Missy's Symmetry Insects

• Colored construction paper or cardstock
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Gluestick

1. Fold each of your sheets of colored paper in half.
2. Take one sheet with the fold at the top and draw a half circle from the top of the left side to the top of the right side.
3. Now draw a smaller half circle on the left side inside your first circle. Draw a medium sized half circle overlapping the small circle and ending on the right side of the large circle. These are rough guides for the head and body of your insect.
4. Draw three thick legs out of the body that end at the bottom of the paper. This will create 6 legs, like an insect has.
5. Use your scissors to cut out your insect shape. This is all creative and doesn’t have to be perfect. Lay your insect flat.
6. Now cut random shapes from the other colored papers. Make some off of the fold and some just in the middle of the paper (these cuts will create two matching shapes, keep them together).
7. Use your gluestick to decorate the insect with colored paper shapes. If the shape has a fold in it, match that to the fold on the insect and glue it down. For the two matching shapes, arrange the shapes opposite each other on the insect. This creates symmetry.
8. Continue gluing colored paper shapes to your insect using symmetry until you feel it is “finished.”

Refold your insect and now it can sit up on the table. For something a little different, try making an asymmetric insect. Asymmetry is when the two sides do not match up. Be creative and have fun!