- Color
- Consistency & appearance (thick, clear/see-through, sparky, slimy, and so on)
- Unique finds (glows-in-the-dark)
- Toxic? Poisonous?
- Scientific guesses on what it is based on findings
So what do you think about this unidentified bug specimen craft? Neat, huh? If you are still in the mood for more spooky Halloween science, be sure to look at our self-inflating balloon monsters (one of our most popular posts!).