The Children’s Museum Center of Cincinnati shared with us their Snug as a Bug Program on Wheels! We learned about about a variety of insects that are found all around the world. We learned what makes an insect an insect (parts of the body) and built our own using all the parts! (Head Thorax Abdomen Antenae Six Legs). We learned about how many insects see and used the cool glasses, that Mr Dan brought, to see like a insect! Puppets, songs, activities…it was a great afternoon!
Today in our whole group time, we talked about bees, pollination, and honey. I had the children cup their hands and pretend to be flowers. I put a bee puppet on my hand and showed the children how the bees go from flower to flower to collect nectar… but in the process they pollinate the flowers. Our new big word for the day was “pollination.”
I used colored water and a turkey baster to show the children how the bees suck up nectar from the flowers turn it into honey and put it into honeycombs (an egg carton for my illustration).
The last thing I showed them in group time was a dead bumblebee I had found yesterday. I wanted them to get a good, close (safe) look at what a bee looks like. They noticed how fuzzy bees are!
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In this group, the children made number caterpillars with glass gems. They had to choose a card, identify the number, then make a “caterpillar” using the corresponding amount of gems.
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This group was focused on prewriting and fine motor skills as we worked on writing our names with rainbow pasta wheels. The children would spell out their names as I wrote them on the butcher paper for them. If they needed help, I would write out their name while saying each letter. The children, then, had to use their fine motor skills to place the pasta on the lines of the letters.
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This was a very hands-on group as the children got to try out what I had demonstrated during whole group time. They pretended to be bees putting honey into the honeycomb. They used their fine motor and transfer skills to complete this task. They squeezed then released the top of the turkey baster while it was inside the bottle, sucked up the water, and transferred it to the egg carton.
We had so much fun talking about our wonderful Earth! We brainstormed ways to keep Earth clean and protect our air, trees, and water. Our preschoolers are impressively green!
We talked all about how important it is to recycle. Next we built with items you can recycle at school or at home. We discussed reusing things with a new purpose, for example building with old boxes instead of blocks.
Then we worked we reused magazines to make art.
Lastly, we discussed what WE could EACH do to help keep Earth healthy. The preschoolers pledged to make sure all garbage makes it in the trash, not waste water while brushing their teeth or washing hands, recycling, and using both sides of paper. Ask your preschooler how they are helping our earth!
Today in Early 3’s we continued our bug theme and worked on “writing” our names. Check out how~
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The children used their fine motor skills to write their names with dot stampers. I wrote out their name. If the child knew how to spell their name, I would have them tell me how to spell their name as I wrote it on the butcher paper. If they didn’t, I would say each letter as I wrote out their name. After I wrote out their name, they had to follow the lines and curves of each letter with their stamper.
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In this group, the children used their fine motor skills to make fingerprint ants. During group time we watched a video of ants moving a large item, then we discussed how ants’ bodies have three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen).
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This group worked on counting and sorting as the children counted the legs on each bug, then used their fine motor skills to pinch the bug with their tweezers and transfer it to the correct cup (either 8 legged bugs or 6 legged bugs).
~More with BUGS~
Tissue paper snails: The children used their fine motor skills to glue on the colorful tissue paper to the snails.
Handprint caterpillars: The children had their hands painted then pressed onto the paper to make a caterpillar. This is a fun, sensory art experience for them!
Paper plate spiders: The children used their fine motor skills to paint a paper plate then glue on googly eyes to their spiders.
Creative Tots has specialized in the private education of both toddlers and preschool age children for over 15 years. We began in the heart of Madeira and now also have a new Mason location. We are specifically designed to focus on early childhood development for children ages 18 months to 5 years.
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