Bug Week!

I really enjoyed this week's theme and the girls got into it, too! I was worried about FL, as she does NOT like bugs, but it went over really well.  She was still recovering and experiencing pain, etc. post surgery so we were very, very flexible with our activities this week.

Activity 1 - Antennae and Bee Watching

We made simple antennae and stingers out of headbands and pipe cleaners.   We watched the bees work for a little while and then acted it out ourselves - it was both fun and funny!   We ran around the farm buzzing and stinging everything.  The girls were really cute!

They bent the pipe cleaners into whatever shape they wanted.

FL was really good at winding hers around her finger to make it curly.

Lots of buzzing, wiggling and shaking going on!

Gotta love those cute little stingers!

 They wore them all day and got out a lot of energy!

Activity 2 -  TP Roll Bees

I don't have any pictures of us actually making these - it required all hands possible!  They came out sooo cute, though.   It was a step by step process we did over a few days because of the time it took for the glue to dry.  The last day I pulled out the hot glue gun because I was ready to finish!

Oh no!  There's a bee on your head!   

Activity 3 - Hungry Caterpillars

We read the classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, talked about the pictures, then acted it out.

We crawled,on our tummies, ate too much food, went to sleep in a cocoon and then woke up as butterflies!

I wasn't sure if they would get into this, but oh my goodness they SO enjoyed rolling themselves up into their cocoons!  They did it for about 30 minutes one afternoon!

Cutest caterpillars and...

Happiest butterflies ever! : )

Activity 4 - Egg Carton Caterpillars

I reinforced the story by finding a caterpillar outside and letting the girls observe it and pick it up with a leaf.  We later made our own caterpillars!  The girls pushed pipe cleaners through holes for antennae and then stuck butterfly stickers all over the caterpillars (ordinarily, we would have painted them, but it wasn't the best choice for an already challenging week.).    

It has been really neat seeing the girls link the things we are talking about together and retelling it in their own way.   I have also enjoyed watching them discover nature around them.  They are so curious and trying really hard to understand.   It is a privilege to do this together with them and be their mother.

They like to peel and stick and restick stickers!

FL's had the curliest antennae!

Activity 5 -  Coffee Filter Butterflies

A friend suggested these a while back, so we fit these in to our bug theme.  It is pretty simple.   Take a coffee filter, color with markers, add a pipe cleaner for a body and antennae then paint with water and let it dry!

Pretty little butterflies!

I'm going to make sure we do bug week again next year.  It was one of the best we've had so far!