Bugs and science activities go together like peanut butter and jelly. There’s so much to discover and learn about insects, so why not have fun while doing it?! Each of these hands-on insect science activities creates an appreciation for the uniqueness of insects. What are you waiting for? Jump right in and discover something new about insects alongside your tots!
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Insect Lesson Plans
"What is an Insect?" Song
Bugs and Science Activities
“Do you love it? I love it! I got it at Ross.”
That is one of those catchy commercial tunes that we would sing on repeat around our house growing up. My mom loved it, trust me.
It’s clear that a catchy tune helps anything stick! So why not use a song to learn the parts of an insect?
Sung to the tune of “Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” this “What is an Insect” song easily introduces insect vocabulary.
It won’t be long before you hear your toddlers singing this tune around the classroom with their newly learned insect vocabulary!
Materials:
Parts of an Insect
Bug Diagrams
My favorite room in my new house is my cloffice or office closet. Drawers, bins, tiny things for activities, craft supplies, and the best part: labels. Everything is beautifully labeled to make my organizational heart flutter with joy.
And once your toddlers have learned their insect-specific vocabulary, they’ll be ready to add labels of their own to the parts of a bug.
Explore the bodies of five insects, from ants to bees, ladybugs to dragonflies, and beetles.
Each printable insect diagram has labels that your toddlers will place in the correct spot to make their hearts flutter with the joy of labeling, too.
Materials:
Insect Observations
Observing Parts of an Insect
My girls and I just fell in love with the read-aloud of Charlotte’s Web.
My daughter (unfortunately for me) took her new-found love of spiders to a whole new level. She has been capturing baby spiders around the house and carrying them around in her pet shop hamster cage.
Thank you, but no, thank you. (Cue the heebie-jeebies.)
So now you have the choice: would you like your preschoolers to capture real insects and keep them in tiny little boxes around your classroom or just throw some insect counters out for them to observe?
Real insects or fake, your toddlers will have the opportunity to observe different features of bugs with their observation checklist as a guide.
Get out those magnifying glasses, hunt for those bugs, and don’t blame me when your preschoolers start bringing over bugs for you to check out at recess.
P.S. I know spiders are arachnids, not insects, so an email is unnecessary.
Materials:
Insect Sorting Activity
Bugs and Science
It’s always powerful to provide examples and non-examples.
For example (ha!), every time I do something nice for my kids, and they don’t thank me, I say, “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.” This example is actually starting to catch on. They actually say I’m the best, and I got a mug with that phrase on it for Christmas. My evil plan is working! Mwah, ha, ha!
So when you’re ready to start brainwashing, I mean, teaching your preschoolers how to apply their new-found insect knowledge, this bug sorting activity will allow them to classify insects and non-insects confidently.
The printable cards and mats make this activity easy to prep and set up.
If there is any debate over the category the card belongs in, your preschoolers can rely on their insect vocabulary and fellow insect experts to decide if it’s an example or non-example.
A wonderful way to solidify insect characteristics!
Materials:
Insect Inventions
Design Your Own Bug
If I could invent anything, it would be a master chef robot. Cooking is a chore; I would love it if that task just magically disappeared.
But, to stick with our insect theme, let’s invite our toddlers to design a bug.
After learning about the different parts of bugs, your preschoolers can use their background knowledge to create their own insect inventions.
Punch out different-sized circles, hearts, and ovals and place them alongside some googly eyes and markers for your toddlers to use to create.
This is a perfect culminating project for your insect unit.
Not to mention, the insect inventions will make a perfect hallway display – showcasing your toddlers’ knowledge of insect traits and their vivid imaginations.
Materials:
- Insect Science Activities
- colored paper
- markers
- googly eyes
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MORE Insect Activities for Preschoolers
Can you picture your little insect experts beaming with pride as they describe the characteristics of these bugs? Their descriptions will be packed with insect vocabulary that helps them articulate exactly what makes an insect an insect! Buzz right into the excitement with each of these bugs and science activities!
