Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

 

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

Projects

Waterbottle Glo-Bugs

Wrap an empty, plastic water bottle in green construction paper

Secure with tape

Punch 4 holes into the green paper

Wrap chenille stems to make the feet and place them through the holes

Cut wings out from yellow construction paper

Decorate/color the wings

Staple the wings to the green construction paper

Glue on bead eyes or googly eyes

Wrap a chenille stem around the neck of the bottle to form the antenna

Place a Glow Stick inside the bottle

The Full Effect of the Glo -Bugs!

 

The finished products!

Craft Stick Fireflies

Glue one colored craft stick on top of two different colored craft sticks to make the body & the wings

Glue on googly eyes or beads (for the eyes)

 

Craft Stick Ladybug

Glue together 3 black craft sticks and 2 red craft sticks to make the body

Glue a black craft stick on top of the body

Add black dots to the red craft sticks

Glue on googly eyes and black pipe cleaners

 

Clothespin Fireflies

Decorate the top of a clothespin with markers

Glue 2 colored craft sticks - in an X on the clothespin to make the wings

Glue on 2 googly eyes  

 

 Milk Bottle Cap Bugs!

Draw a half moon with black permanent marker and color it in

Glue 2 googly eyes on the half moon shape

Draw dots/circles with a black, permanent marker

 

Clothespin Grasshoppers

Paint a clothespin - let dry

Cut 2 - 3 inch pieces and 2 - 6 inch pieces from  floral wire

Hot glue the ends of the 3 inch pieces on the front opening of the clothespin and the 2 6 inch pieces on the back of the clothespin opening

Glue a googly eye on each side of the clothespin

Bend the floral wire to create your grasshopper 

 

 

Learning Activities

Counting Lightning Bugs

Math - counting, one-to-one correspondence

Addition, plus one

Pre-K:  Say the number and add the appropriate number of "lightning bugs"

Kindergarten/1st Grade:  write in + 1 after each number

Find the sum and draw the lightning bugs

Here is the link to this activity

 

Addie doing the Pre-K activity

 

The Kindergarten + 1 Variation

 

Firefly Shake

Math - counting, addition, one-to-one correspondence

I don't remember where I got this activity from - Maybe The Mailbox Magazine ?

I have about a dozen of these Firefly pictures laminated that I keep in an old, clean PB jar along with the directions and dice. 

Directions:  Dump the Firefly pictures out on the floor

Roll the dice

Count the dots on the dice and pick up the same number of fireflies and place them in the jar.

When all of the fireflies are in the jar sing this song -

To the tune of Shoo Fly

Fireflies are fun to see

Fireflies are fun to see

Fireflies are fun to see

But now it's time to set them free!

(dump out the Fireflies and start again)

 



I modified this game to make it more difficult by using two dice and adding the numbers!

 

Insects - Observe and Draw!

Science - insects

Here is the link to this activity

I modified this activity by only doing a couple of the parts

 

 Observations

 Dragonfly Pictures

 

Fun With Experiments and Science!

 

Fun With Experiments and Science

Experiments

Absorbing Science

Fill 2 cups with water

Add blue dye to one cup and yellow dye to the other

Place an empty cup in between the two cups

Roll 2 paper towels

Place 1 end of the towel into the blue dye and one end of the other towel in the yellow dye

Bend both the towels and put the loose ends into the empty cup and watch to see what happens!

I had the kids make predictions and they were right - and amazed!

Before

 The colored water absorbs into the towel and travels up and then into the empty cup.  The blue and yellow dye's mix to make green water!!

After

Crazy Corks
Take a plastic bottle - we used a water bottle.
Use a funnel to add a spoonful of baking soda to the bottle.
Carefully, pour vinegar in the bottle.
Place a cork in the bottle and see what happens.

 

The vinegar and baking soda mix together to create a chemical reaction, creating carbon dioxide.   The gas in the bottle builds up and has nowhere to go, so it will eventually blow the cork right out of the bottle!

Flat George
This is from Family Fun Magazine - the February 2009 issue
You will need:
a crisp dollar bill
4 quarters
glass bottle with an opening smaller than the coins.
Set them up like the photo below
Use one finger to slip the dollar out without spilling the coins.

The set-up

Connor karate chopping the dollar bill

 

*This is how we did it*
Use your index finger to quickly strike the dollar bill near the quarters - like a karate chop
The coins will stay in place but the bill will slide out.
 
 Make a Magic Loop
This activity comes from the March 2006 issue of Family Fun Magazine
From a large piece of paper, cut a 2-inch-wide strip that is about 2 feet long
Bring the ends of the strip together to form a loop, but turn over one end before taping it to the other end

Cut the strip in half down the center.  You might expect to get 2 separate loops, but you don't!
Try to cut it down the center again and see what happens

 

 Adding a twist to the loop makes a shape called a Mobius strip. 

 

 

Make Your Own Bouncy Ball

In one bowl mix 1/2 tsp of borax and 2 Tablespoons of warm water - you can add food coloring if you like - this will be called your Borax Bowl

In the 2nd bowl dump in 1 tablespoon of white glue - this will be your Ball Mixture Bowl

Then add 1/2 tsp of the borax solution into the Ball Mixture Bowl

Next Add 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch to the Ball Mixture Bowl

Do Not Mix -  let it sit for 10-15 seconds

After 10-15 seconds mix until it becomes hard

Take the substance out of the bowl and knead it until it has become well molded and is formed like a ball

Store in a Zip-Lock bag so it doesn't dry out

 

Our mess and the supplies

                           The 3 kiddos with their bouncy balls                               The boys rolling and kneading their bouncy balls

 

 

 

 

 

Summertime, Summertime!!

Summertime, Summertime!!

 

Crafts

Foam Flip Flops

Trace foot or feet on craft foam

Cut out footprint

Punch three holes into the footprint

String two pieces of a pipe cleaner through the holes

String with beads

 

Tissue Paper Sun

Stick orange tissue paper onto the center of a small paper plate

Stick yellow tissue paper on the rest of the paper plate

Loop yellow strips of construction paper around the edge to make the rays

 

Sponge Balls

Cut a sponge into 3/4" sections

Gather the cut pieces and tie off with string

Fluff as needed

*Soak the sponge balls and have fun throwing them on a hot summer day*

 

Watermelon Sections!

Cut a paper plate into fourths

Paint with bright pink, light pink and green paint

When dry, use black paint dipped in a cotton swap to make the seeds

Paint a large craft stick green

Tape or glue the craft stick to the back of the watermelon

 

Paper Plate Fruit

Paint a paper plate to look like an orange, lemon or lime

 

Learning Activities

Sunny Sums

Math - Addition

Here is the link to this addition activity

 

Scooping Up Sums

Math - addition

I modified this activity a little bit.  I had Connor come up with sums on his own.  The original activity has great visuals with sums and addition sentences.  Here is the link to this addition activity.

 

 

Flip Flop Fragments

Language Arts/Writing - sentences, fragments

Here is the link to this learning activity

 

Firefly Word Work

Literacy - short vowel sounds a and e, sorting

I modified this activity by gluing the HEN and CAT jar to a piece of 8x11 piece of construction paper.  I cut out each firefly, and Addie sorted them appropriately by gluing each firefly to it's matching jar.  This activity would be perfect as a center activity, but I decided to make it more permanent, since Addie was the only one doing it.

Here is the link to this wonderful activity.

 

 

Under The Sea!

Under The Sea

Crafts

Paper Bowl Crab

Paint a bowl red

Paint 4 clothespins red

Cut out 8 long, skinny, rectangles for the legs

Fold each leg in half

Attach 4 legs to each side of the bow - we used tape

Clip the clothespins on the bowl

Hot glue 2, small Styrofoam balls on the top front of the bowl - for eyes

Color a black circle on each ball with permanent marker

 

 

Connor and Addie's Paper Bowl Crab Creatures!

                                   

 

Paper Starfish

Trace a starfish pattern onto brown paper or cardstock

Cut the starfish out

Glue the starfish to blue cardstock

Glue on googly eyes

Draw a mouth

Decorate with ocean/sea life stickers

                                
 

 Here is a similar project we did with Starfish in June of 2009! 

 Awe . . . Connor and Lauren were so little!!!

 I found the main idea for this project on the website www.freekidcrafts.com/texturedstarfish.html I printed the starfish template off of the site and traced it onto card stock/tag board. Connor and Lauren then chose a paint color and painted their starfish. (Connor of course chose blue as his color, and Lauren chose purple). After, they had painted the starfish, we went outside to our sandbox and Connor and Lauren sprinkled (dumped!) sand onto their starfish. We let the project dry. Finally, they glued their starfish onto a brown piece of card stock and decorated the card stock with ocean theme stickers! (Blue card stock or any color would look good too).

 

Paper Bowl Jellyfish

Paint a paper bowl - any color

Let dry - glue on googly eyes

Tape pieces of ribbon to the inside of the bowl, so the string dangles down from the bowl

 

Handprint Crab

Cut a "beach" from brown or tan construction paper and glue it to the bottom of blue construction paper

Paint both hands red and press onto the construction paper with thumbs pointing up

Glue a googly eye onto each thumb

Press a cotton ball into white paint and press onto the blue paper to make clouds

 

 

Big Teeth Sharks - Sort of!!

This project was a flop. First, I ran out of blue construction paper, then my shark cutting skills were not that great.  They don't really look like sharks, but more of monsters with really large mouths.  Oh well! :)

Cut triangles all around a paper plate

Fold the paper plate in half

cut out a shark shape from construction paper - preferably blue

Glue the mouth to the shark and glue on googly eyes

 

 

Learning Activities

Beach Themed Ten Frame 1-10 Matching

Math - counting, one-to-one correspondence, number recognition, matching

Here is the link to this great math game!

 

 Addie doing the follow-up activity

 

Working Hard!!!

 

Summertime Addition 

Math - basic addition

Here is the link to this addition activity

Kids at the Beach Subtraction

Math - subtraction

Here is the link to this subtraction activity