For our 15 minute focus series, simple hands-on science for preschool, kindergarten and early elementary.

Supplies: toy insects, books, paper, drawing supplies

I gave each child a toy insect, and we made observations about them: we noticed the antennas and talked about what they were for. We counted legs – they all had six. We noticed the three body parts, and I taught them the words thorax and abdomen. Then we sang the song Head Thorax Abdomen. (Lyrics in my full bug science post.)

Then I read a book – I read Beetle Bop, but there are many great books about bugs.

Then I encouraged them to all try drawing a picture of a beetle – I put out toy beetles where they could see. They tried on their own for a while. Then I showed them a technique: draw an oval, then draw a semi-circle for the head, then 6 lines for the legs. We all practiced that several times.