Playing with Insects and Spiders

Don't worry, we weren't actually playing with live bugs!  We studied insects and spiders last week and I decided to get hands on with a little Play-doh!  To help the kids see and remember the parts of these critters, we created them ourselves.

First, I taught them the basic parts of an insect. . .

• 3 body parts (head, thorax, abdomen)
• 2 antennae
• 6 legs
• 2 eyes

Then they each got their own jar of Play-doh and some pipe cleaners to practice with.  

The second day we tried the process again with spiders.  These were the basic parts I told them to include. . .

• 2 body parts (cephalothorax--or head, abdomen)
• 8 legs
• 2 fangs/teeth
• 8 eyes (not all spiders have 8 eyes, but that is a common amount)

They loved this activity!

In order to see if they remembered the differences between the two, they got to create one more Play-doh creature, either a spider or an insect.  Afterwards, the kiddos sorted their creations on a t-chart.

Sorry for the shadow!  Have to take pictures quick or the kids get antsy.

We checked each one together to make sure they had the required parts.  They had a little trouble with the insects because they all wanted to create butterflies.  Their butterflies were missing legs, antennae, and or body parts.  I guess they got excited about making the wings and forgot about everything else.  I guess I know what their favorite insect is!

We also made a Venn diagram this week to show our knowledge.  My little smarties did great!

  

Now they are excited when they find insects or spiders outside.  They come running over to announce their find and then proceed to stare at it and describe it to one another.  It always makes me smile :)