Insect Fun!

• Dig for Insects
  1. Fill a large tub with uncooked rice.
  2. Hide several plastic insects in the rice and let the kids dig for them.
  3. They can even sort and count the bugs as they find them.

      

• Insect Sorting & Counting Jars … these are perfect sorting mats created by PreKinders!
  1. Use the Backyard Bug counters available from Amazon here.
  2. Print and laminate the sorting jars here. PreKinders offers colors, counting and types-of-bugs jars.

 

• Insect Action Cards … created by Oopsey Daisy
  1. You can download an entire I is for Insect packet from Oopsey Daisy. She has done a great job on these and offers them for free!
  2. I love these action cards included in the packet. Just print them, cut them out, choose one and act it out!
  3. Click here to get the I is for Insect packet.
• Paint a LO-O-O-O-O-O-ONG caterpillar
  1. Use a long strip of paper.
  2. Pour several colors of paint in individual dishes.
  3. Use the lip of a cup dipped in the paint (one cup for each color) to make a caterpillar as long as you want.
  4. Add googly eyes and antennae and feet with a crayon

• Insect Anatomy Song … use the simple diagram above found here as you learn this song.

(to the tune: London Bridges Falling Down)

Head and thorax, abdomen. Abdomen, abdomen.

Head and thorax, abdomen. That’s an insect.

Every insect has six legs, has six legs, has six legs.

Every insect has six legs. That’s an insect.

Antennae to feel their way, feel their way, feel their way.

Antennae to feel their way. That’s an insect.

 

• Make a Glowing FireFly! … Wow! A simple project to delight the kids (and adults!) from Ohdeedoh.
  1. Insert a battery-operated flameless tealight candle into a plastic Easter egg.
  2. Poke 6 holes with a thumbtack and insert pipe cleaners to make legs.
  3. Draw a face on the front.
  4. Add duct tape wings and wah-lah … a glowing firefly!
• Caterpillar Pretzel Snack
  1. Lace several colorful Fruit Loops into a pretzel stick.
  2. Place a mini marshmallow on the end for a head.

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.