Summer 2009 - Scottish Natural Heritage

Kids only!
You will need:
4 pipe cleaners –
different colours if
possible – sparkly
ones look really good
4 large beads – all
the same colour, or
two pairs of different
colours
1 lollipop stick – if you
want, you can colour it
with a felt pen
Plastic carton – like
the ones you get
strawberries in
Sewing thread
PVA glue
1. Thread one bead onto a pipe cleaner about
2 cm from the end. This is the fi rst eye.
2. Bring the short end of the pipe cleaner over
the top of the bead and twist it round the long
end. Repeat with a second bead and pipe
cleaner.
3. Hold the two eyes together and
twist the two pipe cleaners together to make
the body.
4. Cut the body to about 12 cm long.
5. Draw your wings onto a plastic carton with
a permanent marker pen. Cut them out and
draw on the patterns of the wing.
6. Do all this again to make your second
dragonfl y.
7. Using PVA glue, stick the wings onto the
bodies.
8. Tie two pieces of thread to your dragonfl y,
one in front of the wings and one behind. Find
the balancing point and tie the two threads
together at the top. Then tie it to one end
of the lollipop stick. Do the same with your
second dragonfl y but make the length different,
so they don't bump into each other!
9. Tie another piece of thread to the middle of
the lollipop stick.
Now you can hang it up and watch the
dragonfl ies fl y around!
Dragonflies are
the fastest flying
insects in the UK
– they can travel
at speeds of up to
30 mph!
Dragonflies are
amongst the
most ancient
living creatures
on the Earth.
They've been
around for 300
million years –
even before
dinosaurs!
Dragonflies’ huge
round eyes mean
that they have
almost 360°
vision. They can
see colour,
ultraviolet and
polarised light,
which helps them
to spot prey
against a bright
sky and to find
water.
The Gaelic
language has
many different
names for
dragonflies,
including Head of
snake, Blazing fly
and Spider
snake.
Some dragonflies
live for six to
seven years, but
only for a couple
of months as a
flying adult.
58 The Nature of Scotland