Earth's Birthday Project | Ladybug Activities

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Activities for PreK-2

Color a new beetle!
When your students have learned about ladybugs and colored our ladybug handout, print out a spotless beetle and let them make their own designs using any colors at all. They may want to make up names for these crazy new bugs! (Click Invent-a-Beetle on the sidebar.)

Ladybug Crafts
Make ladybugs using walnut shells, small river rocks, egg carton cups, or construction paper for wing covers, pipe cleaners or twist ties for legs and antennae. Use construction paper and paint or crayons to make pronotums, heads, spots, and eyes.

Block print bugs
Cut small potatoes in half. Dip cut ends in saucers of red or orange paint and "stamp" colored circles on paper. Children can add pronotums, heads, legs, and antennae with crayons and color a ladybug environment around their bugs. OR make thumb prints using non-toxic stamp pads; draw spots and legs with pencil or black pen.

Math bugs
Construct a set of ten big ladybugs from red construction paper (use a black marker to add features except for spots). Glue black paper spots on one wing cover--one on the first bug, two on the second, et cetera. Cut out about 70 more spots and have students "match" spots by placing the same amount on the blank wing cover. Add spots on both sides to see how many spots are on each bug. Subtract and add spots from the unglued wing cover and count totals. Count to 55 by counting all the glued spots on all the bugs.

Bug Songs

Never Hurt A Ladybug
Sing to the tune of "Yankee Doodle"

Ladybugs are in my yard.
Just look at them devour
Those pesky aphids on the leaves
Of Mother's pretty flowers.
Never hurt a ladybug.
We need them in the garden.
Ladybugs help flowers grow,
So we must never hurt them.

Traditional Nursery Rhyme
to chant as you blow ladybugs off your fingers

Ladybird, ladybird,
Fly away home.
Your house is on fire
And your children are gone.
All but one
And her name is Nan,
And she's crept under
The pudding pan.

My Ladybug Has Spots!
Sing to "The Muffin Man"

My ladybug has one black spot,
One black spot, one black spot.
Ladybug has one black spot,
Oh my ladybug!

My ladybug has two black spots, (and so forth)

Traditional Jump Rope Song

Ladybug, ladybug, turn around.
Ladybug, ladybug, touch the ground.
Ladybug, ladybug, read the news.
Ladybug, ladybug, go upstairs.
Ladybug, ladybug, say your prayers.
Ladybug, ladybug, turn out the lights.
Ladybug, ladybug, say good night.
G-O-O-D-N-I-G-H-T

Celebration
Have a party for the Earth and release your ladybugs as a wonderful present. Enlist the help of parents and take students to a nearby park. Serve orange punch and cupcakes (with ladybug icing!). Sing bug songs, sing happy birthday to the Earth, and then chant the ladybug nursery rhyme as you send your ladybugs away to take care of the Earth by eating aphids, mealybugs, mites, and other harmful insects.