Balloon Bugs

Blow up long balloons (two for a spider, three for an insect). Cover them with strips of paper dipped in glue. Put on three to four layers. Let them dry for two to three days. Paint the giant insect or spider and attach pipe cleaners for legs and antennae.

Insects and Spiders Journal Activity

Read a book about insects and spiders then hand out a journal sheet with this question on it: "Which types of insects and spiders do you enjoy watching? Why?" (Click on the image to enlarge and print.) Record the children's responses and let them draw a picture to go along with their response.

Honey Popcorn Crunch

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a pan, add 3/4 cup of honey and stir until combined. Pour the mixture over popped popcorn. Spread the popcorn on a cookie sheet and bake until golden, about 15 minutes at about °350. Talk about how bees make honey while you are eating the snack.

Scientists & Spider Webs

Scientists- The children can dress up in white lab coats and observe spiders and insects with magnifying glasses.


Spider Web- Tie together a big piece of rope to resemble a spider web. Have children pretend they are spiders playing on their web.

Bug Visits

Go visit a bug zoo, butterfly house, or some beehives. Or invite a zoologist or entomologist to come and talk about insects and how important they are.

Bumblebee Flight

Play “The Flight of the Bumblebee (by Rimsky Korsakov) let the kids use their bodies to describe the movements of the bumblebee. Call out suggestions such as,“Wings! flap your wings; you are flying;arms flutter fast;flying high,flying low.” Be careful of collisions.

Butterfly Matching Game

Cut out the triangles and laminate them, if desired. The children can match the dots to the numbers and clip them together with a clothespin to make a butterfly.

Eensy Weensy Spider

Eensy weensy spider went up the water spout ('Climb' up arm), Down came the rain (Wiggle fingers down), And washed the spider out (Throw arms to sides), Out came the sun and dried up all the rain (Circle hands above head) And the eensy weensy spider went up the spout again. ('Climb' up arm).

Lady Bugs and Plastic Insects

Add soil and plastic insects and spiders, and magnifying glasses to the sensory table.
If it is in season (early summer- June), you can get lady bugs from your local nursery for the kids to explore and observe.

Insect or Spider?

Talk about and observe the differences between insects and spiders. Insects have three body segments (head, thorax, abdomen), six legs, and can have wings and antennae. Spiders have two body segments (head and abdomen), eight legs, and do not have wings or antennae.

Insect Hunt

Take the children on an insect hunt nearby. When the children are finished, have everyone show what they found. Talk about where they found the insects (on a tree, under a log, etc.) and where different types of insects and spiders live.

Insect Creation

Provide different colors of pipe cleaners, an egg carton, googley eyes, construction paper, cotton balls, glitter, scissors and glue and let the children construct different insects and spiders.

Insects and Spiders Lesson Plan

Click on the image to view it better and print it if desired.