Bugs and Insects Theme Activities Part 1

And yes, I'm a mother of 2 now. I'm still pretty overwhelmed with two little beings wanting my attention all the time and hopefully, things will get better or I will get used to this new life. So this is a rare afternoon where both of them are napping at the same time (number 1 in the room and number 2 in my sling) and I better cut the story short and finish up this post about our Bugs and Insects Theme Activities.

I really want to write this post to document this theme because this is by far my most elaborated in terms of planning and preparation. So happy that my effort paid off when I saw Xue having fun learning and the learning objectives achieved. In part 1, I'm sharing about all the activities on his shelf. Most of these materials are created and set up as 'invitations to play' - activities that hopefully will trigger the kid's curiosity and 'invite' him/her to explore the materials on his own. On top of that, I usually laminate or use velcro dots on the materials so that Xue can work on them as many times he wants. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking. Here's a photo the invitations to play on our shelf this month.



1) Color Sorting Worms in Holes

2) Counting Spots on Ladybugs

3) Shapes Sorting Butterfly
*Drum rolls* Sharing this resource that I created for the first time!! If you like to make this too, you can download the file here.

4) Learn to Count Butterflies to Flowers

5) Sorting the Colors of the Bugs
Counting Chip Printable from Intentional by Grace

6) Pre-writing Insects to their Food
Another printable I created, you download it here.

7) Books on Creepy Crawlies and Insects

8) Bugs Sorting Busy Bag - I forgot to take a photo of this but I bought this busy bag from Curious Minds Busy Bags. Here's a photo from the shop. It's pretty difficult to buy insects manipulatives in low quantities and I was happy to find this busy bag. To top it off, it came with a sorting case too!

That's all for Part 1. Will be back with Part 2 to share about all the crafty Creepy Crawlies activities!

DIY Toilet Rolls Cars - Vroom Vroom!

I love a good craft activity especially one that uses waste materials found at home. This is one that I have bookmarked a while ago and finally got down to doing with Xue. Finally I'm making good use of the toilet paper rolls that I have been secretly stashing away for awhile. lol. First we used them for stamping wheels, now we are going to make some paper cars!

This activity is done in two sessions.

Session 1: We painted three toilet rolls together and let them dry overnight.

Then at night, I prepared the materials for the activity basket.

1) Cut out some circles using heavy weight yardstick paper and poke a hole in the middle for the pipe cleaners to go through. For young tots like Xue who is still developing his fine motor skills, make bigger holes. If your kid has pretty good fine motor skills, then smaller holes may be fun as they try to get the pipe cleaners through the holes.
2) Poke 4 holes on each toilet paper roll at where the wheels will be attached. Same thing, big holes for young tots. Cut out a 3 by 3cm square on each roll for the car seat.
3) I got number 1 to 3 stickers for numbering his cars.
4) I cut some pipe cleaners to approximately 12cm long. $2 from Daiso! Keep them short, as shorter pipe cleaners are easier to handle for young tots.

Session 2:
Xue pasted the numbers on the cars first. Then I showed him the holes on the rolls and wheels and how to poke a pipe cleaner through the toilet rolls first. Young tots will definitely need some help here to get the pipe cleaners through the toilet rolls. After which, we put the wheels through the pipe cleaners. I completed the last part of twirling the pipe cleaners into circles to secure the wheels.

This is not the easiest activity for my 26 months old tot. There were times when he just couldn't get the pipe cleaners through, got frustrated and didn't want to try anymore. That's when I enlarged the holes and encouraged him to try again. After a few attempts, he got the pipe cleaners through and he was really pleased! Good job for persevering little buddy!

Sticks and paper cups

Another simple activity to share! Preparation time was less than 5 minutes, just cut some holes in a paper cup and materials used are minimal: a paper cup, some sticks or straws (and for the nth time I'm saying this, I got the wooden sticks from Daiso a.g.a.i.n. How can I live without Diaso?!)

I showed Xue how to insert the sticks and/or straws through the holes and he got interested in it immediately. This activity kept him busy for a good 10 to 15 minutes. I kept the stuffs on his shelves for two days so that he could go back to the activity as he wished. The straws were introduced on the second day as a different element to get his attention back on the activity again.

You can see in the last photo, he got bored with the task eventually and he decided that pouring everything into the cup and then back into the container was more fun!

Frootloops fun!

Sorry to all frootloops lovers, but I just got to say that these colourful stuffs taste so weird! I got a small box to try while searching for more breakfast options for Xue but I didn't even offer any to Xue to eat because they taste weird and too hard. Xue caught me opening the box and was instantly locked on to them. We ended up having some impromptu fun messing with these frootloops. Initially Xue transferred the frootloops from bowl to bowl. Then he got a little excited and swept them around his table and onto the floor.

He looked like he was having such a good time, so I didn't stop him and just let him do whatever he wanted. Besides, it was a good way to get him to remain on his high chair and finish his lunch which is like the hardest thing to do these day. Honestly, I'm at wits ends try to get my tot to sit down and finish his lunch, any tips fellow mums?

Craft pom poms

Sometimes the simplest stuffs makes the best toys for children. Like these craft pom poms, Xue has been playing with them for more than three months (and counting) but because there are many ways to use them in activities, he hasn't got bored of them yet. They beat many fanciful and expensive toys hands down. I bought these pom poms from Daiso, just $2 per pack. So.worth.it. Here are some activities we have done so far with pom poms.

When he was younger and he was learning how to pick things up, these pom poms were perfect to develop his fine motor skills. He would pick them up one by one, explored the texture and dropped them into small containers like the ice cube trays or Vitagen bottles. There was a day that he was very intrigued by these 'hairy pom poms', he sat down for a long time to pluck out the 'hair' of one pom pom. That one pom pom is all bald now!

Next, I gave him a little ice cube spade for him to learn scooping. Whenever he mastered a skill, I have to be quick enough to anticipate what he wants to learn next and switch things around. So when he was confident with using a spade, I gave him a Chinese soup spoon. He's getting quite good with it now and he can scoop up the pom poms one by one and transfer them to another container.

Looks like I need to increase the difficulty of the task soon, maybe giving him a smaller spoon or a pair of tongs. Maybe these pom poms will come in handy many years later when he's learning how to use chopsticks too!