Welcome back to another week of Playful Preschool. This week’s theme is Creepy Crawlies and I am sure my fellow preschool bloggers will be going all out. In case you are new, Playful Preschool is a group of bloggers coming together to provide creative and playful ways to teach your preschooler based on a chosen preschool lesson plan theme for the week. Bloggers choose different subjects under this theme such as Fine and Gross Motor Skills or preschool sensory activities and then we share how they can be done.
Items for Creepy Crawlies Preschool Lesson Plan
1) Container for your sensory bin
2) Rice (enough to cover the base of the container)
3) Brown food colouring
4) Creepy Crawlies set
5) Spoons, cups, jug
First get your bin and pour out your rice to cover the base. This way you will know exactly how much you need to colour. Once that is done, place the rice in a ziplock bag.
Grab a cup and place a small amout of water (just enough to get the rice wet) and add your food colouring. If you do not have brown food colouring then you can do what I did. Add 2 drops red, 2 drops green and 6 drops yellow. I also added vanilla extract both for the colour and the smell.
Once your mixture is made, pour it into the bag and shake it up to cover the rice evenly. Leave the rice to dry in the bag- its less messy this way.
Pour your rice into the bin and add your creepy crawlies as well as measuring spoons and a cup or two, so that pouring may be practised.
What She Did
So just as I figured, J did not go anywhere near the sensory bin. I had so many great ideas too. I will still share them so that you can use them with your preschooler and maybe C (who is no longer a baby but a walking toddler) will want to play with it later on.
The plan was to identify the different bugs in the bin and speak about their different parts. We would also do a quick Math lesson: count the bugs, how many legs does a spider have etc.
Do you have a preschooler that simply hates bugs? Did you do anything to ease their minds? Let me know in the comments. No, seriously- let me know. Thanks for walking with me.
MORE Creepy Crawly Activities for Preschoolers #PlayfulPreschool
Beginning Sounds: Hunting for Creepy Crawlies by Mom Inspired Life
Preschool Songs: I’m a Hungry Spider by Growing Book by Book
The Creepy Crawlies Kingdom by Learning 2 Walk
Number Word Spider by Tiny Tots Adventures
Creepy Crawly Slime Recipe for Kids by Fun-A-Day!
Spider Web Construction – An Engineering Activity by Rainy Day Mumm
Insects and Spiders-Counting and Math Song by Capri + 3
Creepy Crawly Gifts Kids Can Make by The Educators’ Spin On It
Learning About Composting Worms by Raising Lifelong Learners
Making Creepy Crawly Crafts with Leaves by Life Over C’s
My middle child wasn’t a big fan of butterflies for a while. We told him it was ok to look from a distance and that he didn’t need to like them. Over time, we point out the good that bugs do: pollinate our vegetables, eat mosquitoes… Now he is fascinated by them (but still doesn’t want to touch them)
Well at least he doesn’t run away screaming. Maybe I should do an ‘at a distance’ sensory bin? Lol
My eldest wouldn’t touch anything – even touch and feel books, bugs were a BIG problem, we spent time playing with magnifying glasses looking at spiders and other bugs and now I can usually find him digging them up somewhere in the garden and I frequently have to make box homes for various ones on our nature window sill.
So maybe I should start with some books first and ease her into it?
Poor thing! I was never a fan of bugs as a child either. 🙂 The sensory bin came out great though!
Thanks Danielle. I love the vanilla smell as well, at least it might be a good air freshner, lol.
See maybe another time she will get to enjoy it. I don’t like bugs so I tend to stay far away from them.. It’s a beautiful sensory bin.
Thank you so much Natasha. I was really hoping she would explore but maybe next year.
Sensory bins are so fun!
Maybe the sensory bin will grow on them after a while. Perhaps you could add something they like in the bin to show them that their stuffed animal or doll loves bugs by making comments about it. I love what you did with the sensory bin. Our little ones really like bugs and would dig right in. I think we have sold them by telling them how wonderful they are.
Awww, well at least you gave her the option of trying out the bug sensory bin! 🙂 I agree, starting with some books might help pique her interest. 🙂
I’ll bet the kids had so much fun playing in this bin! Our kids love to explore the different bins, but we have never had a creepy crawly one.:) Nice post!