Recently, I took my Preschool class on an afternoon walk in the neighborhood where our school is located. It was a beautiful day and the temperature was perfect. Before we left for the walk I let the group know that we were going on a bug hunt. They, of course, loved this idea. We lined up and headed out to the shed on the playground to collect the "bug gear." Each child was given something to use during the hunt: a magnifying glass, pinchers to pick up the bugs, or a bug house. We were ready! As we walked we sang songs
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about bugs. Everyone's favorite went something like this: "We're going on a bug hunt....We're gonna catch a big one...." We kept our eyes open for bugs as we walked and when we came to a grassy field I allowed the children to freely hunt for some creep crawlers. We ended up finding a ton of
cicada's which are extremely prevalent right now and only come around every 13-17 years. After our walk, we took our collections back to the classroom. I decided to make our findings into a science activity at our classroom science table. I put the cicada's (which were dead when we found them) into plastic see through globes so the children would be able to use magnifying glasses to examine them.
Some other things at the science table: Cicada shells, a telescope, plastic bugs, books about bugs and instruments that make sounds.
You can get as creative as you like and may even want to rotate the materials after they are at the table for a few days. My students have enjoyed exploring bugs in the classroom and are constantly asking when the next bug hunt will take place! It's a good thing I like bugs!
