In this activity, you and your child will walk around a park, your neighborhood, or your backyard, talking about and taking pictures of bugs you find.
Read a book or watch a short, child-friendly YouTube video about bugs.
After talking about what you’ve learned, tell your child that you are going on a bug hunt. This bug hunt is not to catch or hurt the bugs, but just to find them and talk about them and then take fun pictures of them. The pictures help us remember them and look at them more closely.
While walking around, have fun helping your child search for bugs by looking through grass, under rocks, and around trees. While walking around looking for bugs, you can say this chant.
Going on a bug hunt,
What will we see?
Going to take pictures
Of bugs around me.
When you find a bug, be sure to have a bug-finding celebration with high-fives, hugs, or dancing, and praise your child for having good searching eyes! Inspect the bug, and ask a few of these questions before your child takes a picture of it:
“What color is this bug?”
“Do you think it can fly?”
“Do you know what this bug is called?”
“Where do you think this bug’s home is?”
“What do you think this bug eats?”
“What do you notice about its body?” (wings, number of legs, etc.)
After listening to your child’s responses, you can point out your own observations, too (for example, “I think she might be able to fly because I see little gray wings on her back. Do you see them right there?”)After you have discussed the bug, your child can take a couple pictures of it to remember it. Make sure to show your child how to take a picture on your phone or camera if she has not done so before.