Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series

I bought this kit for my 2 granddaughters, ages 5 and 3.It is simple, clean and lots of fun for them.The final product is so cute and they love to play with their home made bugs!They are raising butterflies from caterpillars, so this fun little project intensified the enjoyment of their current interest in bugs.

Although the project is simple, they do need adult help and supervision.I donot mean that the adult had to do the project while the child watches the kit has plenty of simple and rewarding tasks that a child can do for themselves while an adult instructs, but the adult caregiver needs to be completely involved.Count on a little bit of frustration and crying when attempting the first project.Our little ones experienced a learning curve, but after the first bug was completed, and they felt the satisfaction of having the final product, the other bugs went much smoother because they understood the process better and had a vision for the finished artwork.It has been a good patience building activity they had to overcome some hurdles, but they experienced success in the end.

One BIG negative:The GLUE STICK has several problems:

The first con is that the adhesive is not strong enough, so the project keeps falling apart while in process.This could have been a disaster, and the tears were flowing freely until I got the idea to reinforce their glue jobs with a stapler.THE STAPLER SAVED THE DAY DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS PROJECT WITHOUT A STAPLER AND PLENTY OF STAPLES!And liquid school glue won't hurt to have on hand either.When we did the ladybug, the legs were made of Popsicle sticks which were too heavy for the glue stick adhesive, and too thick for staples.We glued them with school glue and let it dry overnight.

The second con is that there is only ONE glue stick!If you are working with only one child, this is not a problem, but if there are two children, you can expect them to fight over the glue stick.THE GLUE STICK IS VITAL, AND IS NEEDED FOR EVERY STEP OF THE PROJECT.Just realize that before starting the project that you need an extra glue stick for each extra child.

ALSO:I do not recommend trying to do this project with more than two children, unless they are unusually gifted, or one of them is older than 6 years old OR you have two or more adults to help.Some people think this would make a good party activity, but I say that is asking for trouble unless you have at least one adult for every two children.The projects are simple, but an average child needs plenty of help especially on the first time.You will be in over your head if you try this with more than two small children at a time.The ideal is one on one.

This is a wonderful and fun project if you are prepared for the few minor pitfalls.My granddaughters have made all the bugs in this kit and are begging for another kit.I am planning to get them the paper bag puppet kit next!Really REALLY glad I got this for them.

These are seriously cute and really well done.I'm recuperating from surgery at home with a four-year-old, and he had major cabin fever.I went online and ordered several craft kits from Amazon.So far, this is my favorite.It's especially well thought out...here's why:

-it contains five bug "kits", already presorted and separated per bug.That's cool because instead of a mass of parts in a box, you can take out one kit and not sort and count pieces (and lose them).

-everything is pre-cut and included.You don't need scissors or tape or anything-glue is included and there's no risk of cutting something out wrong. And no need for a preschooler to have scissor skills either.

-most of the items are stickers so you don't have a long wait for glue to dry (except on the antennas).

-the time it takes is about 20-30 minutes for a relaxed project where the kid does all the work...not too long and not so short they are still bored.

If you were to do a kid party, this could be a great activity, but in that case I think you'd want everyone doing the SAME bug (for sanity's sake). It would be difficult to have five kids doing this at once with all different bugs.

My only suggestions for improvement would be that some parts (mainly the buttons) are too heavy for stick glue, so they could have used a cardboard piece and it would have been sturdier.Also, the instructions are picture only and could be a little more explained for mommy's on painkillers (i.e. put the eyelashes on the bee before the eyes!)

Because this is so well planned and easy to use, I plan to buy more of this company's products.I bought the Collage farm but that hasn't been opened yet.

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A great rainy day activity to do with a 2-3 year old.HOWEVER, the glue stick provided in no way is appropriate to hold some of the items together.The bumble bee has fluffy pom-pom type antenna that we had to get the hot glue gun out to attach them.(Thus, it is a good "do together with parent" activity.)

Good packaging, each of the 5 critters is packaged independently so you can make one at a time.Make sure to keep the box, there aren't really any directions on what goes where...we used the outside of the box picture to help us assemble it correctly.

Going to purchase another for a 3 year old's birthday gift.

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JoAnn Fabrics was selling this exact kit and all Alex brand craft kits for $.99-$1.97!!! It was cute and fun, a little tricky for the little ones, bc the stickers would rip easily and the tissue paper was cheap, so you would almost need to do most of it for them! Either way do not pay more than $2 for this craft!

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I bought this for my daughters 4th birthday based on the great reviews it was getting.It has been a big hit.Every day she looks forward to making a new bug.She loves puting the eyes on (they are stickers and hard to mess up).Everything is precut and packaged for you.You just let your child put it together.I did it with her to help her with the glue and placement of wings, legs, etc.Older kids would probably be able to do it alone.It was a big hit with her and I'm glad I got it.She watches too much tv so this is a nice way to entice her away!!It was also great because she was sick when we first opened it and the project kept her playing quietly.

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