20+ Fascinating Firefly Activities that You might Know 

Fireflies have fascinated our imaginations, literature, and creativity for centuries. For a beetle, fireflies are very popular and sought after in gardens and parks. 

However, due to the loss of their natural habitat, their population has decreased significantly. These activities are aimed at educating your children 🧒 about fireflies and getting inspired by their uniqueness. 

firefly activities for children 

Most of these activities and crafts are aimed at toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary school children who are learning about new insects, shapes, and habitats. 

Many of these activities hope to foster creativity amongst your children 🧒 and inspire them to make their own unique art. Let us hope that your children enjoy these activities just as much. 

Firefly Glow Stick 

Nobody tells you before you become a parent how many impromptu dance parties you have to throw to cheer up your crying toddler. And a glow stick is a wonderful accompaniment to any dance party. 

What you need- Glow sticks, construction paper, pencil, marker, scissors ✂️, and tape. 

Steps- 

• On the construction paper, draw wings and antennae and cut with scissors. 
• Tape the wings and the antennae on the glow stick. 
• Draw two cartoon eyes 👀 under the antennae and a smile. 
• Your Firefly glow stick is ready to use. 

Attract Fireflies to Your Garden 

Show your kids how to attract fireflies to your garden by following these tips- 

• Let the grass in your backyard grow a bit longer than usual, as fireflies like to frolic in taller grasses. 
• Turn off your porch light at night. Light from the bulb competes with firefly’s distinct light patterns that they use to attract a mate. 
• Fireflies get their nourishment from eating small garden pests like snails, slugs, and worms 🪱, and from pollen and nectar from plants. Therefore, start growing flowering plants in your garden and minimize the use of pesticides. 
• Add a water feature to your backyard, as fireflies like to be near standing water. 
• Plant a native pine tree 🌳in your backyard. Due to rampant urbanization, fireflies, along with thousands of other animals, have lost their natural habitats, and this significantly hampers their ability to procreate. The canopies of the pine tree are an ideal spot for fireflies to lay their eggs 🥚and for the hatched larvae to gather food. 

Have a Glow in the Dark Hunt 

One of the reasons why fireflies fascinate human beings so much is because of their ability to glow in the dark. This hunt is inspired by this attribute. 

What you need- An item to hide and glow-in-the-dark tape or marker. 

Steps- 

• Mark the item that your kid needs to find with a glow-in-the-dark tape or marker. 
• Hide the item in or around your house.
• Once it gets dark, ask your children to look for the item. 

Pro tip- You can leave some glue for your kids with the marker. 

Glow in the Dark Pasta Fireflies 

I found this activity exceptionally easy to do with children, and the end result was absolutely adorable. 

What you need- Butterfly pasta, large shell pasta, macaroni pasta, paint, paintbrush, glue, wooden skewers, and googly eyes 👀. 

Steps- 

• Help your child paint the butterfly pasta with acrylic paint. They can paint the pasta in any color. Repeat the process with the macaroni pasta. 
• Paint the large shell pasta completely white. 
• Once the paint has dried, glue two googly eyes on the macaroni pasta. 
• Glue the macaroni pasta with the butterfly pasta in such a way that the macaroni pasta fits perfectly between the wings. Make sure that the eyes 👀 are facing forward. 
• Glue the large shell pasta in a similar fashion to the butterfly pasta. 
• Apply glue to a third of a wooden stick. Turn the pasta structure on its back and place the wooden stick in the middle. Let the glue dry. Repeat the process to make more fireflies, and your craft will be complete. 

Firefly-Inspired Wooden Clothespin Snack Packs 

To make my children’s school lunches more fun, I usually put in a funny joke or be creative with the food presentation. This is one such example. 

What you need- Pipe cleaners, wooden clothespins, googly eyes, glue, ziplock bags, and snacks. 

Steps- 

• Cut a piece of a pipe cleaner and cut it into two equal pieces for the antenna. 
• Paste the antennas to the back of the clothespin. 
• In the front, stick two googly eyes 👀. 
• Fill two ziplock bags with your child’s favorite non-perishable snacks like grapes and goldfish. 
• Twist them and secure them to the wooden clothespin in such a way that the two ziplock bags form the wings of the firefly. 

Firefly Life Cycle 

Discuss the firefly’s lifecycle with your children. Like butterflies 🦋, fireflies undergo a metamorphosis process with the following stages- egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

There are many videos available online that show the lifespan and life cycle of a butterfly 🦋 through a time-lapse. 

Firefly Glow in the Dark Jar 

If fireflies are not native to your location, then you should set up this cute activity for your children to get a glimpse into the beauty of fireflies in a jar. 

What you need- Glow-in-the-dark paint, a paintbrush, a permanent marker, and a mason jar. 

Steps- 

• Clean the mason jar 🫙inside and out. 
• With the help of glow-in-the-dark paint, make small ovals on the inside of the jar. Let the first coat of paint dry, and then add another one. 
• Help your child draw the rest of the firefly’s body with a black permanent marker. And the craft is complete. 

Bring the jar 🫙 into a dark room and see the magic happen. 

Band-aid Fireflies 

This band-aid firefly craft is a wonderful activity for toddlers as it teaches children that art can be created with unorthodox items, fosters creativity, and refines fine motor skills. 

What you need- Black construction paper, colorful bandages, yellow and white crayons, and two googly eyes 👀. 

Steps- 

• To make a firefly, you’ll need three band-aids. Two band-aids should have the same color. 
• Remove the paper from one of the band-aids and stick it on the black construction paper. 
• Remove the paper from the other two band-aids and crisscross them over the other band-aid. 
• Use the yellow crayon to make the antennas on the firefly. Repeat the process to make other fireflies. 
• Draw stars and the moon around the firefly. 

Firefly Cookie Lollipop 

These cookies turned out so cute and were a hit amongst my children and their friends. 

What you need- Store-bought cookie 🍪dough, store-bought vanilla-flavored, royal icing, bee cookie cutter (because firefly cookie cutters are tough to find), lollipop sticks, and food coloring. 

Steps- 

• Sprinkle some flour on a clean working surface. 
• Roll out the store-bought cookie 🍪 dough on this surface. 
• Use the cookie cutter to cut them and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
• Insert the wooden lollipop 🍭 sticks into the cookies and bake as per the instructions on the box. 
• While the cookies are baking, divide the royal icing into three different bowls and add red, blue, and black food coloring. Mix well. 
• Pour the icing into three separate piping bags and snip its ends. 
• In a microwavable bowl, melt the yellow candy chocolate. Let the candy cool down for a few minutes before pouring it into a piping bag. 
• On a baking tray lined with parchment paper, pipe the yellow chocolate into circles. 
• Once the cookies 🍪 are done baking and have cooled down for a few minutes, press them into these yellow chocolate circles. Let the chocolate and the cookies cool down. 
• Using the black icing, make the outline of the firefly and other features. Fill the remainder with blue and red icing. 

Beaded Firefly Craft 

Because of so many firefly activities that my children had taken part in in recent years when I got my daughter a bead set, she decided to make this adorable craft. Let’s see how she made this. 

What you need- Pipe cleaner, pony beads, small googly eyes, scissors ✂️, glue, and silver and gold string. 

Steps- 

• Take a pipe cleaner and help your child thread at least 15 to 20 beads through it. The pipe cleaner should be thick enough that it stops the beads from moving on their own. Cut the remainder of the pipe cleaner. 
• From the silver and gold string, make two pairs of wings and antennas. Glue them onto the beads. 
• Apply glue to two googly eyes 👀 and glue them down to the front of the firefly body. Your craft is complete. 

Glow in the Dark Handprint Firefly Activity

My children really enjoyed this glow-in-the-dark handprint firefly activity. 

What you need- Scissors, glow-in-the-dark paint, glue, tissue paper, and pipe cleaners. 

Steps- 

• Draw the firefly’s body, which is like a tie, and cut it with scissors. 
• Help your child paint stripes on the firefly’s body with glow-in-the-dark paint. 
• Paint the bottom of the firefly’s body completely with the glow-in-the-dark paint. 
• To make the wings, cover your child’s hand with paint and stamp it on construction paper. You can use the glow-in-the-dark paint if it is safe for children. You’ll need four handprints. Help your child cut the same with scissors ✂️. 
• Draw the face on a different color of construction paper, along with the antennas, and cut with scissors.
• Help your child paste everything to the firefly’s body, and the craft is complete. 

Plastic Bottle Firefly 

Upcycle used plastic water bottles for this fabulous craft with your children. Using unorthodox materials like plastic bottles will aid your child’s creativity and can also promote environmental awareness. 

What you need- Black marker 🖊️, glitter glue tube, pipe cleaners, glue, used plastic water bottle, tape, scissors, foam sheets, and googly eyes. 

Steps- 

• Make a pair of wings from the foam sheets and cut them with scissors ✂️. Help your child to decorate the wings with the marker and glitter tubes. With the help of double-sided tape, paste the wings in the middle of the plastic bottle. 
• Cut three equal pieces of green color pipe cleaner. Apply glue to the middle of the three pieces and paste them strategically on the bottle (opposite to the wings). 
• From a different colored pipe cleaner, make two antennas and secure them around the bottle’s cap. 
• Glue two googly eyes 👀 on the bottle cap and draw a smile with the marker. 

Fireflies Around a Campfire Handprint Activity 

This adorable activity is a cute keepsake from your child’s toddlerhood. 

What you need- Construction paper, paint, and paintbrush 🖌️. 

Steps- 

• Help your child draw a cute camp scene on construction paper with paint, pencils, and markers. 
• Once they are finished, cover their hand in the colors of a fire. Start with yellow paint at the bottom of the palm, orange in the middle, and red at the top of the fingers. 
• Stamp their handprint in the middle of the construction paper in such a way that it looks like a campfire 🔥. 
• Next, make fireflies by fingerpainting, and this adorable craft is done. 

Fireflies in a Jar Counting Activity 

Work on your toddler’s counting skills with this easy counting activity. 

What you need- Construction paper and a marker. 

Steps- 

On a construction, draw a large mason jar 🫙. Draw fireflies and other little insects inside the mason jar and ask your child to count the number of fireflies inside the jar. The other little insects are to confuse your children and employ their observational skills and critical thinking. 

Read Books About Fireflies 

Reading books out loud is incredibly beneficial for children. This practice helps them work on their pronunciation, problem-solve how to say a new word and improve their reading comprehension. 

There are several wonderful, whimsical books out there that feature fireflies. When my daughter was young, she was obsessed with fireflies. So, we have read several books about fireflies. 

Some of these are- The Fireflies Book: Fun Facts about the Fireflies You Loved As a Kid by Helen Frost, Firefly Hollow by Alison McGhee, Firenze’s Light by Jessica Collaco, Next Time You See a Firefly by Emily Rachel Morgan, and How to Survive as a Firefly by Kristen Foote. 

Clothespin Firefly 

In my kids’ room, we have a clothing line that we use to attach their art to. We normally use a generic clothespin to do the same, but we soon decided to decorate the clothespins as well. 

What you need- Wooden clothespin, pipe cleaner, paintbrush, acrylic paint, and googly eyes 👀. 

Steps- 

• Paint the clothespin in two different colors. 
• Once the paint has dried, glue two googly eyes to the front of the clothespin. 
• Use two different colored-pipe cleaners to make the wings and the antennas of the firefly. And your clothespin firefly is complete. 

Firefly in a Jar Cookie 

My kids and I live in an area that is swarmed by fireflies during peak summer, right before the rain. And we have taken part in the occasional catching of the firefly in a jar activity. This cookie combo is inspired by the same. 

What you need- Sugar cookie ingredients, store-bought royal icing, mason jar-shaped cookie cutter, insect-shaped cookie cutter, food coloring, piping bag, and piping bag tip. 

Steps- 

• Follow any sugar cookie recipe to make the cookie dough. 
• Divide the dough into two equal portions, roll them out, and cut one of them with the insect cutter and the other with the mason jar 🫙 cutter. 
• Bake the cookies according to the recipe. Once the cookies are done baking, let them cool down. 
• Divide the royal icing into three different bowls. Let one of the icings remain white, make one of the icings light blue, and make the other a little darker. 
• Pour the royal icing into the piping bag and fit a small tip on its end. 
• Make the outline of the mason jar and its cap with white icing. Fill the cap portion with white icing and the jar 🫙 portion with light blue icing. Repeat the process with the other cookies. 
• Similarly, draw the outline of the insect cookie with white icing. Fill the wings with the white icing and the body with the blue icing. 

Pro tip- You can add more features to the insect and mason jar cookies with the help of edible glitter, sprinkles, and other ingredients. 

Teach Firefly Poems 

Did you know that reading poetry has several literary benefits? 

It is true that reciting and reading poetry aids in the development of your child’s speech; the rhyme and rhythm of the poetry develop reading fluency, strengthen their reading comprehension skills, and, most importantly, inspire creativity.

Fireflies tend to be a common fixture in many children’s poetry due to their whimsical nature. 

Old Plastic Firefly Craft 

Repurpose all the plastic eggs left behind after the Easter egg hunt with this craft for children.

What you need- Googly eyes 👀, construction paper, plastic eggs, pipe cleaners, and battery-driven tea lights. 

Steps- 

• Cut a pipe cleaner into three pieces. Apply glue to the middle of the pipe cleaner and stick to the bottom of the egg 🥚. Bend the pipe cleaners so they look like legs. 
• Make two pairs of wings with the construction paper. Fold both the wings in half and apply glue on the folded line of one of the wings. Paste the other wing on top. 
• Apply glue to the back of the wing and paste on the egg (on the opposite side of the legs). 
• Paste two googly eyes 👀 in the front of the egg and an antenna made from pipe cleaners. 
• To put the tealight inside the egg, carefully open the egg 🥚 and place the tealight inside. 

If your children are afraid of the dark, then this makes an adorable nightlight. You can make a couple of them and decorate their room with them. 

Pro tip- To save the battery of the tealight, switch it off whenever it is not in use. 

Firefly in Mason Jar Sensory Bag 

Playing with sensory bags is super beneficial for toddlers and preschoolers as it introduces them to new smells, textures, visuals, and experiences. 

What you need- Ziplock bag, clear hair gel, permanent markers, and tape. 

Steps- 

• With the permanent markers, draw a mason jar 🫙 and fireflies on the ziplock bag.  
• Fill the bag with hair gel. 
• Seal with tape. 

Firefly Factoids 

Look up articles, videos, and images about fireflies available online with your children. Fireflies are incredibly fascinating creatures, and there are a lot of interesting facts about them available online. 

Learn about why fireflies light up, what their natural habitat is, what they like to eat, and why they are not big fans of artificial outdoor lights.

Pro tip- Once you and your kids have finished looking up Firefly factoids, you can quiz them on their knowledge as well. 

Paper Towel Roll Firefly Craft 

If you and your children go through multiple rolls of toilet paper in a month, then you can try making this cute firefly craft that uses paper towel rolls. 

What you need- Empty paper towel rolls, tape, scissors ✂️, construction paper, glue, and paint. 

Steps- 

• Tape at least 4 to 5 empty toilet paper rolls 🧻 together in a long tower. 
• Paint the paper towel tower completely brown. 
• Once the brown paint has dried, paint 1/3rd of the paper towel roll 🧻 white and make yellow stripes. Let the paint dry 
• On a bright construction paper, draw four wings and cut with scissors. 
• Paste the four wings in an X-shape on the brown side of the paper towel tower. 
• On a different color construction paper, draw a circle with two antennas. Cut with scissors ✂️ and draw features like eyes and mouth with a marker. Paste the circle on top of the paper towel tower above the wings. 

Pine Cone Fireflies 

This pine cone firefly craft is a perfect fall activity, especially when your backyard is as full of pine cones as mine is. It is also a great activity to improve your toddler’s shape recognition skills, fine motor skills, and creativity. 

What you need- Pinecones, scissors ✂️, googly eyes, glue, black wire, black construction paper, paint, and paintbrush. 

Steps- 

• After cleaning the pine cones, have your kids paint the end of the pine cone green. 
• While the paint is drying, cut two wings from black construction paper. Glue the wings to the pine cone, with one wing overlapping the other wing. 
• Bend two pieces of black wire like a firefly’s antennae and paste them on the pine cone with glue. 
• Finally, glue the googly eyes 👀 to the pine cone. 

Firefly Mason Jar Craft 

If you are having a firefly-themed party, then this mason jar is a great way to serve the drinks. 

What you need- Blue mason jars and permanent markers. 

Steps- 

On the outside of the blue mason jars 🫙, help your child draw fireflies with the permanent markers. Let the marker ink dry properly before serving the drinks in it. 

Glow in the Dark Egg Carton Craft 

Repurpose empty egg cartons with this cute craft. 

What you need- An egg carton, glow-in-the-dark paint, paintbrush, scissors, glue, googly eyes 👀, and pipe cleaners. 

Steps- 

• Cut three egg 🥚 cups in a row. 
• Paint two egg cups completely black and the last egg cup with glow-in-the-dark paint. 
• Make two wings from construction paper or use cardboard and paste between the two black-colored egg cups. 
• Make two antennas from the black pipe cleaners and glue them down on the black egg 🥚 cup on the top. 
• Finally, glue the googly eyes 👀 to the egg cup, and your craft is ready. 

Conclusion 

The goal of these activities and snacks is to have fun with your children, bond with them, and foster a sense of creativity. 

Life with young children can be very hectic, but it is important to enjoy doing simple things together and making memories. These fun crafts are a good way to engage your children 🧒 and inspire them to make unique art. 

Let us know in the comments down below which was your child’s favorite snack to eat and activity to take part in.