Travis is into making things glow lately, and beyond glow-in-the-dark paint, we brainstormed other ways to play with light. I pulled out an old tea light and a few plastic eggs leftover from Easter, and we were able to cobble together this little firefly. It made us nostalgic for summer nights!

To make our bug, first we selected patterned paper for the wings. Travis had fun flipping through a booklet of paper and picking the one he liked best. Alternatively, you could have your child scribble on white paper and cut out wing shapes.

Next I snipped a pipe cleaner into small sections – 6 for the legs, and two slightly longer for the antennae.

Grown-up step: Use a piercing tool to poke holes for the legs and antennae. The oblong part of the egg will be the back of the firefly’s body, and the more rounded part will be its head.

Slip in the pipe cleaners, bending slightly so they stay put. Curl the tops of the antennae over.

Next we glued on the wings and eyes. Whoops, because of where I’d pierced the antennae holes, our eyes were above them instead of below them. Oh well!

Once the glue dried, we could make our little creature glow. Travis was absolutely delighted, and had so much fun taking the tea light out and putting back in again.

Pretty soon the bug was flying all over the house. A nice reminder of summer evenings to come, here in the middle of winter!