Spring Insects and Bugs for Preschoolers
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Spring gives you a wonderful opportunity to introduce your children to the incredible world of insects and bugs. I have loved to teach my preschoolers things like the difference between a bug and an insect, and what is a cocoon and a chrysalis, and these FREE Spring Insects and Bugs cards with real pictures are perfect for this purpose.
This set includes 10 pages with two cards each, for a total of 20 cards with different insects and bugs, and 10 pages with two matching name cards each, that are yours, just a click away.
The insects and bugs included are a ladybug, bee, caterpillar, butterfly, dragonfly, beetle, wasp, ant, mosquito, termites, fly, Praying mantis, grasshopper, worm, snail, tick, cricket, and spider.
To get this Spring Insects and Bugs cards low prep printable ready, you only need to click on the bottom found at the end of this post to download it. Then print each page using white cardstock. Finally, cut out and laminate the cards to make them last longer.
When to Use The Spring Insects and Bugs Pictures
These Spring Insect and Bugs pictures can be used during the entire season in many ways. Some of the ideas I can give you are:
Circle Time
- Introduce the animals and talk about some of their characteristics.
- Make a graph with the children’s favorite animals.
- Explain which are insects and which are simple bugs.
- Clap the animals’ names syllables.
- Find animals’ names that are compound words.
Math Area
- To divide the pictures into insects and bugs categories.
- To categorize the animals into the ones that have no legs, six legs, or eight legs.
- To divide them into the ones with wings and without wings.
Science Area
- To observe the pictures with magnifying glasses.
- To compare the pictures with plastic animals.
- To compare the pictures with the ones in books.
Writing and Literacy Areas
- Copy the names with pencils, crayons, or markers.
- Trace the words with dry-erase markers.
- Match the words using magnetic, wooden, or foam letters.
- Spell the animals’ names.
- Match the pictures with the written words.
- Choose an animal to create a story about it.
Art Area
- Draw a picture of an insect or bug.
Informational YouTube Videos
There are many YouTube videos that you can present to your students, to allow them to observe some of these animals that otherwise will be difficult for them to see, like the metamorphosis of a butterfly, a ladybug, or how ants build their anthills. These are some of my favorites:
Metamorphosis: How a Caterpillar Becomes a Butterfly by Free School. Show how after hatching from a tiny egg, caterpillars eat almost constantly for a week or two, until they have enough stored energy to begin their metamorphosis. Then, they hang upside down from a branch or stem, develop into a chrysalis, and shed their caterpillar skin. After a few more weeks, the adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis to begin the cycle all over again.
Building a New Home by BBC Earth. This video shows how an ant colony goes into full-on construction mode as they make their new home at the base of a fallen tree.
Bee / Animals for Kids by All Things Animal TV. This video talks about different types of bees, where they live, their social structure, how they collect pollen, and their importance in pollination.
Related Books
Don’t forget to read to your children every day. This is one of the activities that are more beneficial to children because books help them feel connected, understand better what you are talking about, and learn vocabulary, among many other important benefits.
Many books address insects and bugs, both fictional and nonfictional. You can find books about these interesting animals at your local library, used book store, and on Amazon. You can get super fast to this website and to the book you want to add to your collection, by just clicking on the picture that has my direct link. These are some of my favorite books about insects and bugs for preschoolers.
Pin It For Later
If you are in a rush and don’t have time to read the post and download the printable but want to save it for later, pin it to your Spring or Science Pinterest board to have it available when you’re ready.
I hope you and your preschoolers enjoy this freebie. I love Science and it makes me very happy when I get to create and use anything related to that. To get it, just click on the link below, and type your information for an immediate download.
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.D. Please let me know if this printable worked for you, or if you think I need to add or replace something. My goal is to help you in any way I can and I don’t like anything better than to post something that you might find useful. Also, if you came up with different ideas and want to share them, I will love to post them as well.
