SML at the Lifeguard POD – Episode 41

DIY CLOTHESPIN CICADA INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Gather your supplies

   Gather up all the basic materials. You’ll need a plastic spoon (it doesn’t have to be black!), a couple of small pieces of tissue paper, 1 pipe cleaner cut in half, a clothespin, a scrap piece of paper (optional), and wings. You can free-cut simple wing shapes out of a cereal box, scrap cardboard, watercolor paper, or heavy cardstock.

   There are lots of ways you can make substitutions or omit certain pieces if you don’t have the particular supplies we used – for instance, you can use beads, pieces of painted cereal box, or anything small and round for the eyes. The pipe cleaner legs aren’t necessary if you don’t have one handy.
2. Paint your clothespin (optional)

   We prepped by painting our clothespin black so it would blend in with the spoon and look like part of the body if seen from the bottom or side, but most of the clothespin is covered, so you can skip this step if you’d like to speed up the process!

3. Cut off the handle of your plastic spoon

   Carefully cut off the handle of your spoon (adults may need to help with this step). Save the bowl-shaped end (this is going to create the head of our cicada!). Roll your pieces of tissue paper into two tight, round balls – these will be our cicadas eyes.

4. Paint your cicada’s wings

   We used a toothbrush loaded with a bit of colorful paint to create our multi-colored speckled wings. Dip into water, load with a bright paint color, then drag your finger across the top for cool flecks of color! We used layers of yellow, green, black, and white to speckle our wings.

   You can use the same technique we did, or create your own patterns or designs on the wings. Different species of cicadas all have unique patterns and colors on their wings, so do a little research to observe which patterns you’d like to recreate (or make up your own!)

5. Glue the pipe cleaner legs to your clothespin

   Twist the two halves of your pipe cleaner together into an X-shape then use a dot of glue to glue it into the groove of your clothespin. Bend the pipe cleaner to create little leg shapes.

   

    

6. Glue the spoon cicada head to your clothespin

   Use a hot glue gun or craft glue to glue the cut piece of your spoon to the end of the clothespin as pictured.

   Use two small dots of glue to glue on the tissue paper eyes.

7. Add decoration to your wings (optional) and gently bend to curve.
   Gently bend the cereal box wings along the center lengthwise to form slightly curved wings.
8. Glue the wings on to your cicada

   Glue the wings onto your cicada as pictured below. Let dry completely, then clip to ANYTHING!