The seasons changing from winter to spring has naturally brought on some interests within our room. As the days started getting warmer, we started finding lots of ladybugs around our playground! Everyone was so good at being gentle with the bugs we found, and seemed very mesmerized by how they crawled around. Some friends felt a little nervous about the insects, so we talked about how they don’t have to touch them and that the bugs won’t hurt them.
Soon, we noticed the bulletin board in the front lobby was covered with pretend insects. This quickly became an interest and each time we went in or out, we had to stop and name them all.
We decided to expand on these interests and offered a variety of activities focused around bugs this month. We put paper ladybugs around the walls in our room and used bingo dabbers to give them some spots, we played with play insects in the soil sensory bin, and we searched for insects outside and put them into a little bug container to observe them.
One activity we really enjoyed was painting with our insect toys. It was a neat experience to paint with something completely different than the usual brushes, sponges, etc. It was interesting to see how each child explored the activity. Almost everyone dabbed their bug into the paint and then looked at the paint on the bug. Once we got past the strangeness of putting paint on our toys, the fun began! They tried walking and splashing their insects around in the paint, and quickly noticed how messy their hands got too! We decided not only did we need a wash, but our bugs did too, so we brought them outside in the afternoon and played with them in the water.
It’s no surprise to us that sensory play is always a big hit. Toddlers are in a developmental stage called sensorimotor; they are developing their motor skills and taking in experiences through their senses so giving these opportunities to dab bingo dabbers up high on the ladybugs on the walls, or playing in water, soil, and paint, and watching the movements of live insects helps them take in these new and revisited experiences.
We are excited to see where this interest leads us next; maybe we can get a butterfly habitat and watch them transform from caterpillar to butterfly! Or maybe we can plant a butterfly garden. We will definitely continue to search for some insect friends in and around our playground! Have you found any bugs in your backyard or maybe at the park? Try to find a few next time you are outside together!
