If your little one loves creepy crawlers of any kind they will be entertained for hours with this jar of bugs, a couple books, and the list of activities I have gathered up for you to use with them. This is great to pull out anytime you need a few minutes to cook dinner, while waiting at a doctors office, or to do together on a rainy afternoon. It is also perfect to supplement a unit on bugs for your homeschooled student. Use our ideas and come up with some of your own as well to make this activities jar last for days on end!
Bug Activity Jar with 7 Bug Activities
Here is what you need:
- Wide mouth quart mason jar
- Rubber bugs
- Bug books
Directions:
Fill the jar with rubber bugs of all varieties. These are some of our favorites:
Put some books with it for comparison, reference, and reading. If you don’t already have a bunch on your shelves, these are the 5 that we love to use:
- Bugs! Bugs! Bugs
- Bugs A to Z
- The Best Book of Bugs
- Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies
- Insect DK Eyewitness with CD
Bug Activities:
Count Bugs – For little ones, practice counting as high as they can. For older kids, you can practice skip counting by 2’s or 5’s. Write numbers 1-5 or 1-10 on 3×5 cards have your child match the correct number of bugs to the numeral.
Sorting – Have your child sort by color, size, or characteristics. 6 legs or 8? Wings or no wings?
Book Match – Let your child flip through the bug books and try to match their plastic bugs to the bug photographs in them. Flip through the books in advance and make sure you have some of the bugs to match so your child is sure to be successful in their search.
Sensory Bin – Create a sensory bin with grass clippings, dirt, mulch, or whatever filler you like, include rocks and sticks from the yard then add bugs and let them free play. My kids spend hours in a good sensory bin. The key is to be sure to include lots of textures for a fun bin.
Tracing – Provide them with paper, markers, and bugs with simple body outlines then demonstrate how to trace them. Alternatively you can can trace bugs before hand and let your child match the outline shape with their bugs.
Bug toss – Burn off a little bit of that energy by playing bug toss. Place plastic bowls at varying distances, and write a point value increasing in number the further away the bowls are. Toss bugs trying to get the highest score or just play for pure fun.
Bug Fossils – Add some play dough to your jar and use it to create fossils. Simply press bugs into dough to make impressions. Look at details closely with a magnifying glass.
More Ways to Study Bugs
- Bee Unit Study Resources
- Butterfly Unit Study Resources
- Bug Hunt Fun for Kids
- 25 Ideas for Summer Boredom Boxes
What are your favorite bug/insect activities to do with your children?
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