Buggy Sensory Play

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Hands On Early Learning Activities for Bugs

Hands on play activities and a fun sensory bin are a great way to learn about bugs! I put together some easy activities to use our bus for sensory play and early learning activities. Make learning fun through play! Our grande finale was this cool bug sensory bin with a special moon sand I found online!

Bug Sensory Bin Play

Egg Carton Lady Bugs and Counting Book Activity

Our first tray was the ladybug book with our homemade egg carton ladybugs (project started on Friday!) He worked hard painting them and then moved to painting a piece of paper while I finished the nook and crannies. He didn’t have much interest in making spots with the marker but did make a few marks. We spent a good amount of time with this between reading the pages counting the bugs on the pages, flying the homemade bugs away and recounting the egg carton ladybugs  for each page. Sometimes he does just fine doing one to one without my help and other times, he needs my finger to guide him.

Bug Matching Activity & Book

This was a pretty quick bug sort and match tray. He took the bugs out and paired them with the right mate. Initially it was difficult to show him they would match even after showing him a pair from the bowl, but he eventually got it. We were able to talk about bugs a bit and what pairs are. I try to include trays that help with conversation skills too. He isn’t naturally curious so he does not ask many questions like what or why so I try to encourage it when I can. Then we counted how many bug pairs we had matched. Nothing fancy but fun!

Bug Counting Activity Tray

I cut out paper leaves, numbered them 1-10, and randomly stacked them. He was quick to pick up on the activity since he has done similar activities!  He simply chose a leaf, recognized the number and picked the corresponding amount of bugs to put on it. Since the leaves were out-of-order, I extended the activity by having him put the leaves in order.

Bug Sensory Play Bin

Hip Hip Hooray for an awesome, easy sensory bin. Red Moon Sand by Waba Fun, bug dough stampers from Lakeshore Learning (ebay find) and a lone butterfly cookie cutter. We ended up adding a chopstick, a small wooden spoon, rolling-pin, and tiny container. This stuff is really cool and very moldable. We played a bit together but really he was ready to do a little exploring on his own. This is a texture he clearly enjoys.

 There are lots of easy and fun activities you can do at home with a little imagination. Kids love bugs too! For more fun buggy ideas and Spring themed learning and play activities check out my Spring Activities for Kids page!

  

I am also an Amazon Affiliate, you will find links below to some of the fun products we used for these activities. I receive a small compensation for any purchases made, but you may enjoy all our activities for free! Enjoy!