Bugs & Butterfly Activities, Crafts & Recipes
Arts & Crafts
Butterflies
Shave old crayons and place between a sheet of waxed paper on newspaper. Cover with another piece of waxed paper. Press iron for a few seconds, cut into butterfly shape and hang in front of window.
Caterpillars
Cut out circles on different colored construction paper. Paste circles side by side slightly overlapping. Add legs and feelers from pipe cleaners. Draw on a face.
Inkblot Butterfly
Cut out a butterfly shape fold it in the center, have the children paint on side. Fold and rub lightly, then unfold. The sides will be identical.
Fingerprint Honeybees
Press your index finger on an inked stamp pad. Then press on a sheet of white paper. Make several fingerprints across the paper. With a fine felt-tipped marker, add wings, antennae and legs to your creations. Other bugs can also be made with fingerprints.
Feet Butterflies
Have children take off shoes, dip feet into shallow pan of pastel paint. Step onto a piece of paper so feet are going outward from the heels together. When dry, add antenna with markers.
Caterpillars
Cut out circles of colored construction paper. Paste circles together side by side slightly overlapping. Add legs and feelers from pipe cleaners, draw on a face.
Pompon Caterpillars
Glue three middle size pompons together. Paste on eyes and feelers. For fun you can put magnetic tape on back for magnet.
Wax Paper Butterflies
Shave crayons and place between a sheet of wax paper on newspaper. Cover with another piece of wax paper. Press iron for a few seconds, cut into butterfly shape.
Baggie Butterflies
Fill the snack size Ziploc bags with scraps of tissue paper and cellophane and then gather them in the middle with a half of a chenille stem. Twist and bend the stem into antennae.
Cupcake Liner Butterflies
Flatten out cupcake liners and color with markers or crayons many different colors. Pinch liners in the center and wrap with pipe cleaners using the left over to make antennae.
Coffee Filter Butterfly
Take a cone shaped coffee filter and cut it apart. Have the children watercolor each side. Paint a clothespin black and then attach the two wings with it. Then add a pipe cleaner tied around the clothespin for the antennae.
Tissue Paper Butterflies
Cut butterfly shapes from white construction paper. Set out assorted colors of 1-inch tissue paper squares, small containers of water and paint brushes. Have the children paint the butterfly shapes with water and place the tissue paper squares randomly on the shapes. Have them count to ten, then remove the wet tissue paper to view their colorful creations.
Ants
Use 3 sections of a cardboard egg carton to form the body of an ant - have the children paint it and add - using pipe cleaners - on the first section: antennae and on the back two sections: six legs and draw eyes on the front section - they are very cute.
Big Letter A With Ants
Materials needed: stamp pad, paper, markers Instructions: Cut out a big letter A shape for each child and let them make ant prints all over it with their fingerprints and a stamp pad. Let them use small tip markers to draw in some legs.
Ant On A Leaf
Materials needed: construction paper, hole puncher, collage materials, markers.
Instructions: Supply each child with a construction paper leaf shape - give them a hole puncher & let them at it! When they're done punching, have them create the ants on their leaf with collage materials such as: pompons, pipe cleaners, yarn bits, etc. - or they can decorate with markers etc.
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Games & Activities
Ladybug
Show the children a picture of a ladybug. Emphasize that the ladybug helps farmers by eating insects that may hurt our fruits and vegetables.
Ants
Ants can teach us how some insects work together as a community. Watch ants scurry in and out of their ant hills or find some spilled food on the sidewalk. Do they eat their food on the spot, or carry it back to their anthill? When an ant finds food, it runs back to the hill to "tell" the others. As it runs, it leaves a trail that other ants in the hill can smell. The ants find the food by smelling their way along the trail.
Ants
Cut about 4 shapes of picnic foods 1-4" in size from construction pater. I use a chicken leg, cookie, strawberry, and a watermelon slice. Using plastic ants, see how many ants it takes to cover each food and record answer.
A buggy picnic
An idea for teaching the short "a" sound : Have the children pretend they are having a picnic. As they spread out the food and begin eating, they notice that there are ants crawling on the food, and then up their arms. In surprise, they say "a - a - a!!", while "walking" their fingers up their arms like pretend ants.
Ant Hunt
Go outside with magnifying glasses and hunt for ants.
Dramatic Play
Make a big box into a picnic basket. Make ants' antennae out of pipe cleaners & add them to the play area. Now kids can pretend to be ants around a picnic basket. Add play food for them to carry away.
Dramatic Play
To emphasize that ants (or insects) have 6 legs, make 2 extra legs for the children to wear. You can make long tube shapes, stuffed, then sewed onto a band for tying around child's waist. You can make antennae by using pipe cleaners and head bands. Add tunnels, pretend food (fruit, seeds, and picnics), pretend ant eggs etc.
Ant Information
- Each nest has a handful of males, less queens and lots of workers.
- Three balls (head, thorax, abdomen), six legs.
- They smell with their antennae (very sensitive).
- They cooperate
- It's the queens job to lay the eggs, the males help her.
- Some workers build the nests, some take care of the eggs, some hunt for food, some take care of the queen.
- Worker ants have two stomachs (one holds their food the other is for sharing).
Capture A Spider's Web
Materials: Enamel Spray Paint, Construction Paper or tag board, Scissors, perhaps a ladder
Procedure: Search around outside until you find a good spider web. Spray both sides of the web with enamel paint. BE CAREFUL--IF YOU SPRAY TOO MUCH, THE WEB WILL TEAR FROM THE WEIGHT OF THE PAINT. Hold a piece of paper or tag board against the 'wet' web. It should stick to the wet paint. Carefully cut the 'guy lines'. Lay the paper down until the web is dry.
Carlos the Caterpillar
Have children trace large circles on green paper. (The inside of a roll of masking tape makes an easily traceable shape.) The teacher numbers the circles 1,2,3,4 etc. so that the children can paste them in numerical order. The children then cut out circles and paste them together by overlapping slightly. Small strips of paper can be available for adding 'feet.'
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Songs, Poems & Finger Plays
The Insects Outside
(To the tune of The Wheels on the Bus)
The fireflies at night go blink, blink, blink
Blink, blink, blink, blink, blink, blink
The fireflies at night go blink, blink, blink
Out in the garden.
The bees in the flowers go buzz, buzz, buzz
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz
The bees in the flowers go buzz, buzz, buzz
Out in the garden.
Continue with the other verses as:
cricket/fields/chirp
ants/in the grass/march
caterpillars/on the leaves/munch
spiders/in the bush/ spin their webs
butterflies in the sky/go flit
ladybug on the wall/ have lots of spots
worms/in the ground/ wiggle and squirm
mosquitos outside/ they get smacked
To the tune of "Frere Jacques"
Big bug, small bugs
Big bugs, small bugs
See them crawl
On the wall
Never, never falling,
Never, never falling,
Bugs, bugs, bugs
Bugs, bugs, bugs
A Finger play
1, 2, 3 ?( hold up fingers)
There's a bug on me! (point to shoulder)
Where did it go? ( brush off)
I don't know (Shrug shoulders and look really puzzled)
Little Butterfly
(sung to I'm A Little Teapot)
I'm a little butterfly
I have wings
I fly around
And see all things.
When I see a flower
That looks great
I call out
To all of my mates.
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Recipes & Snacks
Ant Snacks
Use cherry tomatoes for three body segments, pretzels for legs and antenna, let children make ants for snack.
Ants on a log
A classic, fill celery or apple slices with peanut butter, and use the raisins as "ants" on the log.
Ants In Your Pants
Cut bread into pant shapes. Spread with peanut butter Put raisin ants on top.
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