Create realistic 3D paper insects with this set of printable templates. We have a bee, a cicada, a dragonfly and a Monarch butterfly to make.
Each insect can be made with or without glue-on anatomy labels and is easy enough for kids aged 8+. Younger kids could make them with some adult help. All templates come in both full colour and colour-your own.
If there’s one thing people love to hate, it’s insects. The most common reaction when a human spies a bug is to squash it or run away, screaming.
But why do we hate them so much? Enlarge any insect under a microscope and you’ll see they’re some of the most fascinating creatures on Earth.
With this set of templates, kids not only get to see bugs close up, they also learn insect anatomy by labelling the parts. The finished 3D paper models can be hung on the wall without harming a single, innocent bug. It’s like paper taxidermy.
What’s in the 3D Paper Insect Bundle?
Honey Bee
Apart from a scary-looking stinger, honey bees are soooooo cute and fluffy. They also make awesome female role models. Beehives are the ultimate matriarchal societies run by a queen with her female worker minions. Male “drones” are at the bottom of the pecking order. They don’t make honey, nor do they sting.
Our Honey Bee craft is very easy to make.
Monarch Butterfly
Monarchs are famous for their annual 3,000 mile migration that spans continents. But before they turn pretty, they’re fat, leaf-guzzling grubs. The metamorphosis process must take a lot of energy because a monarch caterpillar eats 200 times its weight in milkweed!
Our Monarch Butterfly template sits off the page with raised wing supports and a 3D body.
It’s larger than life and as eye-catching as the real thing.
Dragonfly
Dragonflies are pretty special too, with flying skills unsurpassed in the insect world. Dragonflies can fly straight up, down, sideways, backward, and can even hover in one spot like a helicopter for more than a minute. Their multi-faceted eyes enable them to see with 360-degree vision. This makes them deadly assassins to their prey. Fortunately, we’re way bigger than them, so this doesn’t include humans.
Our realistic dragonflies are based on the Emperor Dragonflies found in the UK. Their blue, patterned bodies are as lovely to look at as the butterfly.
Cicada
I don’t like to play favourites, but if I did, it would have to be cicadas because they’e so clumsy and sweet-natured. Aussie summers are full of ear-splitting cicada singing. Ours have cute names like the Masked Bandit, Green Grocer, Tom Thumb, Floury Baker—and yes, they all look like their names!
This cicada template is based on the North American Periodical cicada, which emerges in batches every thirteen or seventeen years. This species is black with red eyes, but you can colour the line art version any colour you like. Rainbow works nicely.
Each of these 3D insects can be purchased separately, but we’ve bundled them into one value pack that gives you three templates for the price of four.
Each template comes with step-by-step instructions and photographs.
Get the template in our printables store or TPT store.
More insect crafts kids will love
- This butterfly painting activity is so fun and easy, based on the Monarch and Blue Morpho species
- Little kids will love this firefly fingerprint jar craft
- Make a set of Insect paper bracelets, there is a bee, a moth, a spider and a dragonfly to print and colour
- Dragonfly squish art is a fun art activity for younger kids
More Printable Insect Crafts for Kids
