Looking for an easy paper plate bee craft for preschool or kindergarten? I created this free printable bee craft template to make putting together an adorable little bumblebee simple for parents, homeschool families, and teachers. With a paper plate, a few basic craft supplies, and the printable template, children can create their own cheerful bee while getting extra practice with coloring, cutting, gluing, and fine motor skills.
Bee crafts are especially fun for spring, insect units, Letter B activities, garden themes, and lessons about pollinators. I also designed the template with several options, so you can choose how much prep you want to do and how much of the craft you want children to complete independently.
Easy Paper Plate Bee Craft for Preschool and Kindergarten
Paper plate crafts are some of my favorite projects to recommend for younger children because they turn an inexpensive everyday supply into something completely different.
This paper plate bee craft is designed to fit a standard 9- or 10-inch paper plate. The plate becomes the bee’s body, while the printable pieces add the wings, antennae, stripes, stinger, and face.
It is a great craft for:
- Preschool and pre-K
- Kindergarten
- Homeschool lessons
- Letter B activities
- Spring learning
- Insect and bug units
- Bee and pollinator lessons
- Classroom art centers
- Fine motor practice
- Summer learning activities
Crafts like this can also give children meaningful fine motor practice because they involve cutting, positioning pieces, coloring or painting, and gluing. Other preschool bee activities similarly use cutting and hands-on elements to strengthen fine motor skills.
What Is Included in the Free Paper Plate Bee Craft Template?
I wanted this printable to offer more than a single set of pieces. You can choose the version that works best for your child, students, or available craft supplies.
The free paper plate bee craft template includes:
- Printable bee wings
- Bee stinger
- Cute printable eyes
- Pink cheeks
- Smiling mouth
- Colored light-blue wings
- Black bee stripes
- Printable antennae
- Oval paper plate cutting guide
There are both black-and-white and ready-to-use colored elements included in the printable.
I especially like having both options available in a classroom or homeschool setting. Children can color the black-and-white pieces themselves, or you can use the colored pieces when you need a quicker craft with less prep.
The final page also includes an oval bee body guide. Instead of guessing how to transform a round paper plate into the bee’s body, you can use the guide to help create the rounded oval shape shown in the finished craft.
Supplies for Your Paper Plate Bumble Bee Craft
You don’t need an overflowing craft closet for this project. Most of the supplies are basic materials you may already have at home or in the classroom.
You will need a 9- or 10-inch paper plate, the printed bee craft template, yellow paint or crayons, black and light-blue crayons or markers, child-safe scissors, glue, and a black marker. Googly eyes are optional if you would rather use them instead of the printable eyes.
If you’re putting together a craft supply order, this is also a natural place to link to your favorite paper plates, washable yellow paint, child-safe scissors, glue sticks, crayons, construction paper, and googly eyes with your Amazon affiliate links.
Paint or Color the Paper Plate
Yellow washable paint gives the bee a bright, classic look and adds another hands-on element to the activity.
If painting isn’t practical, crayons are an easy alternative. This can be especially helpful when you’re doing the activity with a larger group and don’t want to wait for an entire table full of bees to dry.
How to Make a Paper Plate Bee Craft
The printable includes instructions for completing the bee, so you can keep them with the template for easy reference.
Step 1: Make the Bee’s Yellow Body
Paint or color the front of your paper plate yellow.
If you’re using paint, allow the plate to dry completely before continuing. Then use the oval guide included with the printable to help cut the paper plate into the bee’s body shape.
For younger children, I recommend having an adult prepare this part ahead of time if cutting through a paper plate will be too difficult.
Step 2: Prepare the Printable Bee Pieces
Print your bee craft template.
Children can color the black-and-white template pieces, use the included colored pieces, or you can print the appropriate pieces onto colored construction paper.
Color the wings light blue and prepare the black stripes and antennae.
This gives you plenty of flexibility depending on the age of the children completing the project.
Step 3: Cut Out the Bee Craft Template
Carefully cut around the outside lines of the wings, antennae, stripes, stinger, and any facial features you plan to use.
For preschoolers who are learning to use scissors, an adult can help with the more detailed pieces while allowing children to tackle the easier cuts.
Step 4: Add the Black Bee Stripes
Glue the black strips horizontally across the yellow paper plate.
Once they’re secure, trim away any paper extending beyond the outside edges of the bee’s body.
This is the moment when the yellow plate suddenly starts looking much more bee-ish.
Step 5: Attach the Wings
Glue one wing behind each side of the paper plate so the large rounded portions extend outward.
Light blue creates the look shown in my finished example, but children certainly don’t have to make identical bees. White, pale gray, or creatively colored wings can work too.
Step 6: Add the Antennae and Stinger
Glue two antennae behind the top of the plate with their rounded ends pointing upward.
Attach the black stinger to the bottom of the bee.
Step 7: Give Your Bee a Face
Now comes one of the most fun parts.
Add the printable eyes, cheeks, and smile to the upper portion of the plate. Children can also draw their own expression with a black marker or substitute googly eyes.
Letting children create different expressions is an easy way to make a classroom display full of bees feel more individual.
Step 8: Let Your Paper Plate Bee Dry
Allow the glue to dry completely before picking up or displaying the finished craft.
Your paper plate bee is ready to buzz onto a spring bulletin board, classroom wall, refrigerator, or homeschool display.
What Children Can Learn From This Bee Craft
Although this activity is meant to be fun, it can easily become part of a larger learning experience.
Cutting around the template pieces provides fine motor and hand-eye coordination practice. Painting and coloring encourage children to control smaller hand movements. Following the steps in order introduces sequencing, while assembling the individual pieces encourages children to think about how parts combine to create a whole object.
You can also introduce simple bee vocabulary such as:
bee, insect, wings, antennae, hive, honey, pollen, flower, nectar, and pollinator.
For a Letter B lesson, have children say the word bee, identify its beginning sound, and think of other words beginning with B.
Use This Paper Plate Bee Craft for a Spring Bee Unit
This craft doesn’t have to be a stand-alone activity. I think it works particularly well as the hands-on portion of a larger bee or spring lesson.
You could begin by reading a bee picture book, talk about what children already know about bees, complete a few bee-themed learning activities, and finish with the paper plate craft.
For older preschoolers and kindergarten students, introduce the idea of pollination. Explain in simple terms that bees visit flowers to collect nectar and pollen, and as they travel between flowers, they help plants reproduce.
Children could then draw flowers around their finished bee or create an entire class garden display.
Picture Books to Pair With a Paper Plate Bee Craft
Adding a read-aloud can turn a quick craft into a more complete themed lesson. A few bee-themed books worth looking for include:
The Honeybee by Kirsten Hall
A beautifully illustrated introduction to the busy life of a honeybee.
Give Bees a Chance by Bethany Barton
A playful choice for introducing why bees are important and helping children look at them with a little more curiosity.
The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter by Shabazz Larkin
This combines a story about family with information about bees and pollination.
Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup
The peek-through illustrations make this an especially engaging choice for younger children.
The Life and Times of the Honeybee by Charles Micucci
A good choice when you want to extend the activity into a more informational bee lesson.
These titles also give you several natural opportunities to add Amazon affiliate links to the post.
More Bee Activities to Add to Your Lesson
Once you’ve made your paper plate bee craft, keep the theme going with a few simple learning activities.
Children can practice counting yellow and black pom-poms, make a B is for Bee letter page, create fingerprints around a beehive, sort pictures into insects and non-insects, practice bee-themed vocabulary, or go outside for a flower and pollinator observation walk.
Bee worksheets can also incorporate early skills such as counting, letter recognition, coloring, cut-and-paste practice, and fine motor development.
This makes a bee theme easy to adapt across literacy, math, science, and art instead of treating the craft as an isolated activity.
More Free Printables to Use With Your Paper Plate Bee Craft
If you’re putting together a spring, insect, or Letter B unit, pair this craft with other free educational printables on Missy Printable Design.
Some especially useful additions would be:
You can also use the finished bee as a classroom display after children complete their Letter B activities.
Pin This Paper Plate Bee Craft for Later
Don’t have time to make your bee today? Save this paper plate bee craft with free printable template to your favorite preschool crafts, kindergarten activities, spring crafts, bee activities, or kids’ crafts Pinterest board.
Then you’ll have the printable ready when you’re planning a Letter B lesson, spring unit, insect theme, or simply need an easy craft for a rainy afternoon.
Get Your Free Paper Plate Bee Craft Template Here
Ready to make your bee?
I created this free printable paper plate bee craft template to make prep easier for parents, homeschool families, and teachers. The template is designed for a standard 9- or 10-inch paper plate and includes the pieces you need to put together your bee.
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Make Learning a Little Sweeter With This Paper Plate Bee Craft
I created this paper plate bee craft to give children an activity that’s simple enough for younger learners but still offers plenty of opportunities to color, cut, glue, create, and learn.
Whether you’re working on the Letter B, planning a spring insect theme, learning about pollinators, or simply looking for an easy afternoon project, the free printable template takes care of much of the prep work.
Print the template, grab a paper plate, and you’re ready to turn an ordinary craft supply into one very busy little bee.
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