Use nail polish and a delicate hand to create colourful neon cicada shells.

This is a unique nature craft for older kids. Younger kids can do cicada shell art too, but I’d suggest sticking to preschooler-friendly craft materials because the shells are so delicate. 

If you live in an area where there are no cicada shells (or maybe you don’t like the thought of touching them), you could try making neon rocks, leaves, shells or acorns instead.

You might also like our 3D Paper Cicada

I have a soft spot for cicadas. They might even be my favourite insect!

As a kid, I spent large chunks of time every summer doing what my sister and I called “cicada-hunting”. Their shells were prized like jewellery, and we weren’t afraid to pick the insects up and hold them.

In our area, Australia’s Blue Mountains, there are lots of cool varieties to be found. Green Grocers, Yellow Mondays, Black Princes, Tom Thumbs and Cherry Noses, plus lots more. 

Here are a couple of Aussie cicadas I photographed myself.

When I placed the above greengrocer in my photography set up he didn’t budge. He just sat there looking cute and giving me his best photo smile. I even had to give the piece of paper he was sitting on a good shake to get him to fly away afterwards.

This one’s a masked bandit. He was equally cool about being photographed.

I’m not surprised that my kids love cicada shells as much as I once did, and it’s that time of year again – noisy cicada season and the race is on!

Already the girls have amassed a huge number of shells. They’re trying to collect more than each other and their school friends. I wonder who will win, and how many of the treasures will end up as dust ground into our carpet …

Or turned into neon cicada shells with the help of a little nail polish!

How to make Neon Cicada Shells

You will need

• cicada shells (or rocks, acorns or leaves if you have no shells)
• neon nail polish
• non-stick baking paper

How to

1. Place the cicada shell over the baking paper
2. Paint with nail polish. 
3. Allow to dry and paint another coat (or as many extra coats as needed to get the surface bright, shiny and opaque). 

They look like they’re plotting something don’t you think?

More insect ideas you might like

• Make a 3D paper cicada based on the American Periodical variety
• This firefly paper lantern is so pretty for Summer!
• Yarn butterflies are fun to make and use a weaving technique similar to God’s Eye weaving

Check out more of our insect printables