You're probably doing it wrong. What I do is use butterflies to get the kids along the southern shore of the lake, grab and drop one of the kids onto the sticky spot. Then when the butterflies expire, lure the rascal over to the stuck kid and they'll keep the rascal busy.

Don't use bees because then the rascal and kids will attempt to hide in the water from the bees and don't actually get stuck.

They can become unstuck when you minimize the game (doesn't always happen, but there is a chance) and also when you close the game, so you'll have to redo it.