This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for details.
You know how things always get better AFTER you don’t really need them anymore? Just think of any one of a million baby products out there. It seems like just when you are leaving the baby stage, they come out with something that would have made life SO MUCH EASIER as a mom. I know my own mom has said the same thing.
Boppy pillows, Diaper Genies and Bumbo seats are just a few things she wishes were around when we were little. For me, it’s the cool baby food pouches they have now. How nice to feed the baby without having to cart around a spoon and baby food jar! I love these things!
They are perfect for the lunch boxes or grabbing a quick and healthy snack before running out the door. As we use more and more of the fruit pouches, I started wondering if there was something I could do with the caps instead of just throwing them away. Guess what? There is!
I went searching Pinterest for ideas to use up the pouch caps. There are some great ideas out there for sorting games, threading with yarn and simple manipulatives. However, my kids are a bit old for those ideas. Then I saw these cute little bugs on Saving Said Simply and figured we could do something like that! They are cute and easy and they go right along with all the learning about plants and bugs we’ve been doing this spring.
Pouch Cap Bug Craft
What you’ll need:
- 3 pouch caps
- 2 pipe cleaners
- 1 pony bead
- 2 googly eyes
- scissors
- hot glue
What to do:
- Cut one of the pipe cleaners in half. Bend the halves so they are shaped like a “U” as shown above. These will be your legs.
- Thread the two pipe cleaner halves through two of the pouch caps to hold them together. (You won’t need any glue for the body.) Twist the pipe cleaners and shape them to make legs.
- Thread the other pipe cleaner through the third pouch cap. This cap will be the head. Twist and arrange the pipe cleaner to look like antennae. You can leave it long or cut it down if you like.
- Before attaching the head to the body, glue on eyes and a nose. I used large googly eyes and a pony bead for the nose, but a pom-pom would work, too. Just raid your craft closet and see what you have lying around. We also made one with small eyes on the ends of the antennae (kind of like a snail.)
- Using hot glue, attach the head to the body. The pouch caps nestle into each other perfectly!
Henry has been studying plants and bugs in Kindergarten this spring. They just finished learning all about the butterfly life cycle and got to watch the classroom caterpillars go through metamorphosis. They now have butterflies in the class! Charlie has been helping me with pruning and watering my plants. He decided that Mr. Buggle needed to live outside by the hydrangea plant!
Here’s a fun little planting project to do with your kids! We used empty K-cups, but you could also use an egg carton or any other small container. Draw a funny face on the outside with permanent marker and then plant with grass seed. When it grows in, your faces have green hair!
Just fill the cups 2/3 of the way with planting soil, then top with a sprinkle of grass seeds. Cover the rest of the way with soil, water and then place in a window sill where they will get plenty of light! In a week or so, you’ll see little sprouts coming in and pretty soon a full head of green hair will be growing. The kids love it!
- Chocolate Orange Cookies - November 2, 2024
- Nutella Banana Bread - October 14, 2024
- Bacon Onion Dip - September 13, 2024
Heather says
I am always looking for ways to make something out of something that may have been thrown out! My kids will LOVE making them! Thanks for sharing!
Rachael says
This is such a fun idea! I can’t wait until my son is old enough to do it with him
Kim @ 2justByou says
I haven’t planted anything in a few years. But – My favorite thing ever planted was sunflower seeds, all different kinds of them. They seem to multiply each year, and new plants will sprout up each year (that’s always fun!).
Jessica (Savory Experiments) says
What a cute project! I can’t wait to do it with my niece and nephew!
Lauren says
We like to plant zucchini.
David says
Last year we tried to plant melons, but the rabbits ate them as soon as they started to get about baseball size. This year we are going to set up some chickenwire to keep them out.
Mindy Stevens says
Tomatoes are my favorite thing to plant in the spring
Cyleste Ivey says
This is our first year to really plant anything. I have tried house plants before and never been able to keep them alive.
Nicole Burkholder says
Yeah, I pretty much have a black thumb. My roses and my hydrangea are about it.
Amy Muscato says
I am now teaching first grade and I love this K cup idea. We are so doing this. I am excited to see my class make their own cups and watch their hair grow.
In my class we love to plant a flower in a pot they have decorated and then they give it to their moms for mothers day.
Thanks for the tip!
Amy
Nicole Burkholder says
I just posted a photo to instagram of one the “people” sprouting hair! It takes less than a week to start and it’s so rewarding for impatient kids. 🙂 Happy to help! (I love the flower pot idea for a Mother’s Day gift.)
Nicole Burkholder says
Congratulations! The random number generator spit out number 1 and that means you’re the lucky winner of the Gardening Kit! I’m sure you’ll get great use out of it. 🙂