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When the wind blows, this caterpillar will make sweet sounds!

What You’ll Need

old wooden spoon or a dowel
10 nails
nylon string
clear nail polish
scissors
wiggly eyes
marker
paints
paintbrushes

Instructions

1. Paint the wooden spoon or dowel in the desired color. Most caterpillars are green, but you can use any other color you want. Don’t forget to add dots, spots, stripes or other shapes when you are painting the decorations! Let dry completely.

2. Glue the wiggly eyes on the back of the spoon. Add a nose and mouth with the markers.

3. Cut 10 pieces of nylon string about 6 inches long. Tie one end around the head of a nail. Tie the other end around the body of the caterpillar. Repeat until all 10 metal nails are strung along the body of the caterpillar. Make sure they are close enough to each other to touch each other.

*Tip: Depending on the size of nail that is used, a couple of drops of glue may be added to the knot in the string. This will help the nail stay in place and not fall out when it is swaying.

4. Cut a 20-inch long piece of the nylon string. Tie each end on the front and back of the caterpillar. Hang the caterpillar outside where it can sway in the wind!

Wooden spoons and dowels come in all sizes. Get a few of different sizes and make a family of caterpillar wind chimes! A child would have fun making a caterpillar for everyone in their family and of course decorating them so everyone knows which caterpillar is theirs. Maybe a daughter loves to use glitter in her crafts, her caterpillar would be decorated with various colors of glitter. Maybe a son really loves cars – a fun idea for him would be to find any cars that are broken, remove the tires and use the tires on the caterpillar. Many toy car tires are plastic and wouldn’t chime when they hit each other, but the son may not mind because he loves the caterpillar so much.

Submitted by Leximom