Spring is officially here and that often means doing bugs and insects preschool activities! If your kids are anything like mine, they flock to the creepy crawlies. In all of our adventures of roadschooling, we actually stumble upon some pretty cool bugs and insects. It always makes for a good lesson, but even when you don’t want to play with the live ones, there are ways to make learning about bugs fun and engaging with plastic insects.

When my kids venture out on a bug hunt to see where they live, hide, and play, they often bring them in for me to see. Of course, I quickly usher them back out to the wild, but for a short while they love to show me what they’ve found.

Don’t miss the Early Learning Giveaway at the bottom! Ends March 24th

If your preschooler is anxious to learn more about bugs and insects, then you’re in luck. Preschoolers love hands-on activities with their learning. As parents, there are many things we can do to make learning much more exciting for our kids. It really comes down to will power and a little creativity.

Here are my tips for teaching kids kids of all ages about bugs and creating a study of insects on your own terms. 

Do a Little Digging

One of my favorite ways tor teaching about bugs and insects is by doing a little digging. I pick up marked down garden tools after the spring season is over and store them until spring hits next year. 

When the earth unfreezes and our little bug and insect friends start coming out, we start digging. There is nothing more fun than actually getting down into the dirt and playing with those bugs.

Grab a Magnifying Glass

Whether they are observing those they’ve found or searching for clues on where they live, a magnifying glass is a great way to observe little critters. My kids loved using them in tall grass to look closer and find their hiding spots.

Remember to use caution when playing with a magnifying glasses on a warm, sunny day.

Let them Identify Bugs

Something really fun about the bug world is that there is a lot to identify. As your student finds bugs, work hard to help them identify what kind of bugs they are. This may take some time to look up each bug that your child finds, but it is so much fun to see the wheel in the brain turning.

Over time, your preschooler will learn all the basic names for the bugs and then they’ll go into learning about more specific bugs. Identifying bugs is a fun part of teaching kids about the creepy crawlies.

Learn All the Bug Facts

Preschoolers love to learn about different facts. You are guaranteed to impress a preschooler or two when you tell them a few facts. Here are some really cool facts about a few bugs to help pique their interest. 

• There are believed to be around 6-10 million bugs. 
• There are more kinds of beetles in the world than there are plants. 
• There are 8,800 species of ants in the world.
• A bee can fly up to 60 miles in one day.

Purchase a Bug Catcher or Make Your Own

One of the best ways to observe and learn about bugs and insects it to purchase a bug catcher or make your own. Some people call them a bug hotel, but make sure your kids understand it is just to observe and then release, no overnight stays allowed! While you can dig for bugs in the ground, it’s so much fun to catch bugs and observe them.

Being able to observe the bugs will teach your preschooler so much. This is another hands-on activity that can help your child learn so much that books will never be able to teach them.

Mini Insect Figure Creatures in Tube 15 pcs Set24 Pcs Children Science Nature Exploration Educational Tool Collecting KitSmall World Habitat – Portable Clear and Transparent Plastic TankBug Catcher KitPLAY Bug Catcher Kit

Bug and Insect Printables

If you have a preschoolers who are eager to dive into learning even more about bugs and insects, then I have the perfect printables for you. 

These insect build and write challenges are designed to help your young ones practice learning about bugs with writing practice pages, activities, and building puzzles to help them learn while they have fun. 

These printable packs allow you to give your child a chance to put what they have learned into action. This is something tangible that you can use to help your child understand WHAT they have learned about bugs and give them opportunities to be creative.

Bug Themed Build & Write Challenges

These printable packs allow you to give your child a chance to put what they have learned into action. This is something tangible that you can use to help your child understand WHAT they have learned about bugs and give them opportunities to be creative.

• Brick word building
• Building challenge cards
• Questions to answer (with practice lines and notebook lines)

What I love about these insect build and write challenges is that they can be used in conjunction with any of my other Spring printables, or just use them as a fun-day project! These can be used any time of year, but definitely during the Springtime, when bugs and insects are out in full swing! Quickly and easily add these preschool activities about bugs and insects to your homeschool studies.

Keep Scrolling to enter! Giveaway Ends March 24th!

Head to the Library to Stock Up on Bug Books

Head to your local library and go on a mission to only find bug books. No other books are allowed!

Get books that your preschooler can see pictures, but also grab other kinds of books. Get books you can read with your preschooler. Get informational books and fictional books. 

Spend time each day reading about books. Your preschoolers are going to learn a ton and so are you. Make sure you ask questions about what you read. Comprehension is just as important as the reading part.

The Backyard Bug Book for Kids: Storybook, Insect Facts, and ActivitiesInsectsHello, World! Kids’ Guides: Exploring InsectsEverything You Need to Know About Bugs

Preschool Insect Theme

Preschoolers typically love all things hands-on, so there are a number of activities you can provide them with to teach them about bugs and create your own insect unit. Here are a few low-prep ideas to consider using in your homeschool.

Bug and Insect Sensory Bins

Sensory play has been used in preschool classrooms and homeschools for quite some time. You can get pretty creative with these bins, but at a minimum all you’ll need are the following:

• a small plastic bin
• a base material (rice, small rocks, dirt, sand, black beans, etc.)
• small plastic bugs and insects
• optional additional supplies for playing (magnifying glass, sifter/strainer, etc.)

These resources and supplies can all be purchased at your local dollar store (especially in the spring and summer months) or you may already have some of this lying around your home. We like to use what our kids already have on hand and add to it as needed. Using sensory bins or having your own sensory table, adds so many facets to learning from working small and large motor skills to creative and critical thinking. 

Bug and Insect Sorting

For these activities, you can use a variety of mini bug/insect toys and flash cards. Here are some other supplies that can be used to create math-related activities, drama play, or creative free-play:

• trays
• jars
• scoops
• clamps

In most cases, your preschooler will be more interested in simply playing with these things, but they can certainly be used for directed and structured learning opportunities, as well as improving fine motor skills.

Literacy & Math Skills with Insects & Bugs MEGA Activity Pack

Using the sensory bins and sorting bug activities previously mentioned are a funy way to help your little learners process what they are learning. 

Whether they count the number of bugs they find or observe, or they use the printable insect activities in our MEGA printable pack, incorporating literacy skills and math practice into their fun activities is a fun way to help them learn.

Our Insects and Buts MEGA Activity pack includes a bug and insect emergent reader, which actually has 5 different levels to grow with them or use with your older kids.

The first level is a form of sight words based on the picture or image making it a great addition to your insect literacy activities.

And in keeping with the insects and bugs thematic unit, our MEGA pack also includes printable pages to improve math skills. Math activities inside include a counting book (numbers up to 20), bug themed addition worksheets, playdough mats, graphing activities, number puzzles, and some color-by-number pages!

Bug and Insect Play Dough Activity

Grab some brown play dough and lay out the plastic bugs and encourage young children to play all they want! This is not only perfect for fine motor skills, but also a wonderful way to encourage creativity and imaginative play.

Playdough mats, like the ones in our MEGA pack, allow kids to work on forming letter with their dough, but also promotes number sense by counting up to 10 with ten frames and improves number recognition.

These adorable playdough mats are best when laminated, so you can use them over and over.

Bug and Insect Craft Ideas

Fun Fact – I am not a crafty mom.  My Mom was an amazingly talented and crafty person. However, I did not inherit that from her.

Don’t get me wrong, I love crafts and I love being creative, I’m just not great at doing them with my own kids. I have done them with 700+ kids at VBS, but having the patience with my own kids I guess is where the line is drawn. 

But that doesn’t mean I don’t keep trying! I just have very strict rules in place.

1. No glitter. Ever.
2. Clean-up as you go.
3. Use what you have on hand first and get creative!

So dig into that craft closet and pull out all your construction paper, pom poms, googly eyes, a pipe cleaner or two and encourage your kids to create their own bugs with the supplies provided.

Free Bug and Insect Activity Pack

If you have a pre-k student that is really wanting to dive into learning even more about bugs and insects, then I have the perfect printables for you. 

The free insect printables are designed to help your early learners practice learning about bugs with puzzles, tracing, coloring images, and more to help them learn while they have fun. 

This printable allows you to give your child a chance to put what they have learned into action. This is something tangible that you can use to help your child understand WHAT they have learned about bugs. 

Early Learning Giveaway Below

Homeschooling in the early years has a wide range of opinions. Some believe it’s the formative years that require structure and diligence, while others are all about learning through play. It’s not as simple as right vs. wrong, but rather doing what is best for your own child and family. Whether you find yourself more classical or you just want to offer learning options – this Early Learning Giveaway is for you!

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