Bugs
If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook you may have heard we are prepping to sell our house, this is possibly the least fun adventure I have ever had and I once ended up in Belgium by accident at 5am… long story. I have to keep the house spic and span while we are selling so get ready for some low on mess but high on fun activities like these play dough bugs . If you want to make your own play dough we have recipes even a gluten free play dough recipe!
- Gather your materials. You will need some play dough in a few colors, some large googley eyes, pipe cleaners, straws and other things you might have on hand like tooth pics, popscicle sticks, buttons… no rules ! Also to protect my table I use an old cutting board as the work space.
- Sometimes kids need a guide when they are given a buffet to create with , sometimes they don’t. So I sat down and made this bug as an example of what he could use the materials to make not what he should make , explaining that there was no wrong way to create.
- Start creating!
- Hard at work
- A trio of bugs!
Get outside and turn over rocks to find creepy crawly bugs. On our bug hunt we kept count to add some math to our outside learning.
A Few Favorite Books About Bugs
Ace Lacewing: Bug Detective
Bob and Otto
The Very Quiet Cricket
My backyard is covered in spiders, which has led to my son and I trying to identify the ones we find using the internet . Have you ever googled “Spiders” , I never used to be afraid of spiders, super close up pictures of various spiders changed that for good. So if your little one is into these arachnids instead of googling and risking nightmares, make this fun spider craft, play this game and save yourself the grief !
- Gather your materials. You will need a plastic container, we used the plastic part of a light bulb package but any clear plastic would work. Some paint, a hole punch, googley eyes, glue and 4 pipe cleaners.
- Start by punching the holes in the plastic.
- Next paint the container from the inside. My son loved this part of the craft, he thought it was so cool to watch the paint from under the plastic. Let dry. On a sunny day I put this in the window and it dried (mostly) in 45 minutes.
- Cut the pipe cleaners in half
- Thread the pipe cleaners through the holes and twist the ends in place.
- Add the eyes with glue. Let dry.
- Play
Bug Math
I was lucky enough to get gifted these bug counters from a neighbor whose kids have out grown them. I wasted no time using them to teach some math. The goal of this game is to find the matching types of bugs, count them up and then find the number that matches the total in the tray and place them in.
- Gather your materials. You will need some counters ( erasers in fun shapes, poker chips.. or plastic toys work well too), a divided tray, some paper , tape and marker.
- Write out the number totals on your paper, cut and tape into your tray.
- Time to play ( and learn).Group the similar bugs.
- Count them
- Pop them in the right section!
Don’t forget to dance when you are done ! Watch out , those are some mean jazz hands.
11 Comments »
We have been having a blast outside, digging, planting, and finding slugs and worms. When it was raining I wanted to keep the dirt theme going so we grabbed a few treats from the grocery store and made some sweet edible dirt instead. This is an old favorite and there are many different recipes. This is the one I like the best for kids to help make it.
- Gather your materials. You will need some oreo type cookies, chocolate pudding, gummy worms, chocolate rock candies, a zip lock, toy hammer, bowl , and containers for serving.
- Start by putting the cookies in the bag and hammering them to a pulp.
- Put the cookies into a bowl and add the pudding.
- Mix
- Put some of this dirt mix into your serving cup and add some gummy worms.
- Add some more dirt mix.
- Add the rock candies .
- Let chill.
- Serve! I have seen it served in toy dump trucks, in flower pots… really your creativity is the limit!
Song
Books
Jack’s Garden
Construction Countdown
This book is really useful not just about teaching about flowers and gardens, but also about patience and the annual cycle of a garden. Zinnia plants and waits, waters, enjoys her flowers, then they die, she collects the seeds and plans her garden for next year. I love that the main story is perfect for my almost 3 year old but there is much more for older children with longer attention spans. There is a little journal with notes about what’s happening with her garden, and various facts about plants as well. Like in so many of her books the author celebrates hard work and her characters take great pride in what they do. A fantastic message for readers, big and little. I also love the mix of illustration and photographs in this book especially, it gives the illustrations depth and a really interesting look.8 Comments »
Around our home we love to do handprint crafts. There is something so wonderful about using hands to create art in an unconventional way. You can celebrate caterpillars of all kinds with this simple handprint caterpillar craft. This is the perfect activity to accompany any book with caterpillars or the life cycle of a butterfly.
Gather your supplies. You’ll need a few items:
- Tempera paint (in a color of your choice, plus a little black)
- Paint brush (We prefer the wide tip sponge kind)
- Construction paper
- Little hands, of course
Here’s How:
- Start out by prepping your work area. Lay down something to protect your work surface.
- Get your paints ready. I pour about a palm-sized circle of paint on a shallow tray or pie pan. That way I can have multiple colors on one tray. This is just preference. Do what works for you. Just be sure to get everything ready before you bring your toddler or preschooler in on the process.
- Next, using simple and clear directions, instruct your child to open their hand flat (like they are making a “high-five”), palm facing up.
- Paint only the palm and not the fingers. Be generous with the paint. Making sure to get all the side and crevicesN
- Paint the fingers up to the knuckle, black
- Remind them to keep their hand open and flat.
- Next, holding their wrist in one hand and their finger tips in the other, lay their hand flat on the piece of construction paper.
- While their hand is still down, press gently on the center of the back of the hand and all the fingertips.
- Lift the hand straight up.
- Repeat 4-5 times, the 5th time leave off the black fingers to make the head.
- Once dry, paint on two antennae and an eye and a smile, if desired.
by Eric Carle
Math and science all together is my kind of activity, but when it’s fun it’s even better. We have all been a little cranky around here and when that happens one of the best ways to shake off the fuss is to go outside! So I made a quick check list and we were off to find creepy crawlers and tally up what we found!
- Gather your materials. You will need a clip board, a marker and a piece of paper. If you want grab a magnifying glass and a plastic jar if you want to collect what you find.
- Make a simple check list with bugs you normally find in your yard. It’s okay if you don’t find some of the things on your list but if you come up completely empty handed that would be a huge bummer. So take their suggestions but fill in some gaps if all they suggest are lions, and tigers and bears! Unless you have those in your yard.
- We drew pictures as well as spelled out the words.
- Out you go! Start searching!
- Make little check marks for the bugs/ creatures you find. We took turns.
- Here he is counting and yelling out the number of ants he saw and I tallied them. ( which reminds me I need some Dr.Bronner’s to get rid of said ants).
- He’s pointing to the snake we found!
- Together count up your discoveries.
The best learning for young children are experiences they can do, and if they are resistant to something at the table, get outside ! You will both be happier and the lesson whatever it is will make a much larger impact than anything you had to force or cajole!
Bug Books!
An Ant’s Day Off
The Very Quiet Cricket
The Gentleman Bug
Need more bug themed activities?
Check all of ours out
