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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?

Easy Lacing Cards to Make for Kids

Lacing is a great fine motor activity, and most kids go through a phase where they enjoy working with lacing cards. It helps promote focus and is a great quiet activity for kids to do in the car or to fill time in the classroom. And of course knowing how to lace is the beginning of knowing how to sew, which is great for all kids to learn (more on teaching kids to sew here). 

There are lots of ways to make your own lacing cards. This one is just a pin but it’s easy to make lacing cards with any shape a child is into using cardboard and a nail to poke the holes. This could be fun for letter and number recognition or spelling the child’s name.  Or try this version from Hey Azka, which uses a hole punch to make bigger holes so you can lace with shoe laces. 

You can also just do lacing cards with paper, but it’s a great idea to print them on card stock and/or laminate them to make them sturdier for little hands. Homeschool Share has a set of alphabet lacing cards, which are free with email signup. Deceptively Educational has a set of number lacing cards with numbers 0 to 10. 

Picklebums has some basic shape lacing cards, too.

Living Life and Learning has a bunch of cute printable lacing cards, including back to school designs, shoes kids can lace and learn to tie and ocean themed lacing cards. She also has tips for making your own lacing cards.

A Rose Tinted World made their lacing cards with craft foam, which makes them a little more durable than paper and you can cut it more easily than cardboard. They used a die cutting machine but you can also cut shapes by hand. 

I also love the cat and mouse cards from Seam Whisperer. They also have some spring themed designs. So cute!

If you want to make lacing cards that are more open ended, check out this tutorial form Pretty Life Girls to make lacing cards that are more like geo boards. Theirs are made with wood but you can also do this with cardboard, craft foam or card stock. 

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