Bugs

Who doesn't love bugs?! Ok, well some people actually, but this week's worth of bug-tastic activities is sure to change that, and please the bug lovers, too. Egg carton caterpillars, bug races, and ant stories mean your summer reader will sneak in some learning while she's having some creepy, crawly fun.

Table of Contents
Week 1: Bugs Lightning Bug Craft Add and Subtract with Math Bugs Craft a Clothespin Bug WILD KRATTS Wildlife Journal Egg Carton Caterpillar Write a Story from an Ant's Perspective Bug Phonics Beehive and Seek Printable Penny Bug Race Which Bugs are Which? Bug Patterns Scrambled Sentences: Bedtime Bugs Backyard Bug Hunt More to Explore!

Who doesn't love bugs?! Ok, well some people actually, but this week's worth of bug-tastic activities is sure to change that, and please the bug lovers, too. Egg carton caterpillars, bug races, and ant stories mean your summer reader will sneak in some learning while she's having some creepy, crawly fun.

Lightning Bug Craft Add and Subtract with Math Bugs Craft a Clothespin Bug Wild Kratts Wildlife Journal Egg Carton Caterpillar Write a Story from an Ant's Perspective Bug Phonics Printable Penny Bug Race Which Bugs are Which? Bug Patterns Back Yard Bug Hunt Scrambled Sentences: Bedtime Bugs

Water bottle Construction paper in bright colors Tape Scissors Markers Glue stick Stickers Glow stick Googly eyes Clothespins Black marker Egg cartons Tempera paint Paintbrushes Pipe cleaners Hole punch Kid-Friendly camera Several sheets of primary story writing paper (with lines at the bottom and a place to draw at the top)

The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of the Public Broadcasting Service and is used with permission. All Rights Reserved.

Lightning Bug Craft

Light up your home with this lightning bug craft that keeps glowing even after summer's gone! This easy recycled craft makes use of any empty bottle and just a few craft materials. Kids learn bug anatomy while creating colorful shapes to decorate the lightning bug to make a personalized toy that glows like magic. This bug craft will entertain kids even if the real lightning bugs aren't out to play.

What You Need:

Water bottle Construction paper Tape Scissors Pipe cleaner Markers Stickers Glow stick

What You Do:

1. Have your child choose a few sheets of colored construction paper. 2. Draw two wing shapes on the paper and cut them out. Ligtning bug wings have wings that are long and oval. 3. Have your child tape the wings on the back of the water bottle. 4. Using the same color paper, cut out a rectangle for the lightning bug's belly. Cut thin strips on either side for fringes, or have your child decorate it in any creative way she desires. 5. Tape the belly to the front of the bottle. 6. Use construction paper of a different color for the face. Cut out a square or circle and have your child decorate it with stickers or markers. 7. Tape the face to the top of the bottle. 8. Cut two pieces of pipe cleaner, about 3" in length. 9. Take off the bottle cap and let your child bend the pipe cleaners into antennas. Then tape them to the bottle cap. 10. Place a glow stick into the bottle and screw the cap back onto the bottle. Place the lightning bug in a dark room to watch it glow! Did you know that lightning bugs use their lights to communicate with one another? Ask your child what she thinks they might be saying the next time they are in your backyard. Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Add and Subtract with Math Bugs

Looking for a way to make math practice fun? In this activity, kids get creative using cut-out paper numbers to design cute insect friends. Turning numbers into art is so much fun, kids won't realize they're learning number recognition along the way. After the numbers are done, you can put them together to make unique and memorable equations.

What You Need:

Colored construction paper Glue stick Scissors Markers Googly eyes (optional) Pipe cleaners (optional)

What You Do:

1. Help your child draw a number on a piece of construction paper, measuring about 4" by 4". Younger children may have an easier time tracing large number stencils or templates. 2. Cut the number out. If your child is old enough, have her practice her scissor skills by doing this step herself. She may need your assistance with some of the trickier parts. 3. Now it's time to turn that number into a bug! She can use markers to add stripes, spots, legs, wings, and more. She can also add googly eyes with glue or make antennas and legs with pipe cleaners. 4. Repeat with other numbers and other species of bugs. Try dragonflies, butterflies, ants, caterpillars, grass hoppers, crickets, or beetles. 5. After she's designed a few math bugs, set them up in an equation. For example, start with a number five firefly and then add a six spider. Use a marker to draw a plus and equals sign, then design a third number eleven insect. Glue them all onto a piece of construction paper to set up an artistic equation. As your child builds her math abilities, continue to help her build new bugs and more complicated equations. This is a sure way to keep the learning going all summer long! Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Craft a Clothespin Bug

Kids love bugs. Parents, not so much. Why not compromise and make your very own critter that both parents and kids can enjoy? This activity is a creative and fun way to boost a childs motor skills while giving her a lasting toy. When the craft is done, your child will have her very own colorful creature to buzz around the house.

What You Need:

Clothespin Multi-colored construction paper Glue Black marker Scissors Pipe cleaner

What You Do:

1. Cut out three small circles the size of a pea on a piece of colored construction paper. 2. Cut out two triangles from a different colored piece of construction paper (these will be your "wings"). 3. Take the pipe cleaner and put it through the hole in the clothes pin. Once through, bend up the edges for the legs. 4. Glue the three circles down the back of the bug. 5. Glue the two triangles (the wings) on top. 6. Dot on the eyes with the black marker. You are now ready to fly your new little bug all around the house! Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Wild Kratts Wildlife Journal

Keeping a wildlife journal is a great way to build both observation and writing skills. You dont have to go far youd be surprised what is going on just outside your front door!

Directions:
Creating the Journal:
1.

paper in half so that Fold several sheets of you create a booklet. g of your book by punchin 2. Bind the pages e and tying them holes along the left sid string. Or unfold the together with ribbon or e along the fold. booklet and then stapl customize the journal by 3. Have your child on the cover. creating an illustration

Materials:
lined paper Hole punch or sta pler for binding Several sheets of un

Using the Journal:

1.

. the top of the first page Ribbon or string to bind Write the days date on yard, ur yo in lk wa M d ar an ke rs, ild pe ch ncils or crayons your 2. Go outside with rk and take pa by ar ne a in or t, ee along your str notice of what you see. : prompt their attention to ns tio es qu ild ch ur Ask yo MY JOURNAL s? Insects? rd Bi ? als im an y an e se Do you ing? Where are they liv ing? What are they do ere? How many are th y is it? What time of da rnal, so etch pictures in your jou sk or s te no wn do e rit walk. 3. W things you saw on your e th of rd co re a ve ha that you similar way. n take notes again in a ca u yo re tu fu e th In 4. your child a look back and talk to ke ta , es tri en w fe a r te each 5. Af w were things different Ho w. sa u yo s ing th e about th me? time? What was the sa

Find more games and activities at pbskids.org/read.

The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of the PBS and is used with permission. 2012 Kratt Brothers Company. All Rights Reserved

Egg Carton Bugs

Bugs. Creepy crawlers. Spiders and caterpillars. For some reason, kids are enthralled with critters with more than four legs. This simple and fun craft will let kids explore their inner bug while also putting to good use all those egg cartons you saved in your recycling bin. All you need to do is remember to save your old cardboard egg crates. After youve collected several of them, its time to turn them into bugs. With a few pipe cleaners, paint, googly eyes, and some good old fashioned bug love, the kids will have a blast creating creepy crawlies to freak Mom out.

What You Need:

Egg cartons Scissors Paint Paintbrushes Wiggle eyes Markers Pipe cleaners Hole punch

What You Do:

1. An adult should help the kids separate the egg cartons into various sizes using a pair of scissors. Make some that are only one cup, some with two cups, and some with as many as four or five (for caterpillars). 2. Let your child choose what type of creepy s/he wants to make. One cup works well for a spider, two works well for a bigger insect, three or more work well for a caterpillar. 3. Have your child paint her bug in any color she wishes. Let it dry. 4. Once its dry, place it so the carton is upside down (the bump is on top.) Using a single hole punch, punch holes at the base of the cup where you want the legs. For a spider, punch three holes on each side. 5. Thread the pipe cleaners through the holes to create legs. 6. Then go crazy with the decorations. Get out the sequins, pom poms, googly eyes, glitter, and feathers. These bugs can be as silly or as creepy as the kids like! Pretty soon, you'll have your very own bug farm inside your house. Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Write a Story From an Ant's Perspective

Ants are such amazing creatures - so small but so powerful. They are able to work together as a team to lift several times their own weight. For independently-minded first graders, its quite instructive to watch a group of ants work together to carry a crumb of food back to their anthill to share with the colony. This activity is a good chance to help kids explore other perspectives by considering, for a moment, how gigantic that crumb must appear to an ant, and how insignificant it may look to us. This activity will help your first grader think about this viewpoint and create her own story about an ants adventure in her home, while reinforcing the importance of teamwork and building excellent writing skills at the same time. And what first grader isn't fascinated by bugs?

What You Need:

Several sheets of primary story writing paper (with lines to write at the bottom and a place to draw at the top) Kid-Friendly camera

What to Do:
1. You can begin this activity several ways. You can either talk with your child about what she thinks it would be like to be an ant or you may want to read one of the many classic stories discussing this topic. One suggestion is "Two Bad Ants," By Chris Van Allsburg. 2. Next, have your child think about what the objects in your home might look like to a tiny little ant. What might the television or the computer look like? What about the refrigerator or the stove? Would an ant be afraid of the vacuum or a broom? 3. Then invite your child to take an "ant's tour" of your house with a camera. She'll need to position herself very low and very close to each object she examines...have her photograph some things she sees from this "miniature" perspective. 4. Have her take three pages of the primary writing paper out. The first page is for the "beginning." Help her paste one or two photographs onto the picture section of the primary writing paper, and then have her write a few sentences or more describing what an ant would see if he entered your home, keeping in mind what she's been thinking about throughout this activity. 5. Have her repeat this process for the two other pages, explaining that the second page is for the middle of the story, and the third is for the end. What's most important at this stage in your child's writing development is that she just write...but if it doesn't interrupt the flow, it's OK to remind her that all sentences begin with a capital letter and end with either a period, question mark or exclamation point. If she enjoyed writing this activity, next time she can write a story from the perspective of a fly or bee. If she has seen and enjoyed Bee Movie then this should prove to be a popular activity. She can also take the adventure outside and photograph some plants, or anything else she might like, from an ant's or a bee's perspective. It will be a great project for a warm day. Collect the stories together to create an entire book. Who knowsits quite possible she will have created a literary family classic. Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Bug Phonics
Can you say the name of each of these little bugs? What is the first sound you hear? Write the letter that makes that sound.

Copyright 2012-2013 2010-2011 by Education.com

utterfly adybug ee ricket ly

More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets

Beehive and Seek

Practice directional words with this game from The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! Then you can create your own map of your backyard or local park. Click here to get started. Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

Pe

Have a grown-up help you with the die and game pieces. Toss the die, then move your penny bug across the leaves to the nish!

R g ace u B nny

Cut out the squares and tape a penny onto them to make a Penny Bug for the race!

S t ar t

F i ni

Copyright 2009-2010 Education.com

www.education.com/worksheets

Created by :

sh

Dice for the Board Games!

Ask a grown-up to cut and tape the dice together. Use one die per game. They range from easy, medium and hard.

Easy

Lose a Turn

Fold on the dotted lines.

Lose a Turn

Medium

Go Back 1 Space

Fold on the dotted lines.

Lose a Turn

Hard

Go Back 2 Spaces

Go Back to Start
Created by :

Fold on the dotted lines.

Copyright 2009-2010 Education.com

www.education.com/worksheets

Bug Identification Chart

Ant colonies have one queen Ants have queen or queens, who thousands of of eggs. eggs. who lays lay thousands

Ant

plants growand by Bees help to polinate spreading the pollen around produce honey and beeswax. to other plants.

Bee

Spider
Fireflies produce light with chemicals that in their chemicals are bodies. in theyre abdomen.

Firefly

Some spider build web communities where up to 50,000 spiders may live.

Grasshopper Ladybug
Ladybugs protect crops by eating plant-eating insects like aphids. Aphids. An adult grasshopper can leap 10 times its length.

Stag Beetle
The large antlers on a stag beetle are really mandibles., which are its jaws.

Created by:
Copyright 2012-2013 by Education.com

More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets

Now it's time to go outdoors for some observation.That means watching and noticing important or interesting things about an object. Find 4 insects that you like and draw them in the spaces below.Then write down 1 or 2 observations about each insect!

Color: This insect is:

Shape:

Color: This insect is:

Shape:

Color: This insect is:

Created by:

Shape:

Color: This insect is:

Shape:

Copyright 2012-2013 by Education.com

More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets

Pattern Recognition
Color the bug on the right to match the one on the left. Create your own pattern for the two caterpillars at the bottom. When youre done, cut out the bugs, tape each one to a stick and have a bug puppet show!

Lets learn about patterns

Copyright 2012-2013 2010-2011 by Education.com

More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets

Backyard Bug Hunt

Take your nature explorations a bit further with these suggestions from PBS Parents. Go on a backyard bug hunt! Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.

More to Explore!
Help your child continue their creature exploration with activities and inspiration from PBS KIDS Wild Kratts. Image Credit: Courtesy of 2013 Kratt Brothers Company. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2006-2012 Education.com All Rights Reserved.