For a preschool Bug Theme:
Suggested books to reserve
from your local library:
1) From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman
2) Hey, Little Ant by Phillip M. Hoose
3) The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
4) I like Bugs by Margaret Wise Brown
5) Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth
6) The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle
7) Simon and Schuster Children’s Guide to Insects and
Spiders by Jinny Johnson
8) 1001 Bugs to Spot by Emma Helbrough
9) Buzz-Buzz, Busy Bees by Dawn Bentley
10)
Butterflies in the
Garden by Carol Lerner
11)
Bugs, Beetles, and
Butterflies by Harriet Ziefert
12)
Beetles by Kristin
Petrie
13)
Bees by Mary Ann.
McDonald
14)
Smelly Stink Bugs by
Meish Goldish
15)
Ants by Kristin Petrie
Movies:
A Bug’s Life, Ants
Butterflies
Songs:
I wish I were a Butterfly
(Sung to: Oh I wish I were a little bar of soap)
Oh, I wish I were a little butterfly.
Butterfly.
Oh, I wish I were a little butterfly.
Butterfly.
I would go zoom, zoom, zoom.
All around the room.
Oh, I wish I were a little butterfly.
Caterpillar to Butterfly
There's a tiny caterpillar on a leaf, wiggle, wiggle,
There's a tiny caterpillar on a leaf, wiggle, wiggle,
There's a tiny caterpillar, a tiny caterpillar, a tiny
caterpillar on a leaf, wiggle, wiggle. (children do wiggling action for this
verse)
There's a big fat caterpillar on a leaf, munch, munch,
etc (munching action)
There's a pretty butterfly on a leaf, flutter,
flutter, etc (fluttering action)
The Fuzzy Caterpillar
(Sung to:
Itsy Bitsy Spider)
The fuzzy caterpillar
Curled up on a leaf,
Spun her little chrysalis
And then fell fast asleep.
While she was sleeping
She dreamed that she could fly,
And later when she woke up
She was a butterfly!
Videos:
Online
Activities:
Butterfly Craft
Adapted
from billybear4kids.com
Butterfly Mobile
Materials
Needed:
2 Dowel Stick
Yarn (or string or ribbon)
Scissors
Tape
Glue
Crayons (or markers or colored pencils)
Print
out a total of 5 butterfly prints... 2 of each for a total of 10 printed
butterflies. Color each of the butterflies. You can pick all the same
butterflies... or all different butterflies... you can color them any color you
would like them to be. Once you have them colored, then carefully cut each one
of them out.
Cut
the string the length you would like your butterflies to hang down... remember
to allow for the length you need to tie the butterfly to the hanger. Lay one of
the butterflies - good side down - so that you see the back of the butterfly.
Tape the string in place.
Put
some glue onto the wings of the butterfly that is laying down. Then add the
second matching butterfly ... glue the two back sides of the butterfly
together.
Once
the glue on the butterflies has set up then tie the butterflies in place on the
dowel stick hanger. The blue dots show the areas where the butterflies should
be placed. If your dowel sticks are short... 5 butterflies should fit... if
your dowel sticks are longer, then you can fit more butterflies on your mobile.
Ants
Songs:
Oh the Ants are Busy!
(Sung to: Shell be Coming round the Mountain)
Oh, the ants are busy, busy as can be.
Oh, the ants are busy, busy as can be.
See them dig and dig and dig.
Lots of tunnels, oh, so big.
Oh, the ants are busy, busy as can be.
8 Ants
One ant two ants, three ants four.
Our picnic is their grocery store.
Five ants, six ants, seven ants, eight.
They are crawling on my plate!
Eight ants, seven ants,
Stomp around.
Six ants, five ants
On the ground.
Four ants, three ants,
On the run!
Two ants, one ant,
No more fun.
Ants go Marching
The ants go marching one by one
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one
Watching Ants is lots of fun,
So let’s all go marching
One by one by one
Other verses:
The ants go marching two by two/ Worker ants have lots
to do;
The ants go marching three by three/ The ants all live
in a colony
The ants go marching four by four/ Now they’re
marching through the door
The ants go marching five by five/ Hey, it’s time to
say good by
Videos:
Nat Geo – Fire Ants (this
video does show the ants eating a deceased frog at the end that may or may not
be disturbing, viewer discretion)
Online
Activities:
Ant Craft
Egg Carton Ant
Materials
Needed:
1) cardboard egg carton -
you need three cups attached
2) scissors
3) yellow, brown, red or
black tempra paint (or another color if you want to make a creative ant)
4) paint brush
5) 4 pipe cleaners
(chenille) -- three for legs and one for the antenna
6) sharp pencil
7) wiggly eyes, 2 cheerios
or 2 fruit loops
8) black marker
9) glue
cut a strip of cups (3
cups) from the egg carton -- adults can do this before craft time. Paint the
cups and let dry.
Using a sharp pencil,
poke two holes in the top of the first cup -- adults can do this step before
craft time.
Antenna: from inside
the cup, poke both ends of the pipe cleaner through the pencil holes (one end
through each hole) to make antennae. You can twirl the ends around a pencil to
make them curly. Using a sharp pencil, poke one hole on each side of each cup
(6 holes in total) -- again, adults can do this step. Push a pipe cleaner
through the holes in the first cup. Make the same amount of pipe cleaner stick
out the sides -- these are two legs -- you can bend little feet into the ends
of the pipe cleaner if you like.
Repeat
with the second cup and third cup. You should end up with 6 legs when you're
through. Glue the wiggly eyes onto the head (you could substitute 2 cheerios or
2 fruit loops) Draw on a mouth with black marker!
Beetles
Songs:
Never Hurt a Lady Bug
(Sung to: Yankee Doodle)
Ladybugs are in my yard.
Just look at them devour
Those pesky aphids on the leaves
Of Mother's pretty flowers.
Never hurt a ladybug.
We need them in the garden.
Ladybugs help flowers grow
So we must never hurt them.
Beetles
(Sung to: Frere Jacques)
Big beetles, small beetles, big beetles, small
beetles,
See them crawl on the wall?
Creepy, creepy, crawling, never, never falling.
beetles, beetles, beetles,
beetles, beetles, beetles.
Beetle Fly
(Sung to: Three Blind Mice)
Fly, fly, fly
Beetles fly
Fly over here
Fly over there
They fly up high and they fly down low.
Around and around and around they go.
They fly fast, and they fly slow.
Oh, beetles fly
Videos:
Online
Activities:
Ladybug Jigsaw Puzzle
Ladybug Jigsaw Puzzle
Beetle Craft
Ladybug Hat
Materials
Needed:
1) Glue
2) Wiggle Eyes
3) Black or red pipe
cleaners
4) Yarn or string
5) Hole punch
6) Scissors
7) 12”x18”Red craft foam
sheets
8) Black “sticky-backed”
craft foam
9) Small red craft foam
hearts
10) Black dot stickers
11) Back Marker
Cut a strip of craft foam
for each child. Make a hole on both ends of the strip. Trace a circle on the
back of the black sticky foam. (A frosting container lid is the perfect size.)
Cut the circle in half. Attach a half circle in the center of the headband at
the bottom edge. Use glue to attach the wiggle eyes as well as some yarn for
the mouth. Color the ladybug dots on the red part of the headband or use black
dot stickers.
Make
two holes right above the ladybug head and insert the chenille stem and twist
to secure. Coil the pipe cleaner antennae around a pencil to curl. Attach heart
stickers or pom-poms to the tips if you wish. The antennae will flop forward
but when the ladybug headband is worn, they will stand straight. Loop the yarn
through the hole to make ties.
Bees
Songs:
The Swarm of Bees
One little honeybee by my window flew;
Soon came another - then there were two.
Two happy honeybees in the apple tree;
One more bee came buzzing up - then there were three.
Three busy honeybees starting to explore
Another bee came to help - then there were four.
Four laden honeybees flying to the hive;
They were joined by one more bee - then there were
five.
Five tired honeybees with the others mix;
Now there's a swarm of them - a hundred times six.
Bumble Bee
(Sung to: Jingle Bells)
Bumble Bee, bumble bee,
Landing on my nose,
Bumble bee, bumble bee,
Now he's on my toes.
On my arms, on my legs,
On my elbows.
Bumble bee, oh bumble bee
He lands, and then he goes.
Don’t Sting me
(Sung to: Are you Sleeping?)
Bumble bee, bumble bee
Don't sting me, don't sting me.
Just fly to your home,
And leave me alone.
Don't sting me, don't sting me.
Videos:
Online
Activities:
Online
Color in the Bees Pages (scroll over picture and select color online)
Bee Craft
Bee Bouquet
Materials
Needed:
1)
Construction paper
2)
Stapler
3)
Pipe cleaner
4)
Torn strips of yellow paper
5)
Tape or glue
6)
Pom-poms
7)
Googly eyes
Hold
a sheet of black construction paper with the shorter ends at the top and bottom.
Starting at the lower right-hand corner, roll the sheet into a cone and tape or
staple the overlap. Trim the top to create a rounded head on the front side.
Form antennae by folding a pipe cleaner in half, stapling the bend to the
backside of the head, then curl each tip around a small black pom-pom. Create
stripes by wrapping torn strips of yellow paper around the cone and gluing them
in place. Tape or glue on paper wings and a heart-shaped paper face complete
with a drawn mouth and glued-on pom-pom eyeballs topped with googly-eye pupils.
For
a hanger, make holes in opposite sides of the cone a half inch from the top.
Thread a length of ribbon through the holes from inside the cone and tie each
end into an overhand knot.
Spiders
Songs:
Spiders Invitation
(Sung to: Down by the Station)
Early in the morning
The spiders love to spin,
Then by and by
The flies drop in.
And when they come,
The spiders always say,
“We’re glad you came
For dinner today”!
Spider Dance
(Sung to: Farmer in the Dell)
Spiders crawl around, (children crawl around)
Spiders up and down, (stand up, bend down)
Spiders, spiders make a web, ( join right hands to
form a spoke)
Spiders circle ‘round. (walk around in a circle
together)
Spiders in and out, (crawl fingers on left hand, down
and back on right arm)
Spiders all about, (repeat crawl action)
Spiders, spiders make a web,
Spiders now sit down. (children sit down)
Jean Warren
Busy Spider
(Sung to: This Old Man)
Busy Spider, he made one
Great big web on a drum,
With a spin, spin, spin
'Round and 'round he goes.
He puts on, quite a show.
Busy Spider, he made two
Great big webs on some shoes.
With a spin, spin, spin
'Round and 'round he goes.
He puts on, quite a show.
Busy Spider, he made three
Great big webs on a tree.
With a spin, spin, spin,
'Round and 'round he goes.
He puts on quite a show.
Busy Spider, he made four
Great big webs on the door.
With a spin, spin, spin,
'Round and 'round he goes.
When he sleeps, no one knows!
Videos:
Nat Geo Tarantula (This
video does show the tarantula near the end, hunting a killing a mouse. Viewer
discretion)
Online
Activities:
