Weather is getting warmer here and that calls for more time in nature. During our mornings we prefer to spend our time outdoors playing, watering our garden and picking up nature treasures. Since we were doing Insect theme this week we tried to spot some insects in our backyard and found some ant, worms and bees.
Insect Matching
I have this collection of insects from dollar tree and other novelty stores. So to start off the week we did object to picture matching using some flashcards. You could download the printables for free from here.
Insect Fossils
You just need some Playdough (store bought or homemade )for this fun activity . I ised our homemade chocolate flavored Playdough for this fossil stamping. Using a jar lid she made those circles and then pressed each insect on the circles to create the impression. The caterpillar, spider and ant left some beautiful imprints on the Playdough.
Sorting
A simple sorting activity using insects and mini animals. Category sorting is an important skills for preschoolers. In this activity she has to identify the insects and place them in appropriate container.
I explained her to identify insects based on the legs ie Insects have six legs or more. Once she got the hang of it it was an easy peasy task.
Beginning Sound match
I made these wooden letter discs using wood circles and alphabets. Since she’s still learning the alphabets I made this activity quite straight forward for her. She just need to place the craft stick and connect the insect to it’s beginning sound.
Pattern-pillar
We’re learning a lot about patterns these days. Patterns are an important skill for preschoolers. It builds the foundation of complex mathematical skills they need to learn. It also helps in critical thinking and making predictions based on observations.
I prepped this DIY caterpillar using some old cardboard scraps for her to practice pattern as well as sequencing. Following the visual cues given in the cards she needs to place the Pom poms on the placeholders. If you use some tongs that gives a bonus fine motor practice too.
Caterpillar Name
I used some construction paper for this simple name recognition activity. Cut some circles out of multicolored paper and write the letters in your child’s name in each circle. Also cut out a caterpillar head too. You can ask them to glue them on a piece of paper or let them arrange them in order.
Caterpillar Number Order
While reciting numbers she’s fluent in counting from 1-20. But to know the order or before and after of numbers is a difficult skill. It’s also a precursor of many complex math facts. So I set up this simple math sheet using dot stickers and a piece of paper.
Initially I drew the caterpillars and stuck the stickers in sets of 3 omitting the one that she needs to fill. For eg: 1,2,— : 3,—,5 . She need to fond out the omitted number and add the corresponding sticker on the caterpillar.
Hands on worksheets
We love dot marker sheets and be it any skill you can easily find many free printables over pinterest. Here’s some of our dot marker pages that she worked on. We switched it up using watercolors and also some glitter tape pieces too.
M is a fan of her scissors. She’s so drawn to cutting and so I have to include this in most of our theme activities. These straight line cuts are quite easy for her now. We also practiced some patterning also by gluing those pictures on another piece of paper.
Bumblebee Craft
We’re a fan of paper plate crafts. An easy craft to make a cute bumblebee. Here’s the list of supplies
- Paperplate
- Yellow paint
- Black/Blue/white construction paper
- Pipe cleaner
- Paint the paper plate yellow
- Cut out the wings from blue paper and two strips of black paper for stripes
- Cut two circles for eyes and use black dots for the eyeballs
- Attach the pieces using glue as shown and let it dry
- Roll the end of a pipe cleaner and secure it behind using tape for the feelers
Paper Bag Butterfly
A beautiful paper bag puppet you can easily cretae from brown paper bag. I got this idea from pinterest and the details you can find below
Dragonfly Clips
We checked out this wonderful book from library last week. It had these fun Insect crafts along with some facts to learn about them. These dragonfly clips were so cute and simple and we wanted to try them out.
Bugs Bees and other Buzzy creatures
Pom pom Caterpillar
This was our weekly craft time creation with M’s friends Eliana and Niah. We had such a good time making this caterpillar and she loved gluing the rainbow pom poms on the craft stick. The craft is again inspired from pinterest and I have linked it below.
