Lucky Ladybugs

Lucky Ladybugs

Story

Are you a Ladybug? By Judy Allen & Tudor Humphries

Song/Activity

Ladybug, Ladybug
Don’t fly away
Your home is my garden
I want you to stay
With your eggs
And your babies
This bright sunny day
Stay in my garden
Where we can play.

Show and Tell

Use a ladybug puppet and ask children to count the ladybug’s dots. Explain that ladybugs are important to controlling pests in gardens. They are what we call “good bugs” because they eat the “bad bugs” that make our plants sick. Ladybugs are thought to bring good luck. During the activity you will look for lucky ladybugs. Then we will make a lucky ladybug for you to take home.

Parent/Child Activity: Ladybug hunt

Use bug cubes or collection jars to collect ladybugs and other critters. Share your find with others in class. Release the ladybug back where you found it so it can keep eating those bugs.

Craft: Lucky Ladybugs

Materials

  • Small red paper plates or red construction paper cut out into circles
  • Ink stamp pads
  • Crayons or markers
  • Strips of black construction paper
  • Glue stick

Ask the children to make dots on their ladybug with their thumbprints. Give each child 6 strips of paper and a glue stick. Ask them to add the legs wherever they like. Have the child count the number of dots they made. Ask the adult to write this number on the back of the ladybug creation.

Snack: Edible Ladybugs

Provide crackers, strawberry cream cheese, cheese spread, or peanut butter, raisins, and string cheese or string licorice (for legs). Ask children to create a ladybug. Or serve orange slices and explain that ladybugs keep aphids off of orange trees.

Reference:

Ladybugs – Teacher’s Guide – Pre-K to 1st, by Lawrence Hall of Science University of California, ISBN 0-912511-86-9

Activities provided by:

Polk County Conservation Board
Ginny Malcomson
Nature Tots is funded by Polk County Conservation Board, West Des Moines Park and Recreation, and the Des Moines Chapter of the Izaak Walton League.

Age:
_ 0-1
_ 1-2
_ 2-3
✓ 3-4
_ 4-5
_ 5-6

Category: Adult-Child

Time:
1 hour

Season:
spring, summer

Iowa Early Learning Standards:
8.2, 9.1, 9.2, 9.4, 10.3, 11.1, 11.2, 12.1, 12.4, 12.5, 13.1, 13.2, 14.3

Related Kindernature Resources: