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As the weather warms up your students will start to see more insects flying and crawling around the playground. This is a great time for an insect unit study in the classroom! In this post, I’m sharing my favorite hands-on insect activities for kindergarten that you can use to put together an engaging thematic unit this spring.
The first step in any insect thematic unit should be to learn more about them! While reading a nonfiction book about insects with your class, you can complete a helpful anchor chart.
This resource will come in handy as students fill out their own copies of this chart. Then students can complete their own flip books of fun facts about insects!
After learning about insects in general, it’s time to get more specific! First, discuss and record facts about ants after reading through a nonfiction picture book together as a class. The facts that you record on an anchor chart can help students complete this adorable ant writing craftivity! They will write and illustrate a sentence with their favorite fact about ants.
Another fun ant activity for kindergarten is to read aloud “Hey, Little Ant” by Phillip and Hannah Hoose. This story sparks great discussion about how we should treat others. Plus, the cliffhanger at the end of the story provides the perfect inspiration for a writing activity!
Students can write about what the kid should do to at the end of the story and then create this shoe craft to go with it!
Bees are also a great addition to an insect unit study! After learning about bees during read-aloud time, students can create their own informational writing craftivity. These decorative bee facts look great on a spring bulletin board!
For even more writing inspiration, you can read “Buzz” by Eileen Spinelli. After reading about this bee who loves to fly, students can write about where they would go if they could fly.
You can add their own pictures to the bees for an adorable final touch or this craft!
Students always love when it’s time to focus on ladybugs! As with the other insects, you can read some nonfiction books to collect fun facts about these insects. Students can refer to your anchor chart as they complete their own ladybug craftivity. They will choose their favorite fact about ladybugs to write and illustrate for this craft.
You can also take time to read “The Grouchy Ladybug” by Eric Carle. This book is a great conversation starter about social skills like sharing. Then students can use this book as inspiration for a writing craftivity.
They will love creating their own grouchy ladybugs to go along with their writing!
Sequencing is an important skill that will help students in communication, reading comprehension, and even math! One of my favorite books for teaching sequencing is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle.
While reading this story as a class, you can put together a large anchor chart with the sequence of the foods that the caterpillar eats.
Then, students can complete their own sequencing worksheet and craft to go along with the story. Both are very helpful for students as they retell the story!
An understanding of sequencing is helpful for students as they learn about the butterfly life cycle. You can read several books that show how caterpillars become butterflies and put together an informative anchor chart.
Then, students can complete a lift-the-flap activity for each stage of the butterfly life cycle.
Your students will love putting together this fun 3D butterfly craft that shows all of the stages of the life cycle!
After learning about so many different insects, it’s time for each of your students to decide on their favorite! Students can create this fun writing craftivity with their favorite insect in the net.
Under the flap is a sentence about why they like their chosen insect. Student pictures are a great final touch on this craft, but are definitely optional!
You can bring some buggy fun to your classroom, as well! These activities feature different insects, so they can be used on the days that you’re studying a specific one.
Deciding on a favorite insect can also inspire some math practice.
Students can record their favorite insect on a class graph, then record and interpret the results on their own worksheets.
As students are learning all about “TEEN”y insects, they can learn all about teen numbers!
This ant mat helps students see that teen numbers are counting on from ten. They can also practice this skill in their own printable mini books. One option has printable manipulatives to attach and the other has all insects on the page.
You can also bring some ant fun to math practice as you help students practice teen numbers on ten frames!
You can have your students practice teen numbers on ten frames with worksheets.
They can also practice their fine motor skills as they paint dots onto ten frames to match each number.
Students can also practice counting on ten frames with this printable mini reader.
Help your students practice the different ways to represent a teen number with this caterpillar themed teen number sense book!
Once students have practiced teen numbers in many ways, they’ll be ready for some fun! Students will each have a card and they have to walk around the room to find their match.
All of the activities pictured above (and more!) can be found in one money-saving bundle! It has everything you need to put together a fun two-week insect thematic unit, including a sample sequence for the activities. You can find this resource in the A Spoonful of Learning shop or on TPT.
Be sure to save this post if you’d like to come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite teaching board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these activities when you’re planning out an insect unit study.
These alphabet books will have students dive deep into learning about each letter of the alphabet while eager to see what activity they get to complete next!
