My kids love ladybugs.  They draw them, they look for them in the garden, and they always seem to bring a smile to their little faces.

I hope these fun ladybug activities and treats bring a smile to your kids faces too.

CRAFTS

Chalkboard plant markers are fun, and easy to make.  I found the little bundle of 4 plant markers, already with red chalkboard name plates, and a piece of chalk for just 30 cents in the clearance bin at my craft store (Michael’s) this week.  We had some wood circles at home so my daughter painted them red, added black painted dots, and we attached them to the chalkboard plant markers and placed them in the pots on our back patio.

My 5 year old son drew the picture above about a week ago.  When he’s not drawing trains, he loves to sit and draw trees, flowers, and bugs with his sister (that’s her favorite thing to draw).

The fun little ladybug on the right is just adorable, and the wings move which makes it even more fun.  The kids made these at school, but your kids will love making them at home (especially over the summer break).  Use cookie cutters or bowls to make templates and your child can practice using scissors by cutting out each piece, painting it with watercolors, and then sticking the legs, and head onto the body.  A gold brad is a simple way to attach the wings so the ladybugs can fly.

LADYBUG TREATS

I love making fun treats for the kids to enjoy, especially ones that are themed with the activity they are currently working on.

Aren’t these fun ladybug cupcakes adorable?  They are very easy to make, and are bound to have the kids running into the kitchen to help you..

The silicone pots are fabulous for making these fun treats.  I’ll admit to using a boxed cake mix for these, because it was quick and easy, and I always have a couple of boxes in the pantry just in case I need them.  Here are a couple of tricks though.

• Replace the oil with applesauce
• Melt a little butter and brush it inside the baking cups, sprinkle flour on top, and then shake out the excess.

Top the cupcakes with chocolate icing, and then chocolate sprinkles, these make the perfect ‘dirt’ for your cupcake.

If you cannot pipe leaves, never fear, there’s a simple trick for that, Wilton sell boxes of icing leaves, and you will most likely find them where you would normally find Wilton products – I found them at my craft store.

Attach a small pinhole icing tip to a tube of green icing and pipe a stalk onto each leaf.  Use a slighter larger round tip on a red icing tube to make the base for the ladybug, then the same smaller pinhole tip with black icing for the dots and other ladybug features.

Kids will love being able to help make these, from adding the ingredients to a bowl, and mixing it, to spreading the sprinkles and icing leaves on top of each cake.

LADYBUG BOOKS

See if your local library has these ladybug books for lots of fun and learning.

• The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
• Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth
• Ladybug Girl (series) by Jacky Davis and David Soman
• Ladybug’s Lesson by Sharon Streger
• Lil Little Ladybug by Tookie Wells
• Ladybugs Can’t Be Tall by Kevin Hill

Get out into the garden, or go to your local park and look for ladybugs.  How many can you find?  Kids will love studying them up close.  Take a camera with you so they can look at their ladybugs once they are back home again.