Insect and Bugs and theme

 Insects and bugs seem to be a recurring interest with 4 year olds, and as you continue to teach over a number of years, you often see the same theme or interest emerging in your room.  It is worthwhile spending a bit of time and effort making resources that link with children's various interests, as you will use them and re-use them in years to come.  And I find that games and activities that directly link into children's interests are more likely to be used and played with, and facilitate learning and conversations.

 These insects are a simple number identification game.  I drew 6 different insects (two are yet to be coloured in), with the numbers 1-12 on them.  Children spin a spinner (numbered 1-12) and place a counter on the corresponding number.  The idea is to be the first to cover up your numbers from 1-12.  I did think you could use two dice with this, but then you would never get number 1.  But you could make using two dice optional, and children choose whether to throw one dice or two.

 You could number the insects 1-10, but I chose to do 1-12.

 I used soft pastels to colour in the various insects.  I find soft pastels are an effective way to fill in colour, they fill in space quickly, can be blended easily, and are forgiving. They come in lots of beautiful bright shades, and I really like the soft effect that they provide.

Simple Board games

 These are simple board games I created using stickers and a hole punch.  They are dice and counter games, that allow 4 people to play at once.  Each child puts a counter on their butterfly/insect at the top.  They take turns to throw a dice, and move their counter that amount of spaces.  First to reach the end is the winner.  Encourages number identification, recognising patterns (on dice), 1-1 counting as they move along the board, taking turns, waiting for their turn, and following rules.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This was a favourite story of mine as a child.  I have created it out of felt for use as a mat time resource.  I painted/drew the details onto the fruit and food items using fabric paint and fabric markers. You can also use permanent markers on felt.  The life cycle of the caterpillar is needlefelted, however, so it is 3D and will not stick onto a board, but you could replicate it in felt.  The children also like to retell the story using the felt pieces.

Paper Butterflies

These butterflies are super simple to make by folding paper in a concertina fashion.  Find out how to make them in this tutorial here.

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