8 Bug Activities for preschoolers!

Your kiddo is going to love learning with these preschool BUG themed activities. Some of my favorite activities include counting fireflies (which at 31 I’m still looking for the magic of fireflies) as we spell our name while creating a caterpillar and learning about symmetry with butterflies!

This blog post is all about having a huge list of super easy and fun bug themed preschool activities that will keep your preschooler busy and prepare them for kindergarten. I have made sure to balance this theme with academics like letters, sight words, numbers, and shapes as well as art, sensory, and STEM which are my favorite ways to hook and engage my preschooler’s interest.

Here are 8 Preschool Bug Themed learning activities!

You can get all of these activities and printables here. 

Smoosh Butterfly:

@sandboxacademy Did you do this one as a kid? #artforkids #toddlerart #keepingkidsbusy #parentingtoddlers #toddlermom #preschoolathome ♬ original sound - Emily | normal mom content

Supplies: Piece of paper, paint, scissors

• Grab a white piece of paper (I use card stock) and draw a butterfly.
• Fold the paper in half and cut out the butterfly.
• Pick a couple of different colored paint bottles (I use primary colors because they mix together to make all the secondary colors too.)
• Have your kiddo dab each of the paint tubes along half of the butterfly. (make sure to have your kiddo only dab the paint on one side of the crease.) 
• Fold the butterfly in half and really smoosh it all around to get the gorgeous colors.

Firefly Counting:

@sandboxacademy At 31 im still looking for the magic of fireflies #parentingtoddlers #toddlermom #preschoolmom #learningwithkids #learningathome #2under3 ♬ original sound - Emily | normal mom content

Supplies: Mason jar template, piece of paper, dominoes, yellow paint

• Optional use a template for this or you can draw mason jars on a piece of paper. (my template has 8)
• Write a number on top of each of the mason jars. (Ex: 4,5,6,7)
• You have 2 options to have your kiddo count the fireflies:

Option 1: use dominoes and have your kiddo match the number on the domino to the number on the mason jar.

Option 2: You can use yellow paint and your kiddos fingers to add little fireflies that match the number on the jar.

Paper Plate Bug Activity:

@sandboxacademy 🙋‍♀️ if art was your favorite subject in school #kidscrafts #kidsartsandcrafts #kidscancraft #artforkids #kidsactivities #toddlermom #preschoolmoms ♬ original sound - Emily | normal mom content

 Supplies: Paper Plate, Tempera Paint Sticks, Scissors, Googly Eyes, Glue

• Cut a circle on the inside of a paper plate.
• Glue the paper plate circle on the construction paper.
• Have your kiddo color and create any bug they can imagine using the markers and googly eyes.

Ladybug Letter Matching:

@sandboxacademy Pre-reading skills are vital and we are going to start breaking them down #prereading #prereadingskills #teachyourkidstoread #readingwithkids #momoflittles ♬ Lost - Frank Ocean

Supplies: Letter template, piece of paper, magnet letters or scrabble letters

• Using the letter template have your kiddo match the letter tiles to the letter on the lady bug.
• If you are using a blank piece of paper, draw lady bugs with different letters on them and have your kiddo match the letter tiles to the matching lettered ladybug.

Caterpillar Name:

@sandboxacademy Kids love things about them #momof2 #toddlermom #nameactivity #preschoolteacher #preschoolactivity #prekmommy ♬ original sound - Emily | normal mom content

Supplies: Different colored construction paper, glue stick, scissors, eyelash stickers, googly eyes, marker

• Cut the amount of circles to spell out your kiddos name on different colors of construction paper.
• Write to one letter of your name on each of the circles
• Create a face using googly eyes and draw a smile on a blank circle
• Have your kiddo glue the circles together to create a caterpillar starting with the face and adding each letter in order and spell your name.

Bug Symmetry:

@sandboxacademy Making the abstract concrete #preschoolmath #prekmom #preschoolmom #homeschoolmom ♬ original sound - Emily | normal mom content

 Supplies: Symmetrical Butterfly template, piece of paper, shape stickers

• Place your butterfly on the table and add shapes in a certain pattern on one side of the butterflies wings.
• Have your kiddo match the shoes and pattern on the other half of the butterfly wings. 

Play Dough Bugs:

Supplies: Play Doh, Cookie Cutter, Beads

• Give your child the Play Doh and cookie cutters and beads and invite them to create a bug with the materials they have.
• Encourage your kiddo to use other items that they might find at home like sticks to make their bugs even more fun and creative.

Fruit Bugs:

Ingredients: Celery, Nut Butter, Fruit, Mini Marshmallows, Chocolate Chips.

• Trim the ends off clean celery stalks.
• Remove any strings and cut the bottom so that it can sit up without rolling over.
• Fill the inside of the celery stalk with any nut butter or cream cheese for a savory take.
• Use other fruits to create the tops of your bugs.
• Blueberries or grapes make caterpillars, half a strawberry is a beetle, and an apple slice is a snail.
• To add eyes cut mini marshmallows in half and place a mini chocolate chip on top.

As you can see having templates and ideas on hand makes activities so much easier and less work! And since I am all about making your life easier, I created The Preschool Playbook! It  is created for mom and teachers of preschoolers and pre-kindergarteners. The activities in The Preschool Playbook take 2 minutes or less to set up and you will engage your child in learning and play so that they are ready for kindergarten.