Vacation Yarn Bug

This cheerful Vacation Yarn Bug is a fun summer craft for older kids and teens. It is a playful way to remember sunny days, road trips, beach adventures, or family vacations. Personalize your yarn bug with favorite vacation colors and accessories to make it one of a kind.

Supplies

• Yellow yarn
• Visor and hands printable pattern
• Pink craft foam
• Tan craft foam feet pattern
• Tan Foamie hands pattern
• 20 mm wiggle eyes
• 2 1/2-inch Styrofoam ball
• Black pipe cleaner
• Yellow pipe cleaner
• Pink paint pen
• Green cellophane
• 5-inch square of cardboard
• Tacky glue
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Wrap the yellow yarn around a 5-inch square piece of cardboard at least 100 times to make a full pompom. You can also mix colors if you want your Vacation Yarn Bug to look even more playful.
2. Cut a 6-inch piece of yarn and slide it under the wrapped yarn. Tie it tightly into a double knot. Turn the cardboard over and cut through all of the yarn on the opposite side. Fluff and smooth the yarn to shape your pompom.
3. Flatten the bottom of the Styrofoam ball by pressing it gently against a hard surface. You can also use an egg carton section instead if you prefer. Cover the top and sides of the Styrofoam ball with tacky glue. Separate the yarn strands and press the pompom around the Styrofoam ball so it fits snugly inside. Arrange the yarn until it looks nice and full.
4. Print the patterns needed for your bug. Staple the patterns onto the craft foam or felt listed in the supplies and cut out all of the pieces.
5. Glue the bottom of the Styrofoam ball onto the foam feet. Glue on the wiggle eyes.
6. For the arms, cut the pipe cleaner in half. Attach the hands to the ends, then carefully poke the pipe cleaners into the yarn bug. Bend them slightly to make elbows.
7. Shape the black pipe cleaner into sunglasses. Cut small pieces of green cellophane for the lenses and glue them to the back of the glasses. Glue one hand around the sunglasses, folding the fingers down to hold them in place.
8. On the other hand, make a fun vacation pose by folding down the index, middle, and ring fingers to create a “hang loose” sign. Glue the fingers in place.
9. Finish your Vacation Yarn Bug by placing the visor on top of its head.

Fun Facts

Vacation can mean different things to different families, but travel often leads to amazing discoveries. Canada is known for having the longest coastline in the world and is home to a huge number of the planet’s lakes. That makes it a fun place to learn about summer travel and outdoor adventures.

Patterns, Templates and Printables

Click on an image below to open it in a new window and print the patterns for the visor, hands, and feet.