Bugs
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
My son is a wee bit obsessed with emergencies right now, he plays paramedic or firefighter multiple times a day. Every car ride is a ride in a firetruck … well you get the picture. So I decided to use his enthusiasm for first aid at craft time! This is such an easy craft and I think they turned out perfectly ! I love the variation in textures with the smooth band aids and the soft fluffy gauze.
- Gather your materials. You will need some band aids, gauze pads, markers and a piece of construction paper ( or recycled cardboard ! ).
- Start by decorating your butterfly wings ( the gauze) with a marker. We found that dotting the marker works best so the gauze didn’t get all stretched out.
- Open your band aids – this took a while but my son was very proud he did it independently.
- Next pinch the gauze, my son couldn’t do this step.
- Pop the band aids on. We did this step together .
- Add antennae with markers! I was so excited that he did this step, until now he would have had me do it insisting he couldn’t, both of us were proud that he did it with no help.
Need some books?
This number activity combines number recognition, counting and one to one correspondence. All preschool math skills that are the building blocks for learning addition, subtraction and more complicated operations. This activity is easy to make simpler by reducing how many bugs you use, and using smaller numbers. If your child has mastered these skills make the bugs into equations. Write 2+4 on the bug and have them use the dots as manipulatives and solve the equation with them!
- Gather your materials. You will need some black, red and yellow construction paper, a marker, googly eyes and glue. I also used a piece of cardboard to anchor all 4 bugs.
- Start by drawing the outline of a lady bug on one of the colored sheets of construction paper.
- Cut out all 4 bugs and glue on the cardboard, add smiles if you want!
- Cut out black dots for the bugs, after step 5 you may need to cut a few extra out but I found it easier to keep the activity flowing than make my son wait while I cut out the exact numbers he chose. We had a few left overs actually.
- Ask your child to choose a number for each bug. By letting your child choose the numbers it gives them some control which I am sure you agree is a great thing for preschoolers! Write the numbers out on each bug. If your child is able, have them write the number even if it’s huge and messy encourage them to try!
- Add glue and the dots to each bug. Have your child count out the number as they add the glue. If your child needs some help with counting , do the glue yourself so your child is simply matching up the dots to the glue.
- Encourage your child to count out loud as they add the dots, especially with preschoolers who have a tendency to skip numbers if they are counting out loud, you can intervene and encourage them to start again. Use gentle corrections and lots of praise. By adding the dots one and a time this encourages one to one correspondence naturally.
- After all the spots have been added to the bugs add glue for the googly eyes.
- Add the eyes and let dry.
Need a book about bugs to continue this lesson?
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Let the Countdown Begin!
Over the next week I will be counting down the top 7 posts of 2009, I determined the order base on your suggestions on Twitter, Facebook and via email as well as which posts got reposted the most on other blogs, and the most hits. Here is # 7 !
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 yellow bandages for each bug and one of another color, we chose orange but any color with enough contrast will work. You will also need 2 googly eyes for each bug, a yellow and a white crayon and glue.
- Start by drawing your night scene, a moon, some stars!
- Open your bandages.
- Stick the bandages you are using as bodies on first.
- Next criss cross the yellow bandages over the body to make wings.
- Using the yellow crayon make antennae
- Add the glue for the eyes and add them.
- Let dry
