Ladybugs! Ladybugs!

Lovely ladybugs!  What’s not to like about ladybugs?  They don’t sting, they eat aphids that harm our gardens and they are as cute as, well, BUGS!  We love ladybugs!  We love them so much we dressed for the occasion!
We had a life-like toy ladybug in our touch box this week.  I used her to explain the different parts of the ladybug and what makes her a beetle and an insect. 

Our non-fiction story was a Shining Nature book called “Fly Way, Ladybug,” by Linda Harley.  This was an excellent book because not only did is explain ladybugs simply enough for my young audience, but it also uses real pictures. 



Ms. Ladybug Mandy
taught class today!

Next we got on your feet to get our wiggles out by singing and flying to this song:

Ladybugs Fly
(Three Blind Mice)
Fly, fly, fly
Ladybugs fly
Fly over here
Fly over there
They fly up high and they fly down low
Around and around and around they go
They fly fast, and they fly-fly slow
Oh, ladybugs fly

We had so much fun we had to do it three times though! 

Next I did a flannel board rhyme about a ladybug who doesn’t have any spots.  Although I found this rhyme online, I adjusted to my liking including adding a sixth spot (I thought we needed symmetry) and a closing verse. 

Little Ladybug – For the flannel board (adding spots as you move through the rhyme)

Little ladybug, oh so cute,
Here's a black spot for your suit.
Now you go and have some fun
With your spot, your very first one.

Little ladybug, oh so cute,
Here's a black spot for your suit.
It's so nice to own a few,
So enjoy these lovely two.

Little ladybug, oh so cute,
Here's a black spot for your suit.
We are very pleased to see
How nice you look with all three.

Little ladybug, oh so cute,
Here's a black spot for your suit.
You might feel that you need more,
So we gladly give you four.

Little ladybug, oh so cute,
Here's a black spot for your suit.
Oh my goodness, sakes alive,
Look at you, you're wearing five!

Little ladybug, oh so cute,
Here's a black spot for your suit.
We gave you one more just for kicks,
You look so lovely with all six!

Little ladybug, oh so cute,
You have six spots on your suit.
You are ready to meet friends and play
Go ahead now, fly away!!!

Next I read the story “The Very Lazy Ladybug,” by Isobel Finn and Jack Tickle.  This is such a cute book and the kids loved helping me name the animals as the ladybug hopped onto each one. 

With my Four Ladybugs puppet from Discount School Supply, we did the following counting rhyme:   

Four Little Ladybugs

Four little ladybugs sitting on a tree
One flew away then there were three
Three Little ladybugs landed on a shoe
One flew away then there were two
Two little ladybugs looking for some fun
One flew away and then there was one
One little ladybug sitting in the sun
She flew away and then there were none

Next each child was given a ladybug cut from red cardstock on a diecut machine.  And we sang this song: 

Little Ladybug
Tune: "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
I have a little ladybug,
ladybug, ladybug
I have a little ladybug,
It's wings are black and red.

See the little ladybug,
Ladybug, ladybug.
See the little ladybug
Flying here and there.

Now it's landing on the ground,
On the ground, on the ground.
Now it's landing on the ground
And crawling everywhere.

We repeated the last verse several times with each child choosing somewhere for the ladybug to land (head, nose, belly, etc.).

Finally, we did this cute little rhyme twice through with our ladybugs:    

A Ladybug

A ladybug crawls up your arm
and sits right on your nose
A ladybug slides down your arm
and hops onto your toes
A ladybug creeps up your leg
and lands upon your knee
Then scurries to your folded hands
and snuggles down to sleep

Along with their pompom ladybug craft, the kids brought home their paper ladybugs and a handout including the rhymes we did with them.

Sources:  Nuttin' But Preschool, Bright Hub, Mama Made It, Activity Idea Place, and “Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep” by Debbie Trafton O’Neal.