Activity Introduction

Quick summary: This activity is designed to get children into the garden and looking at the bugs that can be found in our own backyards. Younger children are asked to identify different creepy crawlies and to think about where they live and what they eat. Older children are asked to describe the bugs they see in detail, using magnifying glasses. All children are then asked to make a bug house to keep bugs in your garden warm in winter and cool in summer.

This activity is designed to help connect children to the wonders of the natural world through sensory and play-based learning.

EYLF Learning Outcome

Elaborations

Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world

3. Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment

Outcome 4: Children are involved and confident learners

1. Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity

2. Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, enquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating

Equipment needed: A garden or yard, magnifying glasses, a box or tub of soil (if digging in your centre garden is not possible), tools for digging (spoons or small spades), Build a bug house instruction sheet, materials for building a bug house – milk cartons or other containers or cardboard rolled into a tube, cardboard, scissors, sticky tape, paint (optional).

Supporting resources:

Other resources:

Cool Australia Presents Biodiversity from Cool Australia on Vimeo.

 

The team at Cool Australia continually reviews and refines our Early Learning resources in line with expert advice and current educational practices.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

Background information:

Many of us get the heebie-jeebies about creepy crawlies. Maybe that’s because there are so many of them. In fact, as a group insects are the most populous animals on Earth: it is estimated that there are 200 million insects for every human on the planet!!!

Fear not, the earth is not in danger of being overrun by bugs. Instead they are actually vital to the healthy functioning of almost every aspect of our natural environment. They work as pollinators, as decomposers, they enrich and aerate the soil, and are a critical part of the food chain, serving as a source of food for all sorts of animals.

All bugs are defined as being 'invertebrates', meaning they have no spine. (Humans and other mammals have a spine and belong to the category 'vertebrates'.) Bugs that you may find in your garden could include:

  1. Insects - Insects are defined as having a body made up of three parts; a head, an abdomen, and a thorax (the bit that lies between the abdomen and the head,
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