B is for Bugs

• Read “Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!” by Bob Barner

• Preschool Journal B Page
  1. Practice writing letter B and ‘Bugs’
  2. Put bug stickers on page.
  3. NOTE: I had cute bug stickers to stick on, but my 4-year-old wanted to put these on instead. I loved his ladybug drawing

• Bug Match Game
  1. I cut apart an extra piece of bug bulletin border to make this game.
  2. You could also use bug clipart, make 2 copies and cut one apart to match.
  3. I played with the kids and it ended up being an even better game than I had planned. They talked a lot about the attributes they noticed … the color of the wings, the direction the antennae were pointing, the type of bugs.

• Bug Letter Tiles
  1. Write “bug” on a sticky word strip & stick it to a magnetic surface.
  2. Let the kids use magnetic letter tilesto make the same word.
  3. Ask the kids to name a bug and write it on a word strip.
  4. Let them find the tiles to make the word.  
  5. Repeat.
  6. NOTE: I purposely wrote in lowercase for my 4-year-old when we only have uppercase letter tiles. I like that he can practice recognizing both forms. If it’s a little tricky for my 3-year-old, I write them uppercase for her so she can match them easier. Obviously she had more fun stacking the tiles

• Paint bug rocks
  1. Go on a nice walk outside.
  2. Pick up a few small rocks or small sticks (and look for bugs!)
  3. Let the kids paint their rocks and sticks. I set up our bug book to show them all of the fun colors and designs to give them some ideas. 
  4. Let dry and add googly eyes.

• Bug Jar Sorting
  1. Print these great bug jars from PreKinders here.
  2. I use these Backyard Bug Counters available here.
  3. Let the kids sort the bugs by color, type and number.

• Bagel bugs … our all-time favorite bug snack
  1. Spread cream cheese on a bagel.
  2. Add pretzel stick legs or antennae
  3. Use mini marshmallows and raisins for spots or eyes.

Insects (or Bugs)

• Sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"
  1. Make your own spider to help sing the song.
  2. Roll some playdoh into a ball.
  3. Cut 2 pipe cleaners into 4 pieces each (8 total). Stick these into the playdoh for legs.
  4. Press 2 googly eyes into the playdoh.
  5. Insert a popsicle stick into the bottom of the spider to hold while singing the song!

• Play with "Cootie Bugs" Amazon sells them here.
• Make inchworms or insects
  1. Cut an egg carton in half lengthwise (so you have 3 bumps).
  2. Use popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, paint or anything else to create insects
• Go outside and look for insects (under rocks!)

• Read "Old Black Fly" by Jim Aylesworth.

• Before you read … 
  1. Make your own annoying fly by gluing a paper fly (or plastic fly) to a popsicle stick or skewer. Click the image above to print!
  2. As you sing the ABC song, "fly" the pesky fly around the room, making buzzing noises and tapping kids on their shoulder.
  3. Have the kids tell how the fly bugged them during the song.
  4. Tell the kids this book is about another pesky fly.
• After you read …
  1. Cut out the first letter of each child's name.
  2. Dip a paintbrush in paint and flick over a piece of paper to create the splattered art used in the book.
  3. Repeat with several colors. Glue the letter to a page (& add a plastic fly if you'd like).

Snack Idea: Edible Insects ... push 6 stick pretzels into half a banana. Add raisin eyes with a dab of honey glue.

Bugs

• Go for a walk & let the kids use a digital camera to take pictures of all the bugs they find
• Make patterns with plastic bugs ... bug, marshmallow, bug, marshmallow
• Make a bug book … blank board books in several different sizes are found here. 
  1. First page … "Blue Bug, Blue Bug, What do you see?"
  2. The next page could be "I see an orange bug looking at me"
  3. Then red bug, green bug, purple bug.
  4. Let the kids cut out bug shapes for each page & add eyes & legs ... or do your book with all blue (blue bird, blue fish, blue cow).
  5. End the book with a picture of your kids "...looking at me"

(Sorry for the beat up looking book. We made this one in 2007 and it’s been loved. I found this little blank board book at a teacher supply store. Amazon also has them here. I think the kids like reading it so much because of the repetition and colored words they can “read” themselves when they’re little)

• Bug match game ... I found a bulletin board border with bugs. Use one strip of border & cut out matching bugs from another strip of border. Let the kids match.
• Bee Beehive
  1. Label a brown beehive cutout with a variety of different letters (make several of them Bs).
  2. Make several yellow bee clipart circles, large enough to cover each letter.
  3. The kids can use the bee clipart circles to cover up all the letter Bs!
• Fly like a Bumble Bee
  1. Attach yellow & black crepe paper streamers to two elastic hair bands.
  2. Slip a hair band around each wrist and dance to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Flight of the Bumblebee" (click for a link to the song!)

snack idea: bagel bugs ...

1. Spread bagels with cream cheese.
2. Add stick pretzel legs, mini marshmallow or cheese cube feet, and raisin eyes.