Thematic Learning: Insects & Bugs
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With summer quickly nearing an end, I decided to start up monthly thematic learning activities for you all! I will be sharing some fun books, educational activities, and worksheets to help your child learn more and have fun. Read to the end to get a free activity to print!
This month I'll be sharing about insects and bugs. Most of the ideas will be centered around Pre-K and kindergarten age, though some things would work well for 1st graders as well. These are great activities to give your child if they are tired of virtual learning and want some hands on activities. These would also work great for those of you homeschooling who need a little help planning some thematic units. I have been in both situations! I homeschooled my boys a few years ago and this past spring, I went through the trials of virtual schooling as we were all stuck at home.
I am an Independent Consultant for Usborne Books and More, so I have a lot of book recommendations for this topic! All links will direct you to my store where I get a commission on any purchases.
Educational Activities
My first book recommendation is great for all ages. Our Insect Pocket Book is filled with colorful photographs and detailed information about a variety of insects.
For older children, you can have them pick an insect to research and create a poster to show what they have learned. Younger children can use it to look at all the amazing insects in our world! Have them draw pictures to illustrate their favorite insect. Pair with the Insect Marbles shown below for even more hands on learning!
This next book is a lift-the-flap book about insect homes. Your child can read about different insect homes and how they can create a home for insects in your yard! Older children can work independently to design and then build a home for their favorite insect. Younger children can work together with older siblings or a parent to build a home. Make sure to check which insects live in your area, so you will be sure to get some visitors!
If you are looking for a book that your beginning readers can enjoy, check out Caterpillars and Butterflies. This is a great book for younger readers who are interested in butterflies and their life cycle. There are so many different ways to teach about the life cycle of butterflies. Just a quick search brings up a wide variety of different activities. Probably my favorite way is to use different types of pasta to represent the different stages.
This book is great paired with a butterfly kit like the one below! Just make sure you time it right because you don't want them being released when it's cold outside!
If you want your kid to learn without knowing they're learning, you might want to check out this next book. Beastly Bugs Activity Book has fun facts, quizzes, word searches, and puzzles to keep your kids busy and having fun.
Activities to Relax
Want something a little more creative for you kids to work on as a relaxing activity? Butterflies & Bugs is not only beautiful, but a great way to destress (even for you, mom). There are background scenes on the book pages and 8 sheets of rub-down transfer pictures. This book is best for ages 6 and up.
Younger children would have fun with this sticker book. They'll not only be working on their fine motor skills, but also learn a little bit about the habitats of different insects and spiders.
A great book for even the smallest learners is our Little Coloring Bugs book. It has simple black and white illustrations with large spaces for coloring and thick, dark lines. There are also captions for each illustration. Give your little ones some crayons, and let them have some fun coloring different insects!
These are just a handful of the books that we have about insects! I could go on, but I want to make sure you get your freebie! This freebie is a worksheet for pre-writing practice. Little ones can use their finger or a crayon to trace the path of these little bees.
To get this freebie, go to my post in my Storytime Sloths Facebook page. Follow my page if you are interested in more insect activities. I'll be posting more ideas and a bigger insect activity pack of freebies during the first full week of August.
If you can't wait till then and want to start some insect activities now, you can buy my full packet on Teachers Pay Teachers. It has 30 pages with 12 different activities for Pre-K through 1st grade. It includes matching (colors and vocabulary words), handwriting, pre-writing practice, number modeling with clay, and a few other fun activities!
I hope you enjoyed all of the ideas. Leave me a comment if there is a specific theme that you think your child would like. I may choose your topic to talk about next time!
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