Preschool Crafts

4 Ladybug Crafts for Preschoolers (Easy Ideas)

4 ladybug crafts for preschoolers, each with a picture and simple steps. Easy ideas for ages 3 to 5 using paper, paint, and glue.

Kindergarten Prep Team
Oct 11, 2026

A red paper plate with black dots is a ladybug craft that preschool classes make each spring. Here are four ladybug crafts for preschoolers, each with a picture, the supplies, and the steps.

These land in a bug week or the first warm afternoon when a real one turns up on the window. A three-year-old stamps a red circle with a sponge and dots the spots. A five-year-old paints the plate and makes a love bug with heart spots.

Start here: three ladybug crafts that always work

Sponge stamped ladybug, an easy ladybug craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Sponge stamped ladybugStamp, dot, done, a three can do it alonePaper plate ladybug, an easy ladybug craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Paper plate ladybugThe one most classes makePaper plate love bug, an easy ladybug craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Paper plate love bugTen minutes once the paint is dry

4 ladybug crafts for preschoolers, with pictures

Paper plate ladybug, an easy ladybug craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

1. Paper plate ladybug

The child paints a paper plate red, dots on black spots, and adds a black head, legs and googly eyes.

Paint and glue

You need: 1 white paper plate, red and black poster paint, black paper, 2 googly eyes, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the plate red. Let it dry.
  2. Paint one black line down the middle from top to bottom.
  3. Dot black spots on each side of the line. Let it dry.
  4. You cut a black half circle and glue it at the top edge as the head. Glue the 2 googly eyes on it.
  5. Cut 6 black strips and glue 3 under the rim on each side as legs.
Footprint ladybug and bee, an easy ladybug craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

2. Footprint ladybug and bee

The child makes one red and one yellow footprint, then adds spots, stripes, wings and faces.

You need: white paper, red and yellow paint, black marker, 4 small googly eyes, glue

How to make it
  1. Paint your child's foot red and press it on the left half.
  2. Paint the other foot yellow and press it on the right half.
  3. When dry, draw or let your child press a colored finger for about 5 spots on the red print and draw 3 stripes across the yellow one.
  4. Glue 2 eyes on the heel end of each print, and draw 2 rounded wings on the sides of the yellow one.
Sponge stamped ladybug, an easy ladybug craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

3. Sponge stamped ladybug

The child stamps a red circle with a round sponge, then adds spots with a cotton swab and a head and legs with marker.

Easy for 3sStamping

You need: 1 round sponge, red poster paint, black poster paint, cotton swab, black marker, 2 small googly eyes, white paper

How to make it
  1. Dip the sponge in red paint and press it once in the middle of the paper as the body. Let it dry.
  2. Your child dots black spots on the red with a cotton swab dipped in black paint.
  3. Draw and fill in a black half circle head at the top with the marker.
  4. Draw 3 short legs on each side.
  5. Stick the 2 googly eyes on the head.
Paper plate love bug, an easy ladybug craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

4. Paper plate love bug

The child turns a painted plate into a bug with heart spots, pipe cleaner legs and antennae.

Paint and glue

You need: 1 small white paper plate, red paint, 5 pink paper hearts, 2 large googly eyes, 8 black pipe cleaner pieces, glue and tape

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the whole back red. Let it dry.
  2. You cut 5 pink hearts. Your child glues them on the lower part as spots.
  3. Stick the 2 eyes near the top.
  4. Tape 3 black legs under the rim on each side, and 2 black antennae under the top rim.
Free · 30 questions · about 4 minutes Is your child on track for kindergarten? Answer 30 questions about what your child does today, and you get a report like this one: Every area at a glance: strong, on track, or worth a little time The one or two areas to focus on first Simple things to do at home for each area How many months you have until kindergarten starts Get my child's free report → Example kindergarten readiness report with a bar for each area: language, social-emotional, math, thinking, fine motor and literacy

Ladybug crafts for 3 year olds

These 1 need no exact cutting and no small pieces, so a young three can do most of it alone: Sponge stamped ladybug.

Doing ladybug crafts with a 3 or 4 year old

Paint comes first on three of these four, so set the plates and sponges out on a tray and let the red dry before anyone adds spots. A hair dryer on low cuts the wait.

A three can stamp the sponge ladybug and dot spots with a cotton swab on their own. The footprint ladybug and bee needs you to hold the foot and press, so plan that one for a day with a second adult around.

Count the spots out loud as the child dots them. Six on each side is a good target for a five year old. A three can stop when the plate looks spotted.

The paper plate ladybugs hang on a string across a window. The love bug with heart spots makes a Valentine for a grandparent.

What you need for ladybug crafts

Most of these use the same handful of supplies: googly eye, white paper plate, glue, white paper, black marker, red and black poster paint, black paper, red and yellow paint. Everything else is named on the craft it belongs to.

Free · 30 questions · about 4 minutes Before you go: see where your child is for kindergarten A report with every area at a glance, what to focus on first, and things to do at home. Get my child's free report →

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