Lady Bugs and Bumble Bees Painted Walnut Shells Kid’s Crafts

These hand painted lady bugs and bumble bees are the perfect craft to make with young children. Acrylic craft paint, paint brushes, and halved walnut shells are all you need to make them. You can make several of them in just one afternoon! A group of children age 5 through 8 years of age made the ones shown in my photographs.

You’ll need to crack the walnut shells in half. Clean all of the walnut pulp out from the inside using a pick. When you crack them try to crack them lengthwise with even to semi-even edges so that they sit flat. An adult should do all of the nut cracking and cleaning.

Each shell needs to be base coated with 1-2 coats of paint. In this case…we used orange, yellow, and red as our base coat. Once dry you’ll want to start adding the details with black acrylic craft paint. Start with the black head first. Then paint on stripes for the bumble bee and polka dots for the lady bugs. Let dry until the paint is no longer tacky.

Dip the end of the paint brush into white paint and dot on the eyes. Let dry. Dip the end of a chopstick or smaller diameter end of a paint brush into black and add the inner eye. Let dry for 1-2 hours or until the paint is no longer tacky.

Optional: We took our painted walnut shells outside and sprayed with a light coat of clear acrylic spray sealer with a glossy finish. This will help to protect the painted surface and help to preserve the walnut shell for years to come.

* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!