The Best Bug Books

Within this unit, I’ve listed activities for many books about bugs, but there are certainly more to be considered!  Here are a few I’ve enjoyed with many a little one.  Please comment with your own favorites as well!  I’m always up for a new read!

Miss Spider’s Tea Party  by David Kirk is a fun rhyming read that mixes the concept of friendship with counting, while introducing a myriad of creepy crawly characters along the way.  You may also want to check out the simplified counting book version, or other titles in the Miss Spider series.

Bumblebee, Bumblebee, Do You Know Me? by Anne Rockwell mixes bugs and plants in a guessing game format for one fantastic summertime read.

Icky Bug Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta lists a bug for every letter and gives brief, factual information about each one.  From the ants to the zebra butterflies this icky book keeps kids reading!  Don’t forget to include other informational, non-fiction bug books in your collection!  Especially when it comes to creepy crawlies, sometimes truth is stranger – and more fascinating – than fiction.

In The Flea’s Sneeze, by Lynn Downey, a teeny tiny flea with a cold causes mayhem in a drowsy barnyard.  A simply silly book with perfect rhythm and rhyme for supporting phonemic awareness.

If you’re looking for a read-aloud or books for older children, consider some favorites from your own childhood, like James and the Giant Peach with its wonderfully oversized buggy characters; the  1961 runner-up for the Newberry Award, The Cricket in Times Square; or the timeless classic, Charlotte’s Web.

And in case you missed them, here are the book activities listed here previously:

Eric Carle Author Study:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Art Activity)
• The Grouchy Ladybug (Math Activity)
• The Very Busy Spider (Art Activity)
• The Very Lonely Firefly (Science and Dramatic Play Activity)
• The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (Physical and Creative Activities)
• The Very Quiet Cricket (Science Activity)

There Was an Old Lady

Butterfly Life Cycle

What are your favorite books starring the creepy and crawly?

 

Top photo by bluedaisy.

Spider Cookies To Tickle Your Child’s Tastebuds!

“There was an old lady who swallowed a spider, that wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her…”

 Here’s a snack that will build fine motor skills, counting ability, and an understanding of the characteristics of arachnids – oh, and of course, it’s tasty too!

Create a two-part body from your favorite sugar cookie recipe (or store-bought dough), by using two cookie cutters or by rolling one larger and one smaller ball, then flattening them into each other.  Baked, it looks like this:

Then supply those little ones with frosting or Nutella, licorice string, and mini M&Ms, and talk about all the parts of a spider as they spread, count, and decorate their way to a tasty, educational treat!

You could also create other bugs, including some of the characteristics from this bug activity!

For more bug-themed ideas, check out this brainstorm! 

Spiders Vs Insects- Breaking it Down for Preschoolers

 

Spiders and insects are often lumped together, but there are some significant differences that even young children can begin to recognize.  Noting the difference between insects and spiders isn’t just important for discerning between the two “in the wild”, but the act of comparing and classifying is perfect for practicing logic, reasoning, and science skills. 

This three-part activity may take a lot of words to describe here in the blogosphere, but it’s really quite simple, very effective, and loads of fun!

Build-A-Bug

To start, you need to be prepared with playdough and pipe cleaner segments.  Use them to create as you discuss the parts of an insect, and then of a spider.  Let’s start with the insect.  (Find more info on insect body parts here.) 

Insect

Point out that insects have three  body parts (head, thorax, abdomen).  Create three balls with the playdough and connect them together, looking a bit like an ant.  Explain that sometimes these body parts are similar sizes, but sometimes they look differently.  For a beetle, the thorax is smaller and the abdomen is longer and wider (manipulate playdough accordingly).  Or you may have a very long and skinny abdomen like a dragonfly.  But every insect has three body parts (go back to three fairly equal balls like an ant). 

Another characteristic of all insects is six legs.  Insert the six pipe cleaner  segments as you count them out.  Lastly, most insects have a set of antennae for smelling or feeling (insert another set of pipe cleaners or toothpicks).  Add that many insects also have wings and discuss a few examples.  Now you have a lovely ant-like sculpture.  Set that one down and let’s get to the spider!

Spiders

For your spider discussion, follow in a similar way, narrating and building as you go, showing how the parts may differ for different types of spiders (big round abdomen or long skinny abdomen, etc.).  A spider will have two body parts (the cephalothorax, or head, and an abdomen), eight legs, and usually eight eyes (I create the eyes by pricking the dough with a toothpick, leaving eight holes).  Spiders will not have antennae or wings.  You may want to include other spider facts you can find here.

Map It Out

Now that you’ve discussed the difference between the two, map it out on a Venn diagram.  These diagrams are great for sorting information with young children.  A Venn diagram teaches sorting and classifying in a very visual way.  (If you need a quick refresher on Venn diagrams, click here and scroll down to “Example”.)  Children are usually very quick to catch on to this logical, graphic organizer.

When doing Venn diagrams with preschoolers, I usually use two hula hoops or a very large embroidery hoop and just lay them on the floor, though you can also buy Venn diagram pocket charts like this one, or just draw circles on a white board.  Then, place your two creations, one in each circle to represent their own side of the diagram.  Then sort index cards with words and pictures into the parts of the diagram.  I used these for my cards, but you may want to make different ones depending on the additional information you deliver:

Has 8 legs./Has 6 legs. (Spider/Insect)

Has 3 body parts./Has 2 body parts. (Insect/Spider)

Needs food. (Both)

Is alive. (Both)

Can have antennae and wings. (Insect)

Can have 8 eyes! (Spider)

Create!

As the culminating activity, have the children create their own insects or spiders.  Each child gets a lump of playdough and access to toothpicks, pipe cleaner segments, and tissue paper or wax paper (for wings).  Explain that they might want to create something they’ve seen before, like an ant, or a black widow spider, or a butterfly; or they might want to create a new kind of insect or spider that we’ve never even heard of!

As they create, talk to them about what they’re making, incorporating some of the information you’ve presented (“Oh, I see you have 8 legs on your creature!  Does that mean it’s a spider?”), but keep in mind that these are their own personal creations.  Assess the children by talking with them, not just by looking at what they’ve made.  Some children will create a picture perfect spider with two body parts, eight legs, eight eyes, and a set of chelicera to boot!  With that child you may simply point out those attributes and ask if it is indeed a spider.  Another child may have a creature with eight legs, a set of wings, and three body parts.  With that child, you may point out that this is a very unique creature!  It has both insect parts and spider parts!  Then ask the child to point out which is which along with you.

Now you’ve not only gone over specific scientific information, practiced some counting, sorting and categorizing, and done some finger-strengthening creating, but your lucky children each have an insect, or spider (or spider-insect) to take home as a lovely pet! 

For more bug-themed ideas, check out this brainstorm! 

Ant image by rick1611.

From Caterpillar to Butterfly – Teaching Preschoolers About the Magical Metamorphosis

If you ask a group of preschoolers to name their favorite insect or bug, chances are you’ll get quite a few votes for the butterfly.  They’re beautiful, gentle bugs, and their metamorphosis is simply spectacular.  If you have little ones interested in the butterfly life cycle, particularly if you are using the butterfly habitat, you might want to try this activity!

Once Upon a Time…

Start out with a book. You can rarely go wrong when Step 1 is a great story!  I like Butterfly Spring by Robin Koontz. (It’s not widely available, but you can find it here. It looks like this might be a similar book as well.)  The book uses great prose to follow a butterfly from its humble start as an egg, to caterpillar, then chrysalis, and finally to butterfly, which then lays more eggs.  It is a great example of a complete cycle, with wonderful little tid-bits of butterfly science facts along the way.  (For example, did you realize butterflies can taste flowers with their feet?!)

The Circle of Life

After the story, I use some prepared cards with the four phases of the butterfly’s life.  You can make these very quickly.  Make about three of each- egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. 

I set out an egg card, and ask the children what comes next.  The caterpillar follows, and on, and on to the butterfly, at which point I ask again, “What comes next?”  Since the butterfly lays eggs, we place another egg card in the series.  Continue on until someone points out that it’s a pattern, or until you run out of cards.

Talk about the repeating nature of this pattern.  Ask the children how long they think this pattern could continue.  Forever!  Since this pattern would go on and on, we use a different picture to show that. 

Place the cards into a prepared chart with the life cycle printed on it.  Talk about the term “Life Cycle” and discuss how the circle continues on and on. 

Learning about life cycles is not just important to understanding the butterfly’s metamorphosis, but it is an important general life science concept.  Additionally, it introduces the common notation for life cycles, which may seem obvious to us as adults, but understanding this graphic representation is a major milestone for our little ones! 

Discuss life cycles as they become pertinent to other topics you study (seeds fit well here).  Use the same notation to reinforce the graphic representation.

Fast Track

As you discuss the butterfly’s life cycle you may want to check out this great clip on YouTube.  It shows the metamorphosis in fast forward.  This can be great to use if your children are becoming impatient as your own chrysalids are still “under construction”, or if the butterflies emerged when the children were not around to observe.  Be sure to explain to the children that this video is sped up, and that the process does not really go this quickly!

Enjoy exploring this fascinating transformation together!

For more bug-themed ideas, check out this brainstorm! 

Top photo by Leonardini.

Bonus Eric Carle Activity: The Very Quiet Cricket

Here’s one more for you Eric Carle aficionados! 

The Very Quiet Cricket is another great one to add to your collection of buggy Eric Carle books.  This is the story of a young cricket who hatches from an egg one warm morning, and goes about meeting many interesting creatures, but is unable to chirp his hello until he meets a special friend. 

The story structure is similar to others I’ve mentioned here, but that’s part of what makes it great for making comparisons in an author study!  Similarly, the repetitive text in this and other Eric Carle books are perfect for preschoolers because it encourages them to “read” along and begin to associate words and print and to recognize the patterns in story structure. 

After the story, explore how crickets make their chirping sound.  (You can read more about it here.)  To put it very simply, their wings are basically made like a violin and bow, with a violin on top of each wing and a bow on the bottom.  The cricket can rub either wing on top of the other to make his unique sound. 

If you have access to a violin or similar instrument, use that to teach the concept.  If not, you can use a set of tin can phones!  Hold the phones so that the line is taut.  Dampen a small sponge and use it to pinch the line and drag it along.  You should get a unique sound, amplified by the “phones”! 

Talk about sound as a vibration and think of other ways to explore the science of sound as vibrations.

For more bug-themed activities, as well as links to all Eric Carle author study activities, click here!

Tin can phone photo by K!T.

Creating Preschool Entomologists – Bringing the Bugs Inside

When it comes to exploring bugs, you just can’t really beat bug collecting as an activity!  Getting bugs into an enclosure -whether it’s the time-honored classic jar with air-holes in the lid, or something like this– allows children to look closely at the bugs to examine their characteristics.  Having a barrier not only keeps the bug in one place, but it often makes little ones feel a bit less skittish. 

We’re Going on a Bug Hunt

A bug hunt is a lot of fun, but it also helps the child to become more familiar with the bug’s environment and needs.  Children soon learn that they can find more bugs under a rock than on the sidewalk.  You can talk about why that is, and what needs are being met in the different environments.  Children also have to be aware of what the bugs need if they are going to keep them in the enclosure for much more than about an hour.  What kind of food do they need?  What kind of things can be added to make their environment similar to where they were found?  Answering these questions through careful observation requires the child to use scientific inquiry.

Feeling Sluggish

While you’re out catching bugs, may I suggest one amazing specimen to observe?  Garden snails are a menace, but I caught a few to observe with some children a while back, and it was amazing to watch them at work!  You can quickly learn why they are such pests when you watch them devour a leaf right before your eyes!  Watching as they climb up the side of the container gives a unique view of the wave-like undulations that propel these crazy creatures.  I detest these intruders in my garden, but in a container, they fill me with child-like wonder!  I realize they aren’t insects, but I would put them in the creepy-crawly category for preschool purposes.

Bug Sources

In addition to your own backyard, there are a lot of other sources that can provide you with unique bug-observation experiences.  Here are a few suggestions to consider.  (Just so you know, none of these are paid sponsors.  Just places I’ve seen or used.)

• Watch the Metamorphosis!  I’ve had very good results with this Butterfly Garden from Insect Lore .  You receive caterpillars in the mail (complete with their own food) and within about three weeks, you have butterflies that you can release in your own backyard.  When we received our most recent batch, my son and I broke dry spaghetti noodles into the same sizes as the five caterpillars and taped them to a paper as a reference point for comparison later.  It’s absolutely amazing to see how quickly these guys grow!
• Try Gel Ant Farms!  I haven’t used one of these myself, but our local library did, and my son would have stared at them all day if he could have!  You can check out a  wide variety on Amazon.
• Go Organic!  Organic garden supply stores usually carry beneficial insects that can be released in your garden as natural pesticides.  I know in the garden center at one of our local grocery stores, about $5 could buy you a package filled with Ladybugs or a Praying Mantis egg case.  The egg case can be placed in a garden and allowed to hatch Praying Mantis nymphs while you observe these unique new tenants.  Ladybugs are fantastic bugs to have children examine as they gently hold them in their own hands(while sitting outside, so the bugs can fly away without becoming trapped in a room).
• Find the Sugar Ants!  Now this is NOT one I want to bring inside, but I noticed yesterday how quickly sugar ants will swarm a cookie accidentally dropped at the park.  I also noticed how fascinated young children are with watching that sea of black at work!  As long as you promise to clean it up afterward, you might “bait” some sugar ants while playing outside.  (Parks are perfect for this because the ants are used to finding sugar there!)  Set out a cookie or orange slice and check on it periodically while you play.  Bring magnifiers to get a closer look, and maybe use the opportunity to talk about the importance of cleaning up so that the insects that are so fascinating outside don’t become a pest inside!

Expand

Encourage children to internalize the information they gathered through their observations by making sketches of their bugs.  Drawing an image requires them to recall the information they just acquired and use it in a meaningful way, which helps comprehension. 

You could also extend this bug viewing activity by having your children dictate fanciful stories or non fiction books about the bugs you encountered.  Put their words into print and have them illustrate the book – or illustrate with photos.  It will become one of their favorite books and they’ll build language and literacy skills along the way!

Have fun getting buggy with your young entomologists!

For more bug-themed ideas, check out this brainstorm! 

Top photo by the bridge.

Butterfly Noodles

Isn’t it funny how children are much more interested in eating something when it’s has a fun name?  I have a hard time getting my children to eat Farfalle Alle Erbe Panna Rosa (a tasty little recipe from my sister-in-law you can find here), but if I call it “Butterfly Noodles”, they’re all over it!

Particularly when we’ve been talking about bugs, I like to serve up some butterfly noodles for lunch or as a snack.  You can serve them a million different ways!  Ok, a million may be an exaggeration, but you get the point – they’re versatile!  You can go with plain, just cheese, sauce from a can, family heirloom sauce recipe, chopped fresh tomatoes and basil – whatever it takes to get the kiddos to eat it, and you to feel like they got something healthy out of the deal! 

For some extra fun, I like to mix up a box of farfalle (bow-tie) noodles with a box of fusilli (spiral) noodles for a stellar favorite around here, known by the gourmet name of “Butterflies and Caterpillars”. 

Bring your little ones in the kitchen with you for all kinds of developmental benefits as they help prepare their own snack or meal. 

With this snack, I often talk to the children about whether or not they would really want to eat insects.  Most say no, but then we talk about how, in some places and cultures, insects are eaten!  Most children are more than happy to simply pretend.  And so am I.

For more bug-themed ideas, check out this brainstorm! 

Top photo by Patrick Moore.

Eric Carle Author Study: The Very Busy Spider and The Very Lonely Firefly

 

Eric Carle’s The Very Busy Spider will always be one of my favorites because it was one of the first books I regularly read to my first son.  It’s a simple story of a spider slowly building a perfect web as the barnyard animals come one by one to invite her to play.  By the end of the story, the web is finished, the pesky fly has been caught, and the spider is ready for a good night’s sleep.  The patterned text is great for reading with young children – invite them to join in with you! 

True to his hands-on approach, Eric Carle created a raised spiderweb that can be felt as you run your fingers across the page.  You can encourage the children to examine how the web was made as it grows gradually from page to page.  Point out to the children that a spider’s web is usually very well designed.  Talk about the types of lines in the design, and the steps the spider went through to create the final web.

After reading the story you can help the children create their own webs by soaking white crochet string in liquid starch and then having the children arrange it on wax paper.  You could even shake some glitter on to give it that sparkly dew look.  After drying overnight, the webs should be stiff and can be peeled off of the wax paper!  Don’t expect the children to make their webs look like the one in the book – these are their own webs to spin!

This book is a great opportunity to talk about spiders, their traits, and how they build webs and why.  The activity also encourages creativity and small motor skills while reinforcing story comprehension.

Fireflies are simply enchanting!  The Very Lonely Firefly captures that mystique as it follows one solitary firefly looking for the lights of other fireflies.  He travels past candles, flashlights, and fireworks before finally finding a group of friends.  This book features a light-up page to bring in Eric Carle’s flair for special-effects.

After reading, have your children become fireflies!  Start out by making simple antennae using sentence strips or poster board (they can decorate with crayons if they wish) and pipe cleaners.

Next, comes the fun science part!  Talk about how and why fireflies glow (there’s great information inside the cover of the book, as well as in this video).  Basically, fireflies glow because of a chemical reaction; glow sticks work on the same principle.  So if you have a safe dark place, go there with the children and have them watch as you activate a glow stick, snapping the inner barriers to cause a chemical reaction. (Be aware of anyone who might be afraid of the dark.)  I like to buy the necklace glow sticks and let the children wear them, along with their antennae.  They look like fantastic fireflies!  If you have an open space, free from obstacles and perhaps with a little light for safety, you can have the children act out the story, trying to find their friends in the dark by looking for their lights!  Story-acting is wonderful for comprehension, and the kids love it!

Enjoy exploring the world of bugs through Eric Carle’s eyes!

Previous Eric Carle Book Activity: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Up Next: The Grouchy Ladybug and The Very Clumsy Click Beetle

For more bug-themed ideas, check out this brainstorm! 

Web photo by josowoa.

Firefly photo by jamelah.

Eric Carle Author Study: Building Your Own Very Hungry Caterpillar

  If you ask anyone to make  list of favorite children’s authors,  Eric Carle would almost certainly be on that list.  His work is both prolific and magnificent.  His simple text is brought to life by colorful texture and hands-on appeal.  I love talking to children about Eric Carle as we do our bug unit, because he has so many fabulous books featuring bugs!

Start off your author study by showing a picture of Eric Carle and introducing him as an author and illustrator.  Explain what those words mean, and point out that the children can be authors and illustrators too.  Show a wide array of Eric Carle’s books and have the children talk about what the books have in common.  You could list these features on a chart paper to reinforce what has been said, as well as the concepts of print.  Throughout the unit, refer back to those distinguishing features again each time you pull out an Eric Carle book to share with the children.  Stock your bookshelf with a variety of Eric Carle books- not just the bug ones- and let them explore!

Book Activity: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is very likely Eric Carle’s most popular book.  The fuzzy little character has become as synonymous with Eric Carle as the Cat in the Hat is with Dr. Seuss.  This book is fantastically lovable, beautifully simplistic, and easily used to teach a variety of concepts, such as the days of the week, numbers and counting, healthy foods, and life cycles.

After reading this book with children, you can allow them to explore Eric Carle’s illustration style!  Point out that Eric Carle doesn’t just paint his pictures, and he doesn’t just cut out paper to form his pictures (as we explored with Lois Ehlert), but he does both!    He paints beautiful pieces of paper and then uses those as his “palette” to cut out and create collages for his fantastic illustrations.  (Learn more about his techniques in his own words.)

To experience a taste of Eric Carle’s art techniques, try this multi-day project.

First, place a drop cloth under your art table and then cover the entire surface of your table with paper (I actually do two layers to protect against seeping).  You could also take the whole project outside and simply tape your paper down on the ground or against a wall. 

Set out paint colors to coincide with the caterpillar’s body (yellow and various shades of green).  You can use paint cups, or use lids to plastic containers like I did here.  Set out a variety of tools to be used in addition to the brushes to create different textures as well.  Here are some ideas to get you started: combs, dishwashing wands, sponges, texture rollers, print blocks, corrugated cardboard, and bubble wrap.  Go crazy!  Get creative!  Eric Carle uses all kinds of things to create texture- even scraps of carpet! 

Really encourage the children to cover the whole paper with paint.  Point out some of the textures in some of Eric Carle’s illustrations and ask the children what kinds of textures they can create.

Repeat the activity again- or simultaneously if you have the room for two painting stations -using colors for the caterpillar’s head and feet  (red, orange, and yellow).

 Once your paper has dried, you have a paper palette, just as Eric Carle uses.  You can then do one or both of the following projects using the paper your children have prepared together.

Create a large mural for your room.  Cut out oval shapes for the body, triangular legs, and so on, then attach them together to create one larger-than-life caterpillar.  You could even continue the project and create a butterfly!

 You can also help the children to create individual-sized caterpillars on art paper.  For older children, you might have them cut out the circles themselves.  For younger children, I would cut out a collection of small green circles and large green circles, as well as small red circles, and large red circles.  You can talk about the shapes, sizes, and colors as the children glue them to their papers to create their own caterpillars.  They can also add other details with crayons. 

When doing this project, I like to have some of the paper we have painted cut into smaller sheets and available for the children to examine.   I like to remind them that this is their paper.  I point out some of the textures and talk about how they created them.  I also like to have the paper available in case someone wants to create something other than the circles I have prepared.  You can’t get in the way of creative ideas when you’re doing a creative activity!

While exploring Eric Carle’s art, I also like to take the unique tools to the easel and let the children experiment and create their own paper for individual creations.

Eric Carle’s style of art is so appealing and inviting for young children.  It encourages them to explore and use their creativity, along with their small and large motor skills.  As the children become more familiar with Eric Carle as an author and illustrator, they not only gain an appreciation for his work, but they build cognitive skills as they recognize details and similarities that help them to categorize books.  At the heart of this activity is the objective that the children will have an enjoyable, hands-on experience with literature, which will build language and literacy skills as well as a positive attitude about reading.  And odds are, if a child loves to read, that child will learn to read.

Up next in the Eric Carle series: The Very Lonely Firefly and the Very Busy Spider

For more bug-themed ideas, check out this brainstorm! 

Preschool Study Theme: Insects, Bugs, and Other Creepy Crawlies

Bugs are just plain fascinating for kids!  Send your little ones out on a search for ladybugs, rolly-pollies, or ants and they will scour the yard for hours,  well, tens of minutes.  But in the land of the little ones, that’s a very long time!

I like to lump all creepy crawlies together first, because the children tend to do the same.  The differences within the class of arthropods –  the class that includes insects, arachnids, myriapods, etc. – can be pretty technical.  I have to fall back on some high school biology or a site like this one to make sure I’m getting it right myself.  Within the theme, however, I do like to point out some of the different characteristics of insects and spiders and encourage the children to begin thinking about sorting and classification.  Then if you notice they are increasingly interested in one bug in particular, you can do a more in-depth study on that specific one.

 Explore the world of bugs as you sing about them, move like them, paint them, and possibly even hold them!  I also love to use the topic of bugs to do an Eric Carle author study.  He has so many great bug books, it makes it very easy to provide a variety of excellent book activities by the same author while still following the theme.  You can examine and imitate his art method of painting paper and then cutting and gluing to create pictures, and even make your own mural.

Here are some of the concepts and objectives within the theme:

Concepts / Objectives	Subject Areas/Skills
Characteristics of Insects	Science, Vocabulary
Comparison of Insects and Spiders	Science, Graphic Organizing
Author Study: Eric Carle	Language, Art
Numeral/Number Agreement	Math
Word Identification	Prereading
Representing Bugs Creatively	Science, Art, Fine Motor
Life Cycles	Science, Language
Imitating Bugs in Movement and Song	Science, Language, Large Motor, Music

 

Here is a bit of a brainstorm for activities involving those beloved bugs!  Those not yet linked will be linked back to this page as they are posted!

Eric Carle Author Study:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Art Activity)
• The Grouchy Ladybug (Math Activity)
• The Very Busy Spider (Art Activity)
• The Very Lonely Firefly (Science and Dramatic Play Activity)
• The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (Physical and Creative Activities)
• The Very Quiet Cricket (Science Activity)

ART:

Fold-Art Butterflies

Filter Paper Butterflies – Try this idea.   As a variation, I have the little ones use colored water and eye-droppers.  I add a clothespin (unpainted-don’t judge me), but I’ve also seen pipecleaners used!

Painting Like Eric Carle

Build-A-Bug – Use playdough for the body and provide pipe-cleaners (legs, antennae, stripes), wax paper (wings), and anything else your-or their- imagination can conjure up to create a real or imaginary bug!

SNACK:

Butterfly Pasta

Ants on a Log (Try a new twist by using craisins as ladybugs)

Spider Cookies

SENSORY:

Bugs in Sawdust

Gel Molds and Colors (I like to make connections between the eye droppers and liquid to the proboscis the butterfly uses.)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider’s Water Spout (Add plastic spiders and other bugs)

Bug Grab – Use this activity as-is, or add some plastic bugs as well!

DRAMATIC PLAY:

Try outdoor themes where bugs would likely be found, such as camping or a picnic.  Add some plastic bugs and magnifiers to your usual props.

SONGS:

Flick a Fly – Hap Palmer

Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz) – Laurie Berkner (YouTube link)

Flight of the Bumblebee – Rimsky-Korsakov (YouTube link)(Listen, imagine, discuss, and move!)

Interesting Song and Poem List Here

GROUP ACTIVITIES:

Butterfly Life Cycle

There Was an Old Lady

Insects Vs Spiders

Bringing Bugs to the Classroom

I will be posting on this theme for the next few weeks and linking back to this page as an anchor to the unit.  Obviously, there are many more great ideas for activities on this topic.  I’d be on the same theme for a year if I tried to make it completely comprehensive.  So please, feel free to comment with ideas of your own as well!

Top photo by babinicz.

Second photo by iudit.