Bug Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
If you’re looking for some fun bug activities for toddlers and preschoolers, then you’re in the right place! Today, I’m sharing 12 insect and bug activities for toddlers and preschoolers that will support their development while they learn through play.
All of the bug and insect activities I am about to show you are available in the Bug Unit of my Tiny Tots Toddler Curriculum. Tiny Tots is a differentiated, play-based curriculum for children ages 18 months to 3 years, so if you want to know more then check out this video OR check out the unit right here.
Now let’s check out our 12 bug and insect activities for toddlers and preschoolers.
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Bug-Themed Books
If you’re looking for some books to go along with your bug activities for toddlers and preschoolers, then check out our top picks!
- Backyard Bugs By Jill McDonald
- Mrs. Peanuckle’s Bug Alphabet By Mrs. Peanuckle
- The Grouchy Ladybug By Eric Carle
- Bugs! (PBS Kids) By Jaye Garnett
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle
To see some of these activities in action, check out this video!
Fine Motor Bug Activities
First up we have some bug-themed fine motor activities. These activities will help to develop the small muscle groups of your child’s hands and fingers.
Spray the Bugs
Spray the Bugs is such a fun way to get a little outdoor water play and fine motor work in. All you need is some sidewalk chalk and a spray bottle.
We have an old wooden fence, so we just used that to draw some bugs on, but you can also do this on a concrete surface.
We drew different colored bugs and had our son, Luke, spray them with the spray bottle, which he absolutely LOVED!
The action of squeezing the trigger of the spray bottle is great for strengthening your child’s hand and finger muscles.
If your child needs more of a challenge, you can instruct him/her to spray a bug of a certain color OR draw some letters or numbers in the bugs and call them out for your child to identify by spraying them.
Ladybug Dots OR Caterpillar Color Match
This next activity involves some colored dot stickers and either a ladybug or caterpillar cut out, depending on your child’s readiness level.
In this example, I printed the ladybug template from my Tiny Tots Bug Unit and had Luke stick some dot stickers on the back of the ladybug.
If your child needs more of a challenge, you can turn this into a color matching activity. Simply cut out some different colored circles of construction paper, then tape them to the wall to make a caterpillar. Have your child match the dot stickers to the correct color!
If your child is having a hard time peeling the stickers, you can start the peeling OR peel off the backing of the stickers, which makes it a lot easier to peel the stickers from the sheet!
Bug Rescue Bin
This bug rescue bin is super simple, but great for those little finger muscles. Simply take a small bin and wrap some yarn around it in different directions before throwing some plastic bugs in there.
I love these colored learning resource bugs – we used them for so many different bug-themed activities!
I placed a small bug catcher (that I picked up from Dollar Tree) next to the bin and had Luke “rescue” the bugs by grabbing them from the bin and placing them in the bug catcher!
You can make this activity more challenging by adding a filler to your bin (such as dried beans, rice or pasta) or having your child use large plastic tweezers to rescue the bugs.
Sensory Activities
Our next category is bug-themed sensory activities.
Bug Sensory Bin
Sensory bins are AMAZING. I absolutely love them! So naturally, our first sensory activity is a bug-themed sensory bin!
You can choose whatever materials you’d like for your sensory bin. For this one, I threw some dried black beans in one bin as a filler, then some colored green rice on the other side.
If you want to know how to make colored rice, then definitely check out my colored rice recipe video here.
Next, I threw in some little nets, plastic bugs, a bug catching container, plastic tweezers and a magnifying glass and let Luke explore!
Frozen Bug Rescue
This frozen bug rescue is SO FUN and set up is pretty simple! I placed some plastic bugs in a Pyrex dish with some water and a few drops of food coloring. (Just make sure to use a freezer safe bowl or container so that you don’t get any cracked glass!)
The next day I ran some water over the bottom of the dish to loosen up the ice. Once it fell out, I placed it in a shallow plastic bin with a small cup of salt, a turkey baster, some warm salt water, and tweezers.
We ventured outside and I showed Luke how to pour the water over the ice to melt it. He’s still pretty young for this, so he didn’t quite grasp the concept of getting the bugs out of the ice, but he LOVED the water play.
This is still a great sensory activity for a younger toddler, even if they don’t quite grasp the concept of the “bug rescue” – they’re still exploring the different states of water and getting some play time in.
Gross Motor Activities
Our next category of activities is gross motor activities. These activities work the larger muscle groups of the body, like the arms, legs and torso.
Sticky Spider Webs
A great way to get those little arms moving is with this sticky spider web activity. My husband, Mike, and I set up painter’s tape across a door frame. You’ll want to position this low enough for your child to be able to throw objects at, but high enough that they won’t walk into it.
We then had Luke try to throw some cotton balls and stick them to the web! This is definitely a great activity for older toddlers or preschool-aged children.
Luke actually liked picking the cotton balls OFF of the spider web which is totally fine! Don’t be afraid to modify an activity to fit your child’s needs and wants! Just go with the flow. The bottom line is, he/she is learning and exploring no matter which way the activity is done! These are simply some ideas to get things going!
Swat the Bugs
Next up for our gross motor activities we have swat the bugs! I have a set of colored and black and white bug printables in my Tiny Tots Bug Unit, so I just printed those out and laminated them before cutting them out and taping them to the wall.
I handed Luke a swatter and showed him how to swat the bugs!
To make this activity more challenging, you can call out a specific color for your child to swat OR add some letters or numbers to the bugs and call out a specific one to have your child identify by swatting.
Capture the Bugs
Capture the bugs takes almost NO prep, but your child will love it! I scattered some plastic bugs across the living room then instructed Luke to run around and collect the bugs and put them in his bug catcher!
He loved running around the room for this activity.
If you want to make this activity more challenging, then you can have your child pick up the bugs with some large plastic tweezers.
Cognitive Activities
Cognitive activities have to do with how children think, explore and figure things out in the world around them.
Bug Counting
Our first bug-themed cognitive activity is bug and insect counting.
I printed these jar printables from the Tiny Tots bug unit and helped Luke count out the number of bugs indicated on the top of the jar.
Even if your child is not really counting yet, you can do this activity as a great way to model counting in order. You can also model 1-to-1 correspondence, which is the act of counting each object in a set with one touch per object.
If your child is familiar with counting, I also included a blank jar and number cards, along with printable bug cards that can be used for a more independent activity.
Name Caterpillar
An important early skill for children to work on is recognizing and identifying their own name.
This caterpillar name activity will help them do just that!
I printed 2 copies of the caterpillar template from my Tiny Tots Bug Unit and wrote Luke’s name on each set.
I laid the caterpillar out with his name, then had him match the letters of his name in order one at a time! I was originally going to have him place the letters right on top of the original caterpillar, but he placed them above, so I just went with it!
He is getting the hang of saying each letter of his name, but if he forgot one, I just said it out loud for him and then went back and repeated the whole spelling of his name.
If your child is new to name activities, you can help by saying each letter and trying to have him/her repeat it as you guide the letter placement on the matching piece.
For children needing more of a challenge, only print one set of circles and have them assemble their names independently without a guide to work from.
Art Activities
Our last category is bug-themed art activities!
Potato Stamp Ladybugs
First we have potato stamp ladybugs. Simply cut a potato in half, dip it in red paint and help your child stamp it on a piece of white paper.
When finished, have him/her dip his/her thumb in black paint and stamp at the top for the heads of the ladybugs, then on the backs for the spots.
Finish by drawing little lines at the top for antennae.
Fingerprint Bugs
These fingerprint bugs were super cute!
I printed the jar template from my bug curriculum and had Luke use his finger to dot multiple different colored bugs on the paper. Once they were dry, I went ahead and added some eyes and little details for each bug!
I have so many more activities and printables in my Tiny Tots Bug Unit, so be sure to check that out right here.
Be sure to check out my other toddler and preschool activities!
- St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Toddlers
- Easter Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Spring Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Do you have any other fun bug activities for toddlers or preschoolers? Let us know in the comments below!
