Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series

by Alex Toys

Product Features

• Colorful and easy project
• Just layer, glue and stick
• Have fun decorating with stickers, pom poms and more
• Creates 5 cute bugs
• A great beginning art activity

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 10.2 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001UH50MU
• Item model number: 1415
• Manufacturer recommended age: 36 months - 6 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #730 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #3 in Toys & Games > Arts & Crafts > Craft Kits > Paper Craft
  • #60 in Toys & Games > Preschool > Pre-Kindergarten Toys > Art & Creativity
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Create 5 colorful bugs out of paper plates. Just layer, stick and glue. Includes lots of stickers, buttons, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, popstickle sticks, pom poms, paper punch outs, a chunky glue stick and easy instructions. Each bug is packaged individually, so you don't need to create them all in one sitting. Great as a beginning art activity.

Product Description

Create crafty crawlers: just layer, glue and stick! There are thousands of possibilities in this one little box! This kit contains colored paper plates, 150 stickers and pre-cut shapes, chenille sticks, pom poms, fringed and crinkled paper, popsicle sticks, buttons, googly eyes, tissue paper, glue stick (1.4oz/40g) and easy to follow instructions. Contents conform to ASTM D4236 & F963. Recommended for children ages 7 and up. WARNING: Choking Hazard-small parts. Not for children under 3 years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Fun for Busy Little Artists!, December 14, 2009

By 

Linda R. Hendrex "Rubicon" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)

I bought this kit for my 2 granddaughters, ages 5 and 3. It is simple, clean and lots of fun for them. The final product is so cute and they love to play with their home made bugs! They are raising butterflies from caterpillars, so this fun little project intensified the enjoyment of their current interest in bugs.

Although the project is simple, they do need adult help and supervision. I do not mean that the adult had to do the project while the child watches - the kit has plenty of simple and rewarding tasks that a child can do for themselves while an adult instructs, but the adult caregiver needs to be completely involved. Count on a little bit of frustration and crying when attempting the first project. Our little ones experienced a learning curve, but after the first bug was completed, and they felt the satisfaction of having the final product, the other bugs went much smoother because they understood the process better and had a vision for the finished artwork. It has been a good patience building activity - they had to overcome some hurdles, but they experienced success in the end.

One BIG negative: The GLUE STICK has several problems:

The first con is that the adhesive is not strong enough, so the project keeps falling apart while in process. This could have been a disaster, and the tears were flowing freely until I got the idea to reinforce their glue jobs with a stapler. THE STAPLER SAVED THE DAY - DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS PROJECT WITHOUT A STAPLER AND PLENTY OF STAPLES! And liquid school glue won't hurt to have on hand either. When we did the ladybug, the legs were made of Popsicle sticks which were too heavy for the glue stick adhesive, and too thick for staples. We glued them with school glue and let it dry overnight.

The second con is that there is only ONE glue stick! If you are working with only one child, this is not a problem, but if there are two children, you can expect them to fight over the glue stick. THE GLUE STICK IS VITAL, AND IS NEEDED FOR EVERY STEP OF THE PROJECT. Just realize that before starting the project that you need an extra glue stick for each extra child.

ALSO: I do not recommend trying to do this project with more than two children, unless they are unusually gifted, or one of them is older than 6 years old OR you have two or more adults to help. Some people think this would make a good party activity, but I say that is asking for trouble unless you have at least one adult for every two children. The projects are simple, but an average child needs plenty of help - especially on the first time. You will be in over your head if you try this with more than two small children at a time. The ideal is one on one.

This is a wonderful and fun project if you are prepared for the few minor pitfalls. My granddaughters have made all the bugs in this kit and are begging for another kit. I am planning to get them the paper bag puppet kit next! Really REALLY glad I got this for them.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent kits, no extra supplies needed, April 22, 2011

By 

Amy Henry (Nipomo, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)

These are seriously cute and really well done. I'm recuperating from surgery at home with a four-year-old, and he had major cabin fever. I went online and ordered several craft kits from Amazon. So far, this is my favorite. It's especially well thought out...here's why:

-it contains five bug "kits", already presorted and separated per bug. That's cool because instead of a mass of parts in a box, you can take out one kit and not sort and count pieces (and lose them).

-everything is pre-cut and included. You don't need scissors or tape or anything-glue is included and there's no risk of cutting something out wrong. And no need for a preschooler to have scissor skills either.

-most of the items are stickers so you don't have a long wait for glue to dry (except on the antennas).

-the time it takes is about 20-30 minutes for a relaxed project where the kid does all the work...not too long and not so short they are still bored.

If you were to do a kid party, this could be a great activity, but in that case I think you'd want everyone doing the SAME bug (for sanity's sake). It would be difficult to have five kids doing this at once with all different bugs.

My only suggestions for improvement would be that some parts (mainly the buttons) are too heavy for stick glue, so they could have used a cardboard piece and it would have been sturdier. Also, the instructions are picture only and could be a little more explained for mommy's on painkillers (i.e. put the eyelashes on the bee before the eyes!)

Because this is so well planned and easy to use, I plan to buy more of this company's products. I bought the Collage farm but that hasn't been opened yet.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun with my 2 y.o. son, September 29, 2009

By 

J. Tennant - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs, Alex Little Hands Art Series (Toy)

I bought these for my 2 y.o. son. There are small pieces that are choking hazards, but I was able to watch him closely. It was very easy as they were in prepackaged bags, so we can choose which bug we want and open only that bag. However, because the paper plates are curved (like normal paper plates) at the edges, it is difficult to glue some of the pieces on. We've had a lot of fun doing it, but I'm needing to help a lot, and sometimes the glue isn't strong enough so I'm ending up stapling pieces on. They do look nice on his walls though, and he's asking to do more bugs!