A new species of bug has been discovered in our garden. Walnut bugs are harmless, social little insects with a hard walnut shell to protect them from predators. They are always happy (I wish I knew their secret) and they like to travel around in polkadot pairs. You’ll find walnut bugs hiding in leafy green gardens, they adore summer time and their favourite food is crunchy leaves. At night time they are attracted to bright light, so watch out because they might follow you indoors. If they do they’ll likely snuggle up on the bedside table under your reading lamp and go to sleep.

Bugs are such fascinating creatures, and around here we get lots of them – big ones too. We get a variety of cicadas (try painting their shells), plenty of grasshoppers, and some very huge, hairy spiders.

These walnut bugs are not based off any of the real insects we have for inspiration. I made them up because I’d taken the girls walnut gathering with and I wanted to use the shells in a craft. Ever since I saw some of the cute walnut crafts made by Maggy from Red Ted Art, it’s been at the back of my mind to design a craft from walnut shells.

Before you make this craft you need to split a walnut shell perfectly in half, which takes some practice. Totally doable though, and you also get to eat a yummy fresh walnut in the process.

Here is a video by Maggy explaining how to split the nuts.

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Now onto the walnut bug craft…

How to make walnut bugs:

You will need:

• Walnut shells
• Paint
• Glue – tacky craft glue is perfect but failing that PVA or school glue would be fine too
• Felt (or construction paper) scraps
• Googly eyes

How to:

Paint the back two thirds of your walnut shell in a flat colour and allow to dry
Paint white polkadots over the flat colour.
Paint a little smily mouth.
Glue the eyes on.
Fold your felt scrap in half and cut a little teardrop shape diagonally against the fold, unfold to reveal bug wings. Glue them on.