Ladybugs
My daughter is 13 months old and loves to listen to me sing. Shocking I know. I am not known for my singing talent, though I do love to see her face light up and how she reacts to the actions and lyrics. This ladybug song is great for summer and we sang it after catching and releasing some ladybugs in our backyard . Your kids don’t care how you sound, so sing . The goofier the better , if I can post it here for all the world to see you can do it in your own home.
Ladybug Song
I’m a little lady bug, see my spots
I crawl around your garden and in your flower pots
I’ve got some wings that help me fly
And catch those aphids buzzing by!
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We’ve made some fun Ladybug Crafts too.
Rock Ladybugs- A great summer craft!
Paper Plate Ladybug – great for little ones.
Ladybug Math – a counting craft!
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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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Ladybugs
- Gather your materials. You will need some black construction paper, a paper plate, some red paint, glue , scissors and a pipe cleaner.
- Have your child paint the underside of the paper plate, we chose to finger paint and if you look close at my son’s lips, he taste tested the paint too.
- While your child is painting, using the black construction paper to make a head.
- Cut out some spots
and thin rectangle. 
I used a paper punch for the spots but you can draw circles and simply cut them out. - Glue your head and spots on .
- Poke two small holes in the head and thread the pipe cleaner through.
” Miss Spider’s ABC” by David Kirk has the most vivid and beautiful illustrations. The text is simple and flows well but the value is in the illustrations, they cover all sorts of bugs and are so bright that they will appeal to your child!
” I Love Bugs” by Phileomon Sturges is a rare find. It is listed as fiction but I would consider it as non fiction, as it really is a great factual book about bugs for older toddlers/ young preschoolers. It is really hard to find simple, short books that include facts and this one is perfect. It doesn’t go into the life cycles of butterflies or how lightning bugs light up, but it does use descriptive words with bright and charming illustrations. Great for the under 3 crowd, and useful for older kids too!
