Dragonfly Craft inspired by “There’s A Tiger In The Garden”

“There’s A Tiger In The Garden” by Lizzy Stewart

This is a beautiful new book that has completely won over my heart.  It is about the power of imagination, the magic of childhood, and the importance of play.  It starts with a little girl who is bored and her grandmother recommends that she go play in the garden.  Her grandmother even insists that there are fantastic things in the garden including a tiger.  The little girl heads out, begrudgingly at first, only to discover that with a little imagination the garden is indeed a magical place.

I just adore the message of this one and the fact that the illustrations are as incredible as they are is a huge plus.  Its whimsical, relevant and one that I would recommend for any library.

Click here to purchase “There’s A Tiger in The Garden” *affiliate link

Dragonfly Craft

One of the many wonders that her grandmother says can be found in the garden is “dragonflies the size of birds”.  These dragonflies, with their colorful wings, are one of my favorite bits in the illustrations.  When I saw them I just knew that we had to make our own large and colorful dragonflies inspired by them.

We decided to use colored, jumbo popsicle stick bases and watercolored paper wings.  They make the happiest bunch when they are finished and they are so simple and fun to make.  I also love how thrilled my  kiddos were with them.  So worth it.  We displayed ours on the fridge (which is a hugely popular spot for masterpieces in our home) but I also think they would look adorable hanging from mobiles, attached to windows or just about anywhere else.

Supplies:

• jumbo, colorful craft sticks
• colorful pipe cleaners
• small wiggly eyes
• hot glue and hot glue gun
• black sharpie
• watercolor paper or thick, white cardstock
• paintbrushes
• cup of water
• watercolors
• pencil
• scissors

Process:

1. Fold a pipe cleaner in half and cut it into two equal pieces.  Put one piece aside and fold the other piece in half.  Using the hot glue gun, glue the folded pipe cleaner onto the back of a jumbo craft stick.
2. On the top, front of the craft stick hot glue two wiggly eyes and use a marker to draw a little smile underneath.
3. You can roll down the antennae in a spiral or you can leave them straight.
4. Using your watercolors, paint an abstract painting on a sheet of watercolor paper or card stock.  We used thick paint brushes to produce thick lines for our wings.  Let your painting dry.
5. After the paint is dry, fold your painting in half the “thick” way as opposed to the “long” way.  Put it alongside your craft stick (fold along the stick) for reference and draw your two wings along the fold.  That way when you cut them out you can unfold them to have wings for each side of your stick that are symmetrical.  (We also did a larger wing for the top and a smaller wing for the bottom.)
6. Cut along your lines, open your wings and glue them to the back of your craft stick.

Adorable right?!  If you give this Beyond the Book activity a try I’d love to hear how it goes! Share it on Instagram and tag me! (I’m on Instagram as @book.nerd.mommy) or even just comment here with your thoughts. It would make my day! Or to simply save for later pin the image below.