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Fun Bug Learning Activities

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I recently shared a roundup of activities related to butterflies, and while butterflies are great, they aren’t the only bugs we should be paying attention to or learning about. So now I bring you bug learning activities having to do with bees, ladybugs, praying mantises and more!

Learning about Bugs

You might be able to find some bugs to observe in the dirt in your own backyard or playground. This super simple “experiment” from Go Science Kids gives you permission to get a little dirty while you’re learning.

I had no idea that you could buy ladybug larvae, but apparently that’s a thing, so you can buy them and raise them to learn about their life cycle as well. Learn more at Crafty Moms Share.

Or you can purchase mealworms and keep them in the classroom or at home. There’s a great lesson outline and printable worksheets for tracking the bugs at Teaching Ideas.

Why not create a cricket habitat and learn about nocturnal animals? Check out this idea at Capri Plus 3.

Bug Learning Activities

Match colors on the backs of bugs with this printable pom pom matching activity from Artsy Craftsy Mom.

Grab some cute bug coloring pages from Red Ted Art.

Learn about the life cycle of a praying mantis with this printable lapbook from Darcy and Brian.

The Wise Owl Factory has a little printable book all about bugs that kids can color and fill in the blanks as they learn.

Homeschool Preschool has printables related to the life cycle of a bee and other bee activities you can purchase.

Bring a little more STEM into your bug adventures by making light up bugs with playdough. Learn how at Mama Smiles.

Bug-Themed Games

Why not play games with bugs? Here’s a bug bingo from Nature Inspired Learning, which has eight different cards to use.

Or try a bug I-spy with this printable from And Next Comes L.

This Catch a Bug printable game from Picklebums is super cute and you can play it in different ways to learn different things.

Get on your feet and move like a bug with insect movement dice from Taming Little Monsters.

Have you read?

Learn about Vikings for Leif Erikson Day

Leif Erikson Day is celebrated on Oct. 9, and it’s a great time to learn more about the Vikings and why we still remember Erikson all these years later. 

If you don’t know about Leif Erikson (sometimes spelled Eriksson), he’s believed to have been born in Iceland, and is considered the first European to set foot on continental America, more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus. 

123 Homeschool 4 Me has a printable mini book about Leif Erikson and the Vikings for kids to read and color. It talks about who the Vikings were, what kind of ships they used, how they got to America and more. It’s a good overview for younger kids to use. 

A good unit study is available from Simple Living Creative Learning, which includes a page where kids can write what they know, what they want to learn and what they learned through the unit, as well as information on the Vikings, longships, helmets, clothing and more. 

Get a printable Viking unit study with reading passages, comprehension questions and other activities aimed at grades 4-8 from Creative Classroom Core at Teachers Pay Teachers. (And see more Vikings content from TPT here.)

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus has some great unit study ideas, too, including suggested books and videos. The post includes information about the Viking voyages, society, mythology and ships, as well as some vocabulary and a list of famous Vikings. While you’re over there also check out her free printable lapbook, which includes mini books on ships, a timeline, a Viking women coloring page, draw your own Vikings, geography, ancient runes and more. 

Piqolo Kids has a lesson on Viking women with (available for purchase) worksheets about a day in the life of Viking women. Even if you don’t grab the printables there’s some good resources on that page and a link to a video on Viking women. 

Learn how to draw a Viking ship with instructions from Drawing How to Draw, or grab Vikings coloring and labeling worksheets from Kids Puzzles and Games.

There’s a Leif Erikson Festival annually in Norway, Michigan, which you can learn more about here. 

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