Editor’s Note: For the next few Tuesdays, we’ll be featuring art projects that you can come out and do with us at Earth Day events that Our Big Earth is taking part in.

Today’s project – recycled paper bag puppets – will be one of the fun projects your kids can try out when you head on over to the Comox Valley Regional District Compost Education Centre this weekend for a celebration of the Earth and the opening of the new Family Community Gardens – a partnership between Our Big Earth and the CVRD.

That day we’ll also have egg cup seed planting and – for the older crowd – a very cool worm jar project where your kids, literally, get to make a jar full of worms and scraps and they get to watch the worms compost everything.

So, make sure to join us from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday out at the Compost Education Centre on Headquarters. It’s a great combo with the CV Farmers Market, which just opened at its seasonal location out at the Fair Grounds.

See you there!

Our daughter is a storyteller.

She’s got an imagination that’s on fire non-stop and creating her own little worlds is where it all comes out.

Her penchant for telling tales surfaced late in her twos. So, when her third birthday rolled around, Ken and I decked her out with one serious stash of puppets to keep her creating.

They were pretty much ignored – until lately.

We are on a bit of a puppet binge around here, especially if they are attached to stories like with our Spring masks.

We’ve also got a giant stash of paper bags that we use for making the Nature Passports we give to kids who take part in the NeighbourWood Walks and are working on learning about insects here at home. So, whipping up a collection of bug puppets seemed like the way to go.

I love these for a couple of reasons:

1. They use up a whole whack of cardboard or construction paper (not recyclable. So, I will try just about anything to reuse it).
2. They are a longer project that gives us space for a break. The painting before lunch and decorating after lunch saves us from a mid-project meltdown.
3. They incorporate fine motor work.

Anyway, here’s what you need:

- Paper bags. I recommend cutting the paper bags in half for smaller kiddos (use the spare halves for making little books)

- Tempera paints in primary colors

- Paint brushes

- White glue or glue sticks

- Scissors

- Cardboard or old construction paper

- Optional craft punches and other decoration

Directions:

1. Paint the bags according to the kind of creatures you want to make. We chose lady bugs, bumble bees, caterpillars (pictured above) and dragonflies.

2. While you’re waiting for the paint to dry, take the old construction paper or cardboard and cut it into bug parts like eyes, wings and antennae. We also cut out spots for the ladybug and stripes for the bee (also a stinger) so that we didn’t have to do a second round of painting (you’d need to let your bags dry for at least an afternoon so the colors don’t run).

3. One of our favourite things to do was take a craft punch and make designs on the wings. These don’t have to be super girlie. There are lots of punches that are stars, moons, cool boy stuff too.

4. Glue everything on. Let dry for about 30 minutes and there you have some super fun bag puppets to do some Spring time storytelling about living lighter on the Earth.

See you at Earth Day celebrations!