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The theme for our home preschool co-op this week is “Spiders and Insects”. Yes, this is not typically a theme for November, but I’ve really been looking forward to this, so we are doing bugs in November.
I honestly don’t think the kids care what time of year we study bugs, because if the rest of the kids are anything like my boys, they are interested in the yucky things year round! I’m not a fan of bugs myself, but the munchkins get SO excited when we find a praying mantis in the backyard. Or when a ladybug flies into the house. Or at the yucky spider spinning a web in the corner of the windowsill :-/ I suppose I may as well capitalize on this interest and offer a simple craft and activity to promote discussion and investigation of the little creatures. I don’t mind them inspecting the outside, however, bringing them in is another thing as depending on what type they are they could get in the corners of the house and want to stay there! Luckily we can always call Pest Control in to eradicate them, but I’d rather they be aware of these insects than try and make them friends.
(Spoiler alerts for my preschool group- you’ll be doing this activity on Wednesday)
I started by laying out some of our plastic bug collections which hypnotized the boys. They were all over those bugs- asking me what they were and oohing and ahhing their features (antennae, legs, pinchers, etc). Next, we sang “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and read The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.
Then it was time for our craft.
Materials:
I always keep contact paper around the house, it’s a crafting staple for us! (See our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom activity and our nature suncatchers). For this craft, all I had to do was cut out the center of the plate and replace it with contact paper. I snipped a few pieces of yarn (my boys are not proficient with scissors yet. Older preschoolers could do this step themselves though). I let both of the boys work on the same project. They took turns adding the yarn to be a “spiderweb” and readjusting each others work (another feature of contact paper that I love is the work is re-adjustable).
Yes, my son is eating a banana while he crafts 🙂
Once they seemed finished with the spiderwebs, I made a little black spider from the leftover piece of plate that I cut out earlier. I also added some tape to the back of the plate to stick to the wall (or window).The boys changed the placement of this craft several times throughout the day.
Hunter wondering if it was a real spider!
Playing with those plastic bugs again. I also added some foam letters to the window to spell out “spider”. I believe in incorporating print into every possible activity so the kids can see that letters are put together to form words, and that words have specific meaning. Also, it turns any activity into literacy practice, as Cannon was eager to point out the letters he saw!
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