Fly Mask Craft for Preschoolers

Lately, my boys have been fascinated with watching and trying to catch flies, so I figured why not study them a little bit?! Today, I am sharing a craft that teaches about the eyes of a fly.

Did you know that a fly has compound eyes, which means they are made up of thousands of six-sided lenses?! A house fly has about 4,000 lenses in each eye. No two lenses point in the same direction and each lense works independently. Talk about confusing for vision! They don’t have sharp vision, but they can quickly see any movement. I find that so fascinating!

Since their eyes are one of the most complex in the insect world and is a defining feature of a fly, I wanted to focus on that for our craft. The craft we made is a mask and a representation of a fly’s compound eyes.

To make this craft, you will need these supplies:

egg carton
pipe cleaners
elastic
party confetti (found at craft stores)
glue
scissors
stapler

You will need to do some prep work before doing the craft with your child. First, cut out two pieces of the egg carton. Cut around the edges so they are round and not don’t have sharp edges. Then make a small hole on both pieces and slide a small piece of elastic through each hole. (This will be the part that goes over the childs nose, so you may want to measure how much elastic you will need.) Staple or use a hot glue gun to keep the piece of elastic in place. Then, cut out holes in the front of the egg carton pieces for eyes. Next, measure the childs head with the elastic and staple that piece of elastic on the sides of the egg carton pieces.

Now you are ready for your child to help. Have them paint glue all over the egg carton pieces. Then have them stick on the confetti. If they don’t stick on very well, then add more glue. I had my toddler make this craft, but he became frustrated with the glue sticking to his fingers. I’d say this craft is geared more towards preschoolers.

Then just let them dry. You may have noticed that I did not have all the elastic on the boys’ mask while they decorated it. I decided to add that after they dried, since they laid flat better.

As I was researching flies, I found out that flies have two antennae, but it may be difficult to see. They grow toward the center of the head, between the eyes. The antennae is used to find food and warn it of danger.

Once they are dry, you can add antennas (and the elastic if you left that part for the end). Just poke holes in the egg carton and add brown pipe cleaner. Then staple it to the inside to keep it from falling out.

Lastly, have your child try them on and buzz around the house like a fly!

They look kind of silly, but it is a representation of the fly’s compound eyes. Also, when you put the mask on, it is a bit hard to see out of, which also shows what it feels like to be a fly.