Wiggle Worms

Recommended Age Group: 2 Years +

Materials Required:

• Felt Squares in Various Colors
• Glue
• Pipe cleaners (chenille stems)
• Googly eyes
• Felt Pens

Instructions:
Help your child make a creative craft that is great for many things. Use the worms as bookmarks, around crayons or pencils as decoration, or to make finger puppets. The more wiggly worms you make, the more fun your child will have!

Cut your felt squares into strips slightly more than an inch wide. You will need two strips for each worm, so cut your felt in matching segments. Save some felt for decorations.

Place one piece of felt on the work surface and smooth it flat. Then place two pipe cleaners side by side on top of the felt. The felt should be longer than the pipe cleaners, but just barely. The pipe cleaners will be making the worms wiggle.

Run a thick ribbon of glue on the felt around the two pipe cleaners. Carefully place the second piece of felt on top of the first and press it firmly in place. Hold the worm pieces together for a moment to help the glue to set and then leave it alone while the glue dries completely.

After a time, come back to your worms and decorate them any way you’d like. You may use the felt pens to draw designs on the worms, and of course you’ll want to use your googly eyes to make your worms fun. Cut stripes or spots from the left over felt in contrasting colors to make the worms bright and cheerful.

Again, let any glue dry. When the completed worm is ready for action, help your child find fun ways to bend and shape her worm into fun wiggles. Twist the worm around your fingers or make it inch along. Twirl it up or stretch it flat – your child will have hours of fun. And the more worms she has, the more creative she can be with her wiggly worm family.