One such idea was to create a bug club. Maddie is pretty tom-boyish about bugs, so I thought it might be fun for her to play Sid the Science Kid and have her own bug club. Then I saw this idea for ladybugs on Pinterest (originally posted on Modern Handmade Child) and I just started jumping off from there.
Here's the finished product:
I made six of the original lady bug bean bags that inspired it all. Then I modified the pattern to make four more bee bean bags and one black spider to which I added a web-string so it can dangle from trees. And then I created four stuffed butterflies and a butterfly net (using one part of an embroidery hoop and some blue tulle. To all of this I added magnifying glasses that I found at Party City, a little notebook for observation recording and we borrow the big binoculars that Maddie loves to use. We stow everything away in an old sand bucket. If you would like instructions on the spider or butterflies, just leave a comment and I'll be happy to share them.
So what pray tell do you do in a bug club? Well the possibilities are endless, but here are just a few suggestions that I have come up with as we have enjoyed our bug club.
- Observe and record
- Identify colors, shapes and numbers
- Play with patterns (lady bug, lady bug, bee, lady bug, lady bug, bee!)
- Play lady bug or bee catch
- Catch butterflies
- Lady Bug/Bee Cornhole, anyone?
- Spider Puppet Show
- Hop-bug obstacle
- Math and Counting Games
Our favorite activity thus far is the Bug Search. I take the bucket while Maddie covers her eyes and I hide all the bugs all over the back yard. Butterflies sometimes end up in trees, the spider dangles from branches -- you never know where bugs might end up! Then Maddie takes out her magnifying glass and starts searching until she finds all the bugs.
And of course, lots of cuddly time talking about what bugs we like and recording what we know about different bugs.
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