Spring is Almost Here! Celebrate with Fun Insect Activities

Most kids seem to go through a phase when they are interested in insects, or at least a particular kind of bug. Insects are such an important part of our natural world, it’s important to encourage an interest in them and help kids who might not love bugs get over the ick factor.

Uno Zwei Tutu has a great collection of Montessori-inspired insect activities you can do with your kids.

There’s picture matching, playing with bugs in brown playdough, ladybug art, counting, cutting and more. All the printables are included for the projects that need it.

These insect trays and baskets would be a lot of fun for little ones learning about insects, but don’t forget to get out in the yard, dig in some dirt, and make some insect discoveries of your own.

[Photo via Uno Zwei Tutu.]

Check out these insect activity kits and these Insect bug keepers

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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