Bugs 101 ~ Butterflies and Ladybugs (Bouquet Event)

 

We had a morning full of crafts and activities where the "nice bugs" of Caterpillars, Butterflies and Ladybugs were featured in our
Bugs 101 Event for
Sprouts and Seedlings (toddler/preschool and elementary age)...

We featured Lois Ehlert and Eric Carle books (two of my favorite illustrators)! We made Balloon print caterpillars, Butterfly blots and a Ladybug container (there were more crafts planned for ladybugs but we ran out of time). To get us up and moving we had a bug toss, ran through a Waterpillar sprinkler, and danced and sung a Butterfly Life Cycle song!
Enjoy the details below!

Ten Little Caterpillars BOOK and
Butterfly SONG(Song is from Kinder Korner
- they have many other songs as well!)

Acting out and singing the Butterfly part

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin Jr. Illustrated by Lois Ehlert Song from Kinder Korner	Check out the book from the library, buy it from your local book store or www.half.com (my favorite online book store) Make a copy of song	1.Read the book while discussing caterpillars. The back few pages are great as they show what type of butterfly or moth the caterpillars turn in to. 2. Teach the kids the song. Sing and act out.

 

Balloon Caterpillar
CRAFT(From I Heart Crafty Things - a wonderful blog!)

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
2 small balloons (we used water balloons filled w/ air) Paint brush 2 colors of paint for body 1 color of paint for legs and antenna Paper Googly eyes/glue (optional)	Put paint on a plate Blow up balloons	1. Kids dip the balloon in one color of paint and dab on the paper for the head. 2. Dip in the other color of paint with the other balloon and dab down several times for the body. 3. Use a paint brush to add legs, antenna and eyes. *You may want to use googley eyes instead of paint.

Butterfly Blot CRAFT
(FROM Art Based Curriculum – great book with many fabulous ideas!)

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Paper Scissors Butterfly pattern*optional Different colors of paint (we put paint in muffin tins and a spoon in each) spoons	For our little kiddos we folded paper in half and cut into a butterfly shape. For our older kiddos we gave them the option to trace a butterfly and cut it out on their own. A couple also chose to cut theirs without a tracer.	1. Scoop up paint with spoons and put blobs on one half of the wing. Continue this with multiple colors. 2. Close the other half over the paint and press and rub with hands. 3. Open up the butterfly!

Butterfly and Ladybug
SNACK(FROM nwf.org!)

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Orange slices Grapes or blueberries Strawberries Mini chocolate chips Licorice (or pretzel sticks) *We also had pretzels	Cut the orange slices in half Cut the strawberries in half Cut licorice up in to little pieces Make a model snack Put all supplies on kids plate	1. Show the kids the model snack and let them create 2. Eat up!

The Grouch Ladybug
BOOK 

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle	Check out the book from the library, buy it from your local book store or www.half.com (my favorite online book store)	1.Read the book while discussing caterpillars. The back few pages are great as they show what type of butterfly or moth the caterpillars turn in to.

Ladybug Containers and Release

Add the sponge and raisins

Poking the holes

Crawling all over!

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Small jars Push pins Wet sponge Soaked raisins Ladybugs (you can get a bag of them at a garden store – ours had 2000!)	Get sponges and raisins a little bit wet	1. Kids use pushpins to poke holes in the lid. 2. They then add a sponge and a couple raisins (maybe some grass also) to the jar. *We also added some bug stickers to the sides. 3. Release ladybugs and kids can put a couple in their ladybug container to take home and release in their yards!

More ideas…

Here are some of the other things we did for our Bugs 101 Event!

Painted Stained Glass Butterfly

  

Bug Toss

Butterfly Release (we had been raising butterflies starting at the caterpillar stage and today was the day to let them free!)

   

Noodle Painting (for our Eric Carle
collage that we will do later)

 Please BRAINSTORM your ideas/suggestions in the COMMENTS below for theBugs 101 Event !
Yes, there will be a Bugs 201 coming soon!
Happy Crafting
~Sara and Becky