Thumbprint Bees

I'm pretty sure got the idea for thumbprint bees from Pinterest. 

Generally, Natalie doesn't like having her hands messy, so I hadn't tried any type of finger painting with her for a long time.  But, she had become fixated on Bee Movie after seeing a preview for it on one of the Shrek DVDs.  After a tantrum over TV the night before, I told Natalie I would only put it on if she did crafts with me while we watched.  So, we made these thumbprint bees and some paper bees afterwards. 

What you need:
Paper (we used blue, like the sky, but you could use any color really excepting yellow)
Yellow paint or ink pad
Paint brush (optional)
Black marker
White tissue paper
Colored construction paper
Glue stick
Flower stencil (optional)

What to do:
I traced a foam sponge we use for painting to get an easy flower shape.  I then cut them out.  I let Natalie glue them on all by herself (and just reenforced it a bit as needed).  We used a circle shaped foam crush to dot the centers of the flowers with  yellow paint. 

We then did the bodies of the bees.  I put out just a little yellow paint and used a foam brush to paint it on my thumb.  You could just dip your thumb in if you want, but I thought using the brush would help control the mess.  After I made several prints, Natalie was interested and wanted to try and she made several.  Even when she made several blurry ones close together, we were able to turn them into proper bees later. 

I drew on the eyes, stingers, stripes and antenna since Natalie isn't precise enough with a marker yet. 

I then ripped up pieces of tissue and we glued on the wings.  I did most of the gluing, but could probably have insisted she do more.  She probably could have ripped up the paper, too, if I had thought of it at the time. 

Substitutions:
You could use felt or craft foam for the flowers, or just paint or stamp them.  White fingerprints could make wings.  Wax paper could also be used for the wings.  You could use glitter or salt on the flowers and bees to represent pollen.  You could paint these bees on a honeycomb or hive instead of flowers.

Extensions:

• You can watch Bee Movie, haha!  I must say though, its fun, but not very educational.  The bees don't even have 6 legs.  It does however get across the importance of bees to pollination.  
• Sesame Street has an episode about bees:  Baby Bear is Afraid of Bees, Season 40, #4189.  
• Read a book about bees, either fiction or nonfiction.  
• Emily Dickinson has some poems about bees you could read aloud while your child crafts. 
• Read some Pooh Bear, namely the first chapter in Winnie the Pooh where he tries to fool the bees by pretending to be a cloud.  This scene is also in the original Disney Winnie the Pooh movie.  
• Write a poem about a bee.
• Dance around like a bees.  You can flap your arms like wings and wiggle your butts like how they communicate with each other. 
• Taste some honey.  Or cook something with honey.  (Remember no honey for kids under 1). 
• Go look at some bees.  You can either hunt around in your yard or park, or you can try to find a local bee keeper.  (If you are doing this with a group of children, find out about any possible bee sting allergies first).   
• Branch out and learn about other insects.