Spiders, Caterpillars & Butterflies

The two-day class had a lot of fun with spiders, caterpillars and butterflies!

On Thursday we counted spiders. Alright, not real spiders. This is an easy game to take home. On a large sheet of paper or several smaller sheets draw 10 large spider webs and number them one through ten. For the toy part you will need toy spiders or bugs. Have your child recognize the number on the web then have them put that many spiders or bugs on to the web. To make it really fun add sound effects, play the game in a darkened room with a flashlight on the web drawings, or add your own special flare. Children learn best through play and this is a fun counting game.

We also added these GIANT insect toys to our sensory table which was filled with dirt. The best part was when one of the children found a worm in the table! That worm was well loved and I am sure was more than relieved to be released outside. :) All in the name of science, right?

At the art table we created spider webs by creating a "weaving" project. This is really good for small motor skills development. We also read "The Eansy, Weansy, Spider". This book does not have the original words to the well know nursery rhyme so it makes it interesting for the students. It still has the same melody.

We also had chapel time and the students met our new Youth and Music Director, Andrew, who was filling in for Pastor Paul. The children were captivated by his music and story. We really enjoyed him.

Friday, we studied caterpillars and butterflies. I have this butterfly puzzle which I tell the students "is the hardest puzzle, EVER!" Of course, it isn't for them and they love the challenge. I did put it together before class then removed several pieces for them to place. This is a great way to introduce those more difficult puzzles. The children can see the finished product before they begin and still "do" the puzzle with the pieces that have been set aside. This makes the project less over whelming and builds their confidence. Then as time goes by the challenge can be increased until they are doing the entire puzzle. We also counted caterpillars. Same concept as the spiders. I cut out ten large leaves and labeled them one through ten. Then I hole punched them so that the leaf with the number one had one hole, two had two holes etc. Using pipe cleaners I used a pencil to curl them around and created curly caterpillars. The caterpillars were our counting toy. Once again, this is a really fun game that teaches counting, number recognition and one-to-correspondence.

I hope y'all have a great weekend!! See you Thursday!