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The Very Hungry

Caterpillar

Unit Study

By Tara Bertic

Objective: To meet fine motor, readiness skills, matching patterns, sensory,

and other early education goals by doing a unit study of activities based on

the book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle.

Caterpillar & Butterfly Craft

Supplies Pinch-type clothespin

Medium-size pom-poms

Elmer’s glue

Pipe cleaner

Paper towel (white)

Water

Food coloring

Eyedropper

Caterpillar Instructions

Have child glue pom-poms onto one side of clothespin. Twist 3-inch piece of pipe

cleaner around the top end to form antenna.

Let dry.

Butterfly Wings Instructions

Lay paper towel flat.

Mix water and food coloring to make paint.

Let the child use an eyedropper to put spots on the paper towel. The more colors

you use, the more colorful the butterfly.

Allow to dry. (To speed drying time, place on cookie sheet in oven on LOW temp.)

When dry, fan-fold the paper towel into approx. ½-inch sections.

To Change Caterpillar Into Butterfly:

Pinch the middle of the wings and clip inside the clothespin.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Pinching the clothespin will exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s hands.

Using an eyedropper is also great for fine motor development.

Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by asking the child to show you what

happens to caterpillars. “What do they change into?”

Readiness Skills: When mixing the food coloring and water, teach the child which

primary colors can be mixed to make secondary colors (i.e. red and blue make purple, red and

yellow make orange, blue and yellow make green).

Caterpillar Snack

Supplies Round cereal (like Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks)

Marshmallows

Pretzel sticks or black shoestring licorice

Caterpillar Snack Instructions

Thread the cereal onto a stick pretzel.

Add a marshmallow for a head.

Add broken pieces of pretzel or black shoestring licorice for antennae.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Making this snack will exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s hands.


comes next or what else is needed to complete their caterpillar treat. Give them a picture

of a caterpillar to look at to make answering those questions easier.

Matching Patterns: Try giving the child just two colors of Fruit Loops if that’s the cereal

you choose to use. Show them how to alternate the colors and start them on that pattern

on their pretzel stick. Ask them to complete the pattern. “We have a blue Fruit Loop and

now a green Fruit Loop. What comes next?”

The Very Hungry Kid

Supplies Old magazines

Scissors

Glue

Picture of your child’s face

The Very Hungry Kid Instructions

Cut out pictures to complete the following sentences. Take a picture of your child’s face to

go next to his name in each sentence.

On Monday ____ (student's name) ate _________. (one apple)

On Tuesday ____ ate __________. (two pancakes)

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Using scissors to cut pictures out of magazines will exercise fine motor

muscles in the child’s hands.

Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about the sequence of the

days of the week and what comes next.

Readiness Skills: This activity will work on counting skills as the child counts out each

number of something he ate on each day.

Social Skills: Talk with you child about how we should only take what food we think we can

eat and how it is not nice to pile our plates high and then not eat all of the food on them.

Recognizing Facial Expressions – Visual Discrimination: Stand in front of a mirror big

enough to see both of your faces in and practice taking turns making sick, “full”, and happy

faces.

Coffee Filter Butterflies

Supplies Two coffee filters

Washable markers

Brown paper sacks

Spray bottle of water

Black pipe cleaner

Coffee Filter Butterfly Instructions

Lay coffee filters flat.

Let the child add a design to the coffee filters using washable markers. They don't

need to color in the whole filter. They could just put spots on the filter if they

want to. Tell them to not press down on the markers too hard or they’ll rip the

coffee filter.

Lay the filters on brown paper sacks and lightly spray the filters with water. The

marker color will begin to bleed and color the filter.

When they're dry, squish the two filters together in the middle to form two wings.

Use a black pipe cleaner to fashion a body and two antennae.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor Skills: Spraying the water bottle will exercise fine motor muscles in the

child’s hands.

Readiness Skills: Have the child put primary colors close to each other and talk about

which primary colors can be mixed to make secondary colors (i.e. red and blue make purple,

red and yellow make orange, blue and yellow make green). When the child sprays the water

on the coffee filters, the colors should run together and even change into their secondary

colors at the edges.

Butterfly Life Cycle

Supplies White paper plate

Sharpie marker

Pen

Navy bean

Green silk leaf

Small green pom-poms

Shell noodle (uncooked)

Brown marker

Butterfly sticker

Butterfly Life Cycle Instructions

Section a white paper plate into fourths using a Sharpie.

In the first section, have students glue on a green silk leaf and then a navy bean

onto the leaf for the egg.

In the second section, have them make a caterpillar using small green pom-poms.

In the third section, have them color an uncooked shell noodle brown to look like a

cocoon/chrysalis and glue it on.

In the last section, have them stick a beautiful butterfly sticker.

In each section, use a pen to make dashed letters of each life cycle part so that

your child can trace the letters to make the words.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Coloring the shell noodle and gluing the navy bean egg to the silk leaf will

exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s hands. Tracing the life cycle words will also

develop fine motor muscles.


caterpillar’s life.

Sensory Input: The different textures of the silk leaf, hard navy bean rolling in

between their fingers, and ridged shell noodle are great for distinguishing between

different textures.

Social Skills: Talk with you child about how when we see such things in nature we need to

be gentle and careful with them so as not to hurt them.

The Fuzzy Caterpillar (To the Tune of The Itsy Bitsy Spider)

The fuzzy caterpillar

Curled upon a leaf (wrap your arms around yourself).

Spun her little chrysalis (spin in a circle)

And then fell asleep (put hands together at side of face like sleeping).

While she was sleeping,

She dreamed that she could fly (flap arms like flying).

And later when she woke up (rub eyes and open them wide),

She was a butterfly (look at “wings” in surprise and fly around room)!

~ Author Unknown

Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about the sequence of the

caterpillar’s life cycle.

Gross Motor Skills: The movements associated with the song will build upper body gross

motor skills.

Butterfly Spaghetti Dinner

Supplies Shell pasta

Bowtie pasta

Corkscrew pasta

Spaghetti Sauce

Garlic toast (optional)

Butterfly Spaghetti Dinner Instructions

Using only a portion of each box of pasta, make spaghetti.

Talk about the three stages of a butterfly’s life cycle as you enjoy your dinner.

o The corkscrew pasta represents the caterpillar stage.

o The shell pasta represents the chrysalis.

o The bowtie looks like the beautiful butterfly.

Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about the different stages

of a butterfly’s life.

Sensory Skills: Each noodle, because of its different texture and shape, will feel

different in the child’s mouth.

Wax Paper Butterflies

Supplies Old crayons (paper peeled off)

Two sheets of wax paper

Newspaper

Scissors

Iron (for mom and dad only)

Wax Paper Butterflies Instructions

Have the child use a quarter to shave crayons onto wax paper.

Top with another sheet of wax paper.

Place a sheet of newspaper over the two sheets of wax paper.

Iron with a warm iron until the crayon shavings melt.

When cool, cut into a butterfly.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Shaving the crayons with the quarter will exercise fine motor muscles in the

child’s hands.

Matching Patterns: Let the child arrange their crayon shavings into different patterns

on the wax paper and then talk about how they changed once ironed.

Readiness Skills: Talk about the different colors of the crayons.

Social Skills: Talk with you child about how we should never touch anything that is hot.

Recognizing Facial Expressions – Visual Discrimination: Stand in front of a mirror big

enough to see both of your faces in and practice taking turns making sick, “full”, and happy

faces.

Paint Rubbing Butterflies

Supplies Colored construction paper

White paper

Butterfly pattern found at

http://www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.kidsrcrafty.com/tgcolor/butterfly02.gif

Different colored tempera paints

Stapler

Scissors

Q-tips

Rolling pin

Paint Rubbing Butterflies Instructions

Photocopy the larger butterfly pattern onto colored construction paper.

Cut it out.

Photocopy the smaller butterfly pattern onto white paper.

Cut it out.

Fold the white butterflies in half.

Open them back up.

Let your child add tempera paint blobs to one side only using a Q-tip.

Fold the butterfly back together and let the child use the rolling pin to press the

wings back together.

Gently pull the top of the butterfly back up.

Once dry, staple only the middle of the painted butterfly to the middle of the

larger colored butterfly.

NOTE: If the child wants to use the Q-tips to paint the butterfly body and head, let him,

as the paint may not have spread to these parts when the paper was folded.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Using a rolling pin will exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s hands.

Matching Patterns: Talk about the different patterns the paint blobs made once they

were pressed together in between the butterfly wings.

Readiness Skills: Talk about the different colors on the butterfly and how they may

have run together to create new ones.

http://www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.kidsrcrafty.com/tgcolor/butterfly02.gif

Felt Board Fun

Outside Inside

Supplies Medium empty pizza box

Felt

Hot glue gun

Story sequencing pieces from “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” found at http://www.dltk-

teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/index.htm

Ziploc baggie

Poster board or cardstock

Felt Board Fun Instructions

Cover the entire inside of an empty cardboard pizza box with felt using a hot glue

gun.

Get “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” story sequencing pieces laminated onto poster

board or cardstock.

Cut them out and glue a small piece of felt to the back of each picture. The pieces

can be stored inside a Ziploc baggie inside the pizza box.

Have the child retell the story using each of the pictures and putting them one at a

time on their homemade felt board.

Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by letting the child re-tell the story

in sequence.


number of something the caterpillar ate on each day.

Sensory Skills: Felt is great for sensory enhancement.

http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/index.htm


Fingerprint Critters

Supplies Different colored inkpads

Thin black pen

White paper

Cotton balls

Colored construction paper

Small sticks

Fingerprint Critters Instructions

Using a green inkpad, let the child use his fingerprint to blot grass onto the bottom

of a piece of paper.

Let the child use his thumbprint to make circles joined together as the body of a

caterpillar.

Using a thin black pen, add legs, eyes, and antennae.

In the sky on the same paper, have the use his index fingers for the top half of the

butterflies’ wings and his pinkie fingers for the bottom half of the butterflies’

wings.

Use a thin black pen to ad the butterflies’ bodies, heads, eyes, and antennae.

Glue small sticks on the page to look like a tree.

Glue the entire picture onto the front of a piece of colored construction paper to

give it the appearance of a framed picture.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Holding their hands and fingers certain ways to ink and then create their

fingerprint caterpillars and butterflies will exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s hands.


days of the week and what comes next.

Sensory Skills: The feel of the inkpad on their fingers, sticks, and cotton balls are

great for sense of touch issues. Also, if you have the child use scented inkpads, these are

also great for sense of smell.

Matching Patterns: Show the child how each finger makes a different shape and size

fingerprint. Let them practice patterning by alternating fingers or inkpad colors.

Readiness Skills: Learn about colors with the different colors of the inkpads.

Caterpillar Egg Counting

Supplies Green leaf pictures

Pen

Number stickers 1-10

Navy beans

Unlined index cards

Caterpillar Egg Counting Instructions

Cut out and glue each leaf onto an unlined index card.

Use a pen to number the cards from one to ten.

Laminate the cards.

Cut them out.

Give the child one leaf at a time and ask him to count out the number of “eggs” (navy

beans) he needs to put on that leaf so that it matches the number on the leaf.

NOTE: You may hold up the number of fingers to match the number on the index card.

Then put down one finger each time your child puts an egg on the leaf so that he can

visualize how many more eggs he needs to put on the leaf.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Picking up the navy beans will exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s

hands.


bean to match the number on the different leaves.

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” Story Sequencing (found at http://www.dltk-

teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/index.htm)

Supplies Story sequencing cards from http://www.dltk-

teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/index.htm


Story Sequencing Instructions

Laminate the story sequencing cards from “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” onto

poster board or cardstock.

Mix them up and ask the child to put them in the correct order. If you want, you

can put felt on the backs of the pictures and use them with the felt board the child

made earlier.





Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about the sequence of

events in “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”.


number of something the caterpillar ate on each day. It also works on learning colors as you

can talk about the color of each food the caterpillar ate. Talk about the caterpillar’s colors,

the color of his cocoon, and the colors on the butterfly wings as well.

Butterfly Matching

Supplies Unlined index cards

Butterfly pictures


Butterfly Matching Instructions

Cut out the butterfly pictures.

Glue the pictures onto unlined index cards.

Laminate the cards onto poster board or cardstock.

Cut the butterflies in half.

Play a matching game where the child is given one half of the butterflies and asked

to match them to their corresponding halves.

Objectives Met: Matching Patterns: This activity will help the child work on his matching skills.

Beginning Sounds

Supplies “C” beginning sound page

“B” beginning sound page

Old magazines

Scissors

Glue

Beginning Sounds Instructions

Give the child the “C” beginning sounds page and some old magazines.

Ask him to look for words that start with the same hard “c” sound.

Have him cut the pictures out and glue them onto the page.

Repeat with the “B” beginning sounds page.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Using scissors to cut pictures out of magazines will exercise fine motor


Readiness Skills: This activity will work on beginning letter sounds as well as the

child’s learning to match other words with similar beginning sounds.

Toilet Paper Tube Butterfly

Supplies Empty cardboard toilet paper roll tube

Butterfly template from http://www.dltk-kids.com/CRAFTS/INSECTS/mbutterfly.html

Scissors

Glue

Toilet Paper Tube Butterfly Instructions

Cut the template pieces out for the child.

Have him glue the pieces onto the toilet paper tube to make his own butterfly.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Gluing the butterfly body parts onto the toilet paper tube will exercise fine

motor muscles in the child’s hands.

Language – Communication: Talk about how insects have six legs, but people only have

two. Talk about animals that have four legs as well.

Readiness Skills: Count the legs and wings as your child puts them on the butterfly to

enhance counting skills.

http://www.dltk-kids.com/CRAFTS/INSECTS/mbutterfly.html

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” Puppet Story

Supplies Long green sock

Google eyes

Hot glue gun

Felt spots or stripes

Pictures of food templates from http://www.dltk-

teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/felt_fun.htm

Scissors


Velcro

Felt butterfly wings

Brown paper lunch sack

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” Puppet Story Instructions

Cut out the food templates and have them laminated onto poster board or

cardstock.

Cut out their circles around the dotted lines.

Cut a basic butterfly wing shape from a piece of felt. Decorate it with other felt

pieces if you like. Attach a piece of Velcro to the underside of the wings, right in

the middle.

Using a long green sock, glue google eyes on the toe and felt spots or stripes onto

the back of the “caterpillar”.

Glue a piece of the Velcro to the back of the caterpillar as well.

Have the child put the sock on his arm and then, as you read “The Very Hungry

Caterpillar” to him, he will slide the food over this hand as if the caterpillar is eating

it. Stop in between foods and have him count each food as he slides it onto his arm.

After all of the food is “eaten”, take it off and have the child put the paper lunch

sack over the head of the caterpillar to represent the chrysalis.

Then pull the paper bag off and attach the felt wings to the back of the caterpillar

using the Velcro to show the metamorphosis of the caterpillar.

http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/felt_fun.htm

http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/felt_fun.htm

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Sliding the food templates onto his sock-covered hand will exercise fine

motor muscles in the child’s hands.


things the caterpillar ate and what comes next in the story. Also discuss the sequence of

the butterfly’s life cycle.


number of something the caterpillar ate on each day.

Matching Patterns: Because the caterpillar ate some of the same things, your child can

practice picking out the strawberries from the oranges and the plums from the apple, etc…

Crawling Caterpillar

Supplies Caterpillar template

White cardstock

Crayons or markers

Penny

Drinking straw

3 ft. yarn

Tape

Scissors

2 beads (bigger than straw openings)

Crawling Caterpillar Instructions

Print the caterpillar template onto the white cardstock.

Let the child color the caterpillar.

Cut it out.

Cut two 1-inch pieces of drinking straw.

Tape the pieces side by side to the middle of the back of the caterpillar.

Tape a penny to the bottom backside of the caterpillar.

Thread one end of the yarn up through the bottom of the left straw piece and then

down through the top of the right straw piece. You should now have a loop of yarn

above the caterpillar’s head.

Tie a bead to the loose ends of the yarn.

Hang the caterpillar by the loop over a doorknob.

Have the child pull one end of the yarn (where the beads are) and then the other

slowly and see the caterpillar climb to the top of the yarn.

Let go once the caterpillar reaches the doorknob and the caterpillar will slide back

down to the bottom of the yarn.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Using pincher fingers to hold onto the yarn as he pulls it back and forth will

exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s hands.

Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about up and down as the

caterpillar “crawls”.

Shapes Caterpillar

Supplies Colored Construction Paper

Black marker

Black construction paper

Scissors

Glue

Shapes Caterpillar Instructions

Cut different colored circles from construction paper.

Have the child glue them onto the black construction paper to form a caterpillar.

Cut small triangles from construction paper.

Have the child glue them onto the bottom of the circles to represent the

caterpillar’s feet.

Cut two rectangles from construction paper.

Have the child glue them onto the caterpillar’s head for antennae.

Use a thin black marker to draw on the caterpillar’s facial features.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Gluing the circles, triangles, and rectangles into their proper place on the

caterpillar will exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s hands.

Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about what comes next on

the caterpillar. Show them a picture of a caterpillar as a guide.

Matching Patterns: You can use only certain colored circles, triangles, and rectangles and

show the child how to make a pattern by alternating them.

Readiness Skills: This activity is great for practicing colors and shapes recognition.

Optional Educational Activities:

Acquire a butterfly habitat, buy a larvae, and watch as it grows and morphs into a

butterfly. Have a “setting free” ceremony afterwards.

Visit a local museum’s butterfly garden.

Start your own butterfly garden by visiting your local gardening shop and buying

plants caterpillars eat and butterflies enjoy.

Butterflies for Matching Game

Leaves for Egg Counting

Starts with a “B”! So Do These:

Starts with a “C”! So Do These:

The Very Hungry Kid

On Sunday ____________________ ate 1 ____________________. But

he was still hungry.

On Monday ____________________ ate 2 ____________________.

But he was still hungry.

On Tuesday ____________________ ate 3 ____________________.


On Wednesday ____________________ ate 4 ____________________.


On Thursday ____________________ ate 5 ____________________.


On Friday ____________________ ate 1 ____________________, 1

____________________, 1 ____________________, 1

____________________, 1 ____________________, 1

____________________, 1 ____________________, 1

____________________, 1 ____________________1

____________________, and 1 ____________________. That night he

had a stomachache!

On Saturday ____________________ ate 1 ____________________.

After that, he felt much better.

WHEW! ____________________ sure was hungry.

Caterpillar Template for Crawling Caterpillar

The Grouchy

Ladybug

Unit Study

By Tara Bertic



the book, “The Grouchy Ladybug” by Eric Carle.

Ladybug Snack

Supplies Sugar cookie dough

Red icing

Chocolate chips

Black shoestring licorice

Ladybug Snack Instructions

Bake sugar cookies according to package directions.

Ice them with red icing.

Give the child chocolate chips and black shoestring licorice pieces and let him

decorate the ladybug cookie with their “spots” and “antennae”.



comes next or what else is needed to complete their ladybug treat. Give them a picture of a

ladybug to look at to make answering those questions easier.

Readiness Skills: Encourage the child to put a different number of “spots” on each

ladybug and to count the chocolate chips out loud as he adds them to the cookie. When you

eat one later, say, “I think I’ll have the ladybug with four spots. Which one will you have?”

The Very Grouchy Student

Supplies Camera

Scissors

Glue

Mirror

Index Cards

The Very Grouchy Student Instructions

“The Grouchy Ladybug” story is a great time to talk about feelings with your child. Take

them into the bathroom or where there is a mirror large enough to see both of your faces.

Have them practice making happy, sad, angry, scared, etc… faces in the mirror. Talk about

times when they feel that way. Show them your emotional faces too.

Then take a snapshot of each of your child’s emotional faces. After the pictures are

printed, cut out and paste just their faces to the center of an index card. Write the name

of the emotion they were feeling in the picture at the top of the card. Keep these cards as

emotion flash cards. Encourage your child when he is feeling one of these emotions, but

doesn’t know how to verbalize it, to choose the card that best matches how he feels and

give it to you.

Get the cards laminated so they can be used in the future.

Objectives Met: Social Skills: This activity will encourage your child to communicate in a non-destructive

manner what he is feeling. Talk with your child about what they can do when they feel

happy, sad, angry, or shy. What are okay reactions to being happy, sad, angry, or scared?

Also talk about what the child can do when he sees someone else who feels a certain way. If

he sees someone crying or sad, he should hug them or pat them on the back. If he sees

someone who is angry, he should walk away from them. If he sees someone who is happy, he

should smile at them.

Recognizing Facial Expressions – Visual Discrimination: This activity will help your

child if he has difficulty recognizing non-verbal cues on peoples’ faces. It will also help him

understand his own feelings and what makes him feel a certain way and why.

Ladybug Puppet

Supplies 2 red Solo plastic plates

Black felt

1 black pipe cleaner

Google Eyes

Stapler

Hot glue gun

Glue

Large black pom-pom

Two-pronged metal brad

Velcro (optional – see Readiness Skills under Objectives Met section)

Ladybug Puppet Instructions

Help your child staple two red Solo plastic plates together, backs out. Be sure to

leave a space big enough for your child to fit his hand in at the bottom of the circle.

Cut out black felt circles and let your child glue them on their puppet for spots.

Glue a large black pom-pom right in the top middle of the ladybug puppet. You

should use hot glue for this.

Cut the pipe cleaner in half and stick each half in between a few of the staples at

the top of the circle, on either side of the black pom-pom. You can let your child

bend the tips a little to round them off. You might want to put a drop of hot glue

around where the pipe cleaners stick out of the circle to keep them from moving too

much. You can also shorten the length of the pipe cleaners first so that your child’s

hand does not get poked by them when he puts his hand in his puppet.

Help your child glue google eyes on.

Cut out a smile from the black felt and attach it to the ladybug’s face with a brad.

This will allow the smile to be turned upside down into a frown for when the ladybug

is grouchy.

Objectives Met: Sensory Input: The feel of the slick, smooth plates and the soft, furry felt dots and

smile on the ladybug make this craft great for enhancing your child’s sensory skills.

Recognizing Facial Expressions – Visual Discrimination: This activity will help your

child if he has difficulty recognizing non-verbal cues on peoples’ faces. Practice changing

the ladybug’s smile into a frown at random when the child is not watching and then ask them

later whether or not their ladybug is happy or sad (grouchy).

Social Skills: Give your child different scenarios (i.e. Ladybug’s ice cream cone just fell on

the floor and now she can’t eat it.) and ask them whether or not their ladybug should be

smiling or frowning and why she might feel the way she does.

Readiness Skills: Practice counting the number of spots on each side of the ladybug.

Count them on each side and as both sides together. This is a great time to introduce

adding. “There are four spots on this side of the ladybug and three spots on this side of

the ladybug. If we put them altogether, the ladybug has seven spots.”

Language – Communication: Use the animal cards from this unit study to re-tell the story

of the grouchy ladybug. You hold up each animal card in the order they appeared in the

story and let your child use his puppet to say to each of them, “Hey you, want to fight?”

Then, “You’re not big enough!” Then the ladybug “flies” off to visit the next animal.

If you want to be real creative, put Velcro tabs on the ladybug and then the other half of

the Velcro tabs on the black felt circles. Then spots can be added or taken away from the

ladybug. The Velcro will also add a new sensory input to the ladybug.

Fine Motor: Taking the Velcro black felt spots off and on, as well as turning the

smile/frown on the ladybug will work your child’s fine motor muscles in his hands.

Ladybug Life Cycle (found at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php)

Supplies Cardstock

Crayons

Ladybug life cycle wheel pattern (You can find and print this from

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php.)


Ladybug Life Cycle Instructions

Cut out and glue the ladybug life cycle wheel pattern to cardstock (or print it on

cardstock).

Cut out the v-shaped section on the ladybug’s body.

Let the child use crayons to color the ladybug and life cycle wheel if he wants to. Be

careful not to let him use dark colors or the life cycle stages won’t be seen.

Using a metal brad, attach the ladybug body (top) to the life cycle wheel (bottom).

Let the child turn the ladybug’s body to reveal the different parts of her life cycle

and discuss them as he does.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Using his hands and thumbs to turn the life cycle wheel will improve fine

motor skills.


ladybug’s life.

Social Skills: Talk with you child about how when we see such things in nature we need to

be gentle and careful with them so as not to hurt them.

“I Wish I Were a Little Ladybug” (To the Tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)

Oh, I wish I were a little ladybug.


I’d be red and black.

I’d eat aphids for my snack.


~ Author Unknown

Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about the colors of

ladybugs, as well as what they like to eat. This is a great poem to build communication skills

because it’s memorable with its rhyming qualities. Talk with your child about how some of

the words sound alike (i.e. black & snack).

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

Fingerprint Ladybugs

Supplies Red inkpads

Thin black pen

White paper

Silk leaves or green felt

Scissors

Green sand (found in sand art kits)

Glue


Fingerprint Ladybugs Instructions

Using a red inkpad, let the child use his fingerprint to make ladybug bodies on a

piece of white paper.

Use a thin black pen to add the spots, lets, head, and antennae.

Let your child glue silk leaves or leaves you cut from green felt to the paper near

the ladybugs he fingerprinted.

Let your child use his finger to spread a little glue over parts of the silk leaves.

Let your child sprinkle green-colored sand over the glue. When it dries, the sand

will look like aphids on the leaves.

Glue the entire picture onto the front of a piece of black construction paper to give

it the appearance of a framed picture.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Holding their hands and fingers certain ways to ink and then create their

fingerprint caterpillars and butterflies will exercise fine motor muscles in the child’s hands.

Spreading glue with a finger and sprinkling sand will also meet this objective.

Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about aphids and how they

suck the juice out of leaves and kill plants. Tell them that ladybugs are the heroes that

save the plants from the aphids.

Sensory Skills: The feel of the inkpad on their fingers, sand, and silk or felt leaves

are great for sense of touch issues. Also, if you have the child use scented inkpads, these

are also great for sense of smell.

Matching Patterns: Show the child how each finger makes a different shape and size

fingerprint. Let them practice patterning by alternating fingers or use different fingers to

make mommy, daddy, and baby ladybugs.

Counting Ladybugs (found at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php)

Supplies Ladybug counting plate pattern (You can find and print this from


Ladybug patterns (You can find and print this from


Crayons

Cardstock or poster board

Glue

One-hole punch


Counting Ladybug Instructions

Color the ladybugs, at least two of each color. Make sure you use colors that are

light enough that the ladybug spots can still be seen.

Cut out and glue the ladybug counting plate and ladybug patterns to poster board (or

print them on cardstock).

Laminate the patterns.

Cut them out.

Punch a hole in the top of each ladybug.

Attach the ladybugs to the ladybug counting plate with the brad.

Now you have a counting game that you can do anywhere. Take the ladybugs off and

ask your child to give you so many. Let him count them out as he gives them to you.

He can count out ladybugs to take off the counting plate as well. Be creative! If

the child has three ladybugs in front of him, ask him how many spots there are

altogether.

You can also have your child match the ladybugs by color. If you’re child is ready

for a memory game, turn the ladybugs over and then take turns flipping them over

one at a time until color matches are found.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Taking the ladybugs off the metal brad will exercise fine motor muscle in

the child’s hands.


ladybug and/or spots on them. The different colored ladybugs will also help teach your

child color recognition.




Matching Skills: Matching the same colored caterpillars to each other will enhance

your child’s matching skills.

“L” is for Word Wheel (found at

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php)

Supplies Word wheel patterns (You can find and print this from


“L” picture patterns (You can find and print this from


Glue


Cardstock

“L” is for Word Wheel Instructions

Print the word wheel and “L” picture patterns on cardstock.

Cut out the word wheels and pictures.

Show your child where to glue the “L” pictures in correspondence with their name on

the wheel.

Cut away the extra area on the cover wheel where indicated.

Attach the wheels together using a brad.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Using hands and thumbs to move the word wheel will exercise fine motor


Readiness Skills: This activity will work on beginning letter sounds as well as the

child’s learning to match other words with similar beginning sounds.

Crawling Ladybug




Supplies Ladybug template

White cardstock

Crayons or markers

Penny

Drinking straw

3 ft. yarn

Tape

Scissors


Crawling Ladybug Instructions

Print the ladybug template onto the white cardstock.

Let the child color the ladybug.

Cut it out.


Tape the pieces side by side to the middle of the back of the ladybug.

Tape a penny to the bottom backside of the ladybug.



above the ladybug’s head.


Hang the ladybug by the loop over a doorknob.


slowly and see the ladybug climb to the top of the yarn.

Let go once the ladybug reaches the doorknob and the ladybug will slide back down

to the bottom of the yarn.




ladybug “crawls”.

Ladybug ABC’s (found at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php)


Supplies Cardstock or poster board

ABC’s with the Grouchy Ladybug pocket pattern (You can find and print this from


Ladybug ABC patterns (You can find and print this from


26 different colored crayons

Glue

Manila mailing envelope with fastener (optional)

Ladybug ABC’s Instructions

Color the ABC ladybugs each a different color. Color the entire ladybug that color

(including the head).

Cut out and glue the ladybug ABC patterns to poster board (or print them on

cardstock).

Get them laminated.

Cut them out and then cut the ladybugs in half, with their uppercase letter on one

half and their lowercase letter on the other.

Cut out the ABC’s with the Grouchy Ladybug pocket pattern and assemble the

pocket.

Store the laminated ABC cards in the assembled pocket. If they do not fit

correctly after being laminated, store them in a small manila mailing envelope that

has a fastener at the top.

Have your child match the uppercase and lowercase ladybug halves to each other.

Objectives Met: Matching Skills: Matching skills will be honed as your child matches the uppercase and

lowercase letters to each other. They will also be matching colors.

Readiness Skills: Letters will be identified, as will colors. Your child can also put the

ABC ladybugs in alphabetical order, using either of the two cases of letters or both.

Animals and Clocks (found at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php)




Supplies Thirteen cardstock rectangles, varying in size to make a layered book (for more information

on how to make layered books, visit www.lapbooklessons.com)

Printout of animal’s pictures and names (You can find and print this from


Printout of clocks (You can find and print this from


Glue

Stapler

Animals and Clocks Instructions

Staple the cardstock rectangles together on the left, making a book of the

rectangles from smallest to biggest.

Cut out the animal pictures, names, and clocks.

In the order from the Grouchy Ladybug book, have your child glue each animal’s

picture in order in their book.

On each “tab” of their layered book, have them glue the animal’s name.

Glue a clock in the upper right corner of each rectangle.

Show your child where to draw lines on the clock to match the hands on each clock

from the book (as they correspond to each animal and the time the grouchy ladybug

encountered them).

Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about the sequence of

events in “The Grouchy Ladybug”. Also discuss how the size of each animal the ladybug

encounters grows from smallest to biggest. When gluing the animals in their book, point out

how the next animal is a little bigger than the one before. Maybe even ask your child which

animal he thinks comes next. This is also a great way to work on before and after with your

child. “Which animal came before the praying mantis? Which animal came after the

sparrow?”

Matching Skills: Though your preschooler or early elementary special needs child will

probably not be ready to learn telling time, by introducing clocks, he will get a sense of the

passage of time as the ladybug moves from one animal to another. You can also talk about

morning, afternoon, and evening here.

Readiness Skills: Matching the animals to their names will enhance their letter

recognition and beginning sounds skills.

Animal Cards (found at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php)

http://www.lapbooklessons.com/




Supplies Animal cards pocket pattern (You can find and print this from


Animal cards (You can find and print this from



Manila mailing envelope with fastener (optional)

Animal Cards Instructions

Print and cut out the animal cards.

Laminate them (or print them on cardstock).

Cut out the laminated cards.

Print and assemble the animal cards pocket pattern. If the cards do not fit

correctly after being laminated, store them in a small manila mailing envelope that

has a fastener at the top.

Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance vocabulary skills by talking about the different

animals from the story. Use these cards as flash cards. Hold up the card of the elephant

and say, “Wow! Look at that cool praying mantis!” Let your child think you’re silly and

correct you. Also talk about some of the animals’ characteristics. Skunks have a stripe.

Hyenas have spots. Lobsters have claws.

If you want to, you may add felt pieces to the back of the laminated animals and let your

child put them in the correct order on their felt board while they re-tell you the story of

“The Grouchy Ladybug”. This is an excellent way to enhance your child’s sequencing abilities.

Let them use the book and even turn the pages for them as they work on their felt board

story. See the instructions below on how to make your own felt board if you do not already

have one.

Readiness Skills: Talk about bigger and smaller and have your child arrange the

picture cards in order from smallest to largest or vice versa. Talk about each animal’s color

as well.

Social Skills: Talk with your child about which animals it would be ok to touch or pet and

which animals (snake) they should always avoid or seek an adult if they came in contact with.

“If you ever see a bird’s nest, do not touch it or the eggs inside because you could hurt the

baby birds.”

Felt Board Instructions

Cover the entire inside of an empty cardboard pizza box with felt using a hot glue

gun.

Story pieces can be stored inside a Ziploc baggie inside the pizza box.



Paper Plate Clock

Supplies Two-pronged metal brad

Paper plate

Sharpie

Colored cardstock

Scissors

Paper Plate Clock Instructions

Cut two arrows, one smaller than the other, from colored cardstock.

Attach the arrows to the middle of the paper plate using the metal brad.

Using a Sharpie, write the numbers and draw the minute marks on your clock.

If you do not feel confident drawing your own clock or arrows, see and print the template at

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html.

Objectives Met: Readiness Skills: Again, at this age, your child is not going to learn how to tell time,

but they can at least see and feel how a clock works. Put the big hand on the 12 and then

move the little hand from the 1 all the way around to the 12, saying the time as you go.

Encourage your child to count from 1 to 12 with you. Also discuss with them how you cannot

go backwards on a clock.

Parts of a Ladybug Matchbook (found at

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/grouchy_ladybug.php)

Supplies Parts of a ladybug matchbook pattern (You can find and print this from


Scissors

Glue

Parts of a Ladybug Matchbook Instructions

Print and cut out the parts of a ladybug matchbook pattern, as well as the ladybug

picture and body parts labels.

Fold the matchbook.

Let your child glue the ladybug picture inside.

Talk about the parts of a ladybug and point them out while your child glues the

labels where they belong on the ladybug picture.



Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance vocabulary skills by talking about the different

parts of a ladybug.

Readiness Skills: When trying to figure out which label goes where, make the

beginning sound of each ladybug part and encourage your child to find the word that starts

with that letter (A, J, H, W).

Also, count how many legs, wings, and spots are on the ladybug for practice counting.


Acquire a ladybug habitat, buy a larvae, and watch as it grows into an adult ladybug.

Have a “setting free” ceremony afterwards.

Get a child’s bug catching kit with container and magnifying glass and go on a

backyard safari ladybug hunt either in your own backyard or at a community park.

We put about six ladybugs in a bug habitat with a bunch of leaves containing aphids. We put

the stems of the leaves in a cup with a lid (stuck the stems in the straw hole). We watched

them for about five days before we let them go.

Crawling Ladybug Craft

The Very Busy

Spider

Unit Study



the book, “The Very Busy Spider” by Eric Carle.

Spider Snack (Found at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/very_busy_spider.php)

Supplies Large marshmallows

M&M’s

Black string licorice

Chocolate syrup

Spider Snack Instructions

Poke eight pieces of string licorice into each marshmallow for the legs.

Pour chocolate syrup over the marshmallow.

Add M&M’s for eyes.

You can make a web design with the chocolate syrup on the plate as well so that it

looks like the spider snack is sitting in the middle of his web.



comes next or what else is needed to complete their spider treat. Give them a picture of a

spider to look at to make answering those questions easier.

Readiness Skills: Encourage the child to count the legs as he adds them to his spider.

Talk about how spiders have eight legs while butterflies and ladybugs only have six.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/very_busy_spider.php

Crawling Spider

Supplies Spider template

White cardstock

Crayons or markers

Penny

Drinking straw

3 ft. yarn

Tape

Scissors


Crawling Spider Instructions

Print the spider template onto the white cardstock.

Cut it out.


Tape the pieces side by side to the middle of the back of the spider.

Tape a penny to the bottom backside of the spider.



above the spider’s head.


Hang the spider by the loop over a doorknob.


slowly and see the spider climb to the top of the yarn.

Let go once the spider reaches the doorknob and the spider will slide back down to

the bottom of the yarn.




spider “crawls”.

Eight-Legged Things (found at

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/very_busy_spider.php)

Supplies Eight-Legged Things worksheet (You can find and print this worksheet at

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/very_busy_spider.php.)

Crayon


Eight-Legged Things Instructions

Have your child circle the eight-legged things on the worksheet.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Circling objects with a crayon exercises fine motor development.

Language – Communication: Talk with your child about how there are many different

kinds of spiders. They are all different colors and shapes and sizes, but they all have eight

legs.

Readiness Skills: Count the number of legs out loud on each thing to determine

whether or not they have eight and should be circled.

“The Itsy Bitsy Spider” Finger Puppets

Supplies “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” Finger Puppets from http://www.dltk-

teach.com/rhymes/spider/fingerpuppets.html)

Scissors

Tape

“The Itsy Bitsy Spider” Finger Puppets Instructions

Print “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” Finger Puppets from http://www.dltk-

teach.com/rhymes/spider/fingerpuppets.html out onto cardstock.

Laminate them for durability.

Cut them out.

Tape the puppet finger strips to make a whole big enough for your child’s fingers.

Practice “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” song letting your child use his finger puppets to act

out what happens in the song.

“The Itsy Bitsy Spider”

The itsy bitsy spider

Went up the waterspout.

Down came the rain

And washed the spider out.

Out came the sun

And dried up all the rain.

And the itsy bitsy spider

Went up the spout again.

http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/spider/fingerpuppets.html




Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Using pointer fingers to hold the finger puppets exercises fine motor

development.

Language – Communication: Talk with your child how the sun comes out after it rains and

dries the ground. Show him a waterspout on the side of a house.

This is a great song to build communication skills because it’s memorable with its rhyming

qualities. Talk with your child about how some of the words sound alike (i.e. spout & out,

rain & again).

Sequencing skills can be learned from this song as well. Talk about how the spider goes up

and then it rains and he gets washed out. Then the sun comes out and dries up the rain and

the spider crawls back up again.

“The Spider in the Web” (found at


Supplies Painter’s tape (see note)

“The Spider in the Web”

(To the Tune of “The Farmer in the Dell)

The spider in the web,

The spider in the web,

Spin, spin, oh watch him spin,

The spider in the web.

The spider eats a (bug name).

The spider eats a ________.

Spin, spin, oh watch him spin,

The spider in the web.

~ Author Unknown

Objectives Met: Language – Communication: Enhance language skills by talking about the kinds of bugs

spiders eat. You can even tell him how they eat them (drinking their blood) if you think your

child can handle this information. Talk about how the spider’s web catches the bugs

because it is sticky.

Social Skills: Talk with your child about how spiders eat bugs. First they bite the bug so

he can’t move. Then they wrap him in the web and later drink his blood.


Note: To demonstrate how bugs get caught in a spider’s web, you can stick the end of a roll

of painter’s tape on your child’s shirt. Then tell him to start spinning in circles while you

unroll more of the tape and he gets trapped in your homespun web. Use painter’s tape

because it will not leave a sticky residue on your child’s clothes or skin. I did this and

pretended to be the spider eating Jeremiah. I put his name in the blank of the song and

kissed his neck and grunted like I was eating him.

Objectives Met: Sensory Input: Feeling the “sticky” of the painter’s tape around him will work on

sensory input issues.

“The Itsy Bitsy Spider” Craft

Supplies Black pipe cleaners

Styrofoam egg carton

PVC pipe (big enough in diameter for your spider to go through)

Yarn

Scissors

Google eyes

Hot glue gun & sticks

“The Itsy Bitsy Spider” Craft Instructions

Cut off one bump of the egg carton.

Let your child poke eight pieces of the black pipe cleaners through the egg carton

bump for the spider’s legs.

Use a hot glue gun to attach the spider’s google eyes.

Poke a hole in the top of the spider and thread yarn through the hole. Tie a knot in

the end of the yarn bigger than the hole so that the spider can dangle from his

“web”.

While singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, let your child use the yarn to pull and drop his

spider through the PVC pipe.

Objectives Met: Fine Motor: Using pincher fingers to hold the spider on the yarn exercises fine motor

development.

Language – Communication: Talk with your child how the sun comes out after it rains and

dries the ground. Show him a waterspout on the side of a house.

This is a great song to build communication skills because it’s memorable with its rhyming

qualities. Talk with your child about how some of the words sound alike (i.e. spout & out,

rain & again).

Sequencing skills can be learned from this song as well. Talk about how the spider goes up

and then it rains and he gets washed out. Then the sun comes out and dries up the rain and

the spider crawls back up again.

Readiness Skills: Remember to count out loud with your child as you add the legs to his

egg carton spider. Add a leg and then ask, “How many more legs do I need to add now?”

Hold up eight fingers and put one down each time he adds a pipe cleaner leg.

Sprayed Spider Webs (found at


Supplies White paper

Cardboard

Colored spray paint (not white)

Sprayed Spider Webs Instructions

Tape a white piece of paper onto some cardboard to make it stiff.

Find a spider’s web outside. Look for a vacant web in lieu of shooing a spider from

its home.

Spray through the spider web with the can of spray paint. Spray gently so as not to

tear the web. Coat the web, but leave it intact.

While the web is still wet with paint, hold the cardboard/paper behind the web and

pull it slowly towards you until the web is made flat on the paper-covered cardboard.

Set the web aside until it is completely dry.

The painted spider’s web will stick to the paper and so, when it dries, you will have a

painted print of a real web!

Objectives Met: Social Skills: Talk with your child about how cool God, the Creator of all things, made

spiders that are able to spin webs. Using pincher fingers to hold the spider on the yarn

exercises fine motor development.

Now is also a good time to speak with your child about which spiders are safe to touch and

that some can really hurt them. Talk to them about the importance of not disturbing or

destroying a web they find that is occupied.


Language – Communication: Talk with your child about how no two webs are alike. You

may want to collect several of these sprayed spider webs to illustrate this point. Who

knows, maybe sprayed webs will become a new collection opportunity for your child!

Spider Handprints

Supplies White cardstock

Black tempera paint

Google eyes

Scissors

Yarn

Hole punch

Tape

Paper plate

Glue

Spider Handprints Instructions

Go to http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/mspooky-spider.htm and follow the

directions there for this craft.

Objectives Met: Sensory Input: Dipping his hands in the paint will enhance sense of touch. If your

child is squeamish about dipping his hands in the paint, put some of the tempera paint in a

sandwich-size Ziploc bag. Tape the top closed with clear packaging tape to ensure no

accidental leaks. Now let your child squish the bag around in his hand and in between his

fingers to get more used to the feel and consistency of the paint.

Readiness Skills: Talk with your child about how many fingers he has compared to how

many legs his spider has.

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/mspooky-spider.htm

Spider Web Craft

Supplies Tempera paint

Yarn

Scissors

White paper

Marker

Paper plate

Spider Web Craft Instructions

Visit http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/spider/spider_web_craft.htm for the

instructions to this activity.

Objectives Met: Sensory Input: Dipping the yarn and then his finger in the paint will enhance sense

of touch. When the paint dries, it will also leave a raised feeling on the paper where the

yarn was. Let your child run his hand over the web and talk about how it feels. Compare it

to how the web in the book, “The Very Busy Spider” feels.

Matching Patterns: Though your child will put his yarn on the paper at random, it will

likely leave a pattern on the page that can be pointed out to him and talked about. Maybe

he will use two red strings, two blue strings, and two yellow strings for example.

Readiness Skills: Remember to count out loud with your child as you add the legs to his

fingerprint spider. Add a leg and then ask, “How many more legs do I need to add now?”

Have him hold up eight fingers and put one down each time you add a leg.

Metallic Spider Webs

http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/spider/spider_web_craft.htm

Supplies Glitter glue

White colored pencil


Tin foil

Scissors

Glue

Metallic Spider Webs Instructions

Give your child a piece of black construction paper and let him use a white colored

pencil to draw a web on it. If he has trouble with this, draw a circle for him and

then tell him to draw straight lines all over inside the circle.

Using glitter glue, trace over the penciled lines.

Let dry.

Cut out a circle and eight skinny rectangles from tin foil.

Have your child glue them on his web to form the spider’s body and eight legs.

Objectives Met: Sensory Input: When the glitter glue dries, it will also leave a raised feeling on the

paper where the yarn was. Let your child run his hand over the web and talk about how it

feels. Compare it to how the web in the book, “The Very Busy Spider” feels.

Also, the contrast between the raised glitter glue web and the smooth tin foil spider body

will be a great tool for sense of touch. Talk about the difference in the way the web and

spider feel.

Don’t miss the visual sensory tool this craft is too. Place the picture in a place where

sunshine will hit it and talk about how the glitter in the glue sparkles and how the tin foil is

shiny in the sun. At night, turn off the lights and let your child use a flashlight to reflect

on the web and spider too.

Readiness Skills: Remember to count out loud as your child adds his legs to his spider.

Add a leg and then ask, “How many more legs do I need to add now?” Hold up eight fingers

and put one down each time he adds a tin foil leg.

Also talk about the shape of the spider’s body and legs (circle and rectangles).

Hide-N-Seek/Scavenger Hunt Fly (found at



Supplies “The Very Busy Spider” book by Eric Carle

Copies of picture of fly (You can find and print this at


Tape

Scissors


Hide-N-Seek/Scavenger Hunt Fly Instructions

Read through “The Very Busy Spider” by Eric Carle and ask your child to find the fly

on each page.

Print several copies of the fly picture onto cardstock or glue them onto poster

board.

Get them laminated.

Cut them out.

Take turns with your child hiding one of the fly pictures and play hide-n-seek. Give

each other clues and let each other know whether or not the other is hot or cold

(near or far) to finding the fly.

You can also tape several of the flies around the house and then send your child on a

scavenger hunt to find as many as he can. Give him clues about where they are if he

needs them.

Objectives Met: Language – Communication: This is a great activity for practicing things like over, under,

near, far, beside, next to, etc… Give your child clues, but be sure to let him practice giving

you clues as well so that both his receptive and expressive language skills are exercised.

Readiness Skills: If you hide a certain number of flies around the house, let your child

know how many so that he can count them as he finds them.

NOTE: You can buy fake flies from your local party supplies store and hide those instead.

Animal Memory

Supplies Cardstock or poster board

Animal cards

Scissors

Animal Memory Instructions

Print out two copies of one of the animal memory cards on cardstock or cut them out

and glue them onto poster board.

Get them laminated.

Cut them out.

Now play memory with the cards turned upside down and taking turns turning them

over one at a time until matches are made. If this is a new or even frustrating

concept for your little one, play with the cards right side up first.

Objectives Met: Matching Patterns: This is a great matching activity.

Language – Communication: As animals are turned over, say the animal’s name and the

sound they make. Making their sound is also a great speech development exercise as you

have to work the muscles in your mouth and lips to form those specific sounds.

Animal Sounds – Name That Animal Charades

Supplies Cassette recorder

Blank tape

Animal Sounds – Name That Animal Charades Instructions

Using a tape recorder and blank tape, record some sounds animals make in random

order, leaving about 10 seconds or so between each sound.

Play back the tape. Encourage your child to act out the animal, like charades, to

guess which it is. You could make this into a game where the first person to act the

animal out correctly wins a point.

Objectives Met: Matching Patterns: This is a great matching activity that matches the animal sounds to

their correct animal.

Language – Communication: Talk about each of the animals on the tape before you begin.

Encourage your child to imitate the animal sound he hears on the tape. Making their sound

is a great speech development exercise as you have to work the muscles in your mouth and

lips to form those specific sounds.

Social Skills: Role-playing is a great social skill too.

Painter’s Tape Spider Web (found at


Supplies Painter’s Tape

Fly pictures or plastic bugs (found at party supplies stores)

Painter’s Tape Spider Web Instructions

Scientists believe there are at least two reasons why spiders don't stick to their

webs. First, some spiders have oil on their bodies. The oil is slippery and so the web

won't stick to it. Second, since spiders build their own webs, they know which

strands of silk are sticky and which ones are not. They stay away from the sticky

strands.

Design a spider web on your floor using painter’s tape since it will not leave a sticky

residue on your floor.

For effects, stick some of the fly pictures from the Hide-N-Seek Fly game on the

web. Or you can buy some plastic bugs and put them on your web instead.

Encourage your child to walk on all fours over your web on the floor, but avoid those

“strands” where other bugs are caught.

Objectives Met: Gross Motor Skills: This is a great gross motor skills development activity.

Social Skills: Talk about how cool it is that God made spiders with the wisdom to know

which strands of their silk they could step on without getting caught in their own web. Now

is also a good time to speak with your child about which spiders are safe to touch and that

some can really hurt them. Talk to them about the importance of not disturbing or

destroying a web they find that is occupied.

Readiness Skills: Let your child count the number of bugs caught in your floor web.

Language – Communication: Talk to your child about why spiders don’t get caught in their

own webs.


Silky Stuff Search

Supplies Household items

“The Very Busy Spider” book by Eric Carle

Small notepad

Pencil

Silky Stuff Search Instructions

Let your child run his hand over the raised web in the book, “The Very Busy Spider”

by Eric Carle.

Now go on a scavenger hunt around your house for things that feel silky like a

spider’s web.

Objectives Met: Sensory Input: This is a great sensory input tool.

Language – Communication: Name each silky thing that you find and its use.

Readiness Skills: Take a small notepad and pencil with you to sketch or write down the

silky things you find. Then go back and count how many there were.

“The Very Busy Spider” Word Cards (found at


Supplies “The Very Busy Spider” Word Cards (You can find and print these at


Alphabet cards

Scissors


“The Very Busy Spider” Word Cards Instructions

Print the word cards onto cardstock or cut them out and glue them onto poster

board.

Get them laminated.

Cut them out.

Repeat steps one, two, and three with the alphabet letters. Cut closely around the

letters so that they are letter “tiles”.

Put a word card in front of your child, along with all of the letter tiles. Ask him to

place a letter tile on top of each corresponding letter on the word card.

NOTE: I actually have 1” letter tiles that came in a little bucket from the Wal Mart

educational/office supplies section. These are a great alternative to the letter tiles you

need to print and laminate at the end of this unit study.


Objectives Met: Language - Communication: Name the animals on the cards, making out clearly beginning

and ending sounds, as well as any other sounds in the animal’s name that can be exaggerated

for the child to understand.

Readiness Skills: Say each letter as your child matches the tiles to the letters on the

cards. Sing the ABC song.

Matching Patterns: Matching the letter tiles to the letters on the word cards is a great

matching exercise.

Speech Therapy: Have your child practice making the animal sounds on the word cards.

This is a great speech development exercise as you have to work the muscles in your mouth

and lips to form those specific sounds.


Visit your local pet store to see a tarantula; the workers at my pet shop are very

friendly and will get animals out for us (if you're brave enough!)

Spider for Crawling Spider Activity

Letter tiles for Word Cards

a b c d e f

g h i j k l

m n o p q r

s t u v w x

y z

Animal Memory Cards

Date post:	14-Jul-2020
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