For the Ants in the Dirt project, you will need brown and blue construction paper, a non-toxic black ink pad, black crayons and glue. Begin by having the kids tear the brown paper into pieces and glue them to the bottom of the blue paper to signify the dirt and the sky. Using the ink pad, the kids make three fingerprints in a row, each fingerprint slightly overlapping the previous one, on the brown paper. Draw legs and antennas on the fingerprints to turn them into an ant.
Ants at a Picnic is a fun projects that lets kids use their imagination. You will need white paper plates and crayons. Have the children draw their favorite picnic foods, such as grapes, sandwiches and potato chips, on a paper plate. Have the kids draw ants invading their picnic and their food. For a variation on this project, have the children cut pictures of food out of a magazine and glue the pictures onto the plate before drawing on the ants.
While Ants on a Log may bring to mind the healthy snake of celery, peanut butter and raisins, you don't want the kids snacking on this project even though it does involve food. You'll need cardboard tube from a paper towel roll for the logs, raisins for the ants, green yarn for the grass and glue. Glue the raisins to the inside or top of the cardboard tube so they form a marching line of ants. Glue pieces of green to the bottom of the tube so the log looks as if it's resting in the grass.
To make egg carton ants, you'll need cardboard egg cartons, scissors, paint, paintbrushes, pipe cleaners, sharp pencils, wiggly eyes, black markers and glue. In preparation for this project, the teacher or caregiver should cut a strip of three cups from the egg carton. The kids paint the egg cartons, black, brown or red. Poke two holes in the top of the first cup using a sharp pencil. To make the antennas, push both ends of a pipe cleaner through the holes from the inside the cup. Poke one hole on each side of all three cups for a total of six holes. Push a pipe cleaner through both holes on the first cup to create the ant legs. Repeat with the second and third cup. Bend the end of the pipe cleaners into little feet. Glue the wiggly eyes onto the ant's head and use the marker to draw on a mouth.