Nature, Up Close: Mini Beasts Preschool Activities

Follow The Life Cycle.

How does a tiny egg become a butterfly? And what happens before a frog starts hopping around the garden? 

Using life cycle resources like the Butterfly, Frog or Honeybee, children can explore the different stages living things move through as they grow. Encourage children to look closely at what changes along the way. 

Shine A Light On The Details.

Pop the clear resin blocks onto a light table or hold them up near a sunny window. Look closely at the patterns on a beetle’s shell, the shape of an insect’s wings or the fine details of a plant. 

Encourage children to describe what they notice. What colours do they see? Are there any lines, spots or patterns they didn’t notice before? 

Sort, Group & Compare.

Lay a collection of Mini Beasts out together and encourage children to create their own groups. They might sort them by colour, size, number of legs, wings, spots or simply by which creatures look alike. 

Ask your little investigators to explain their choices, including the similarities and differences they’ve found between each tiny creature.

Write A Creative Story.

Pick a favourite specimen and get to know your new little friend. 

Use the Teacher’s Guide to learn more about where it lives, what it eats and some of its interesting features. Children can then turn their discoveries into a colourful fact sheet – or write a short story about a day in the life of their bug friend. 

Draw Your Own Bug.

Bring out the paints, pencils and crayons. Ask little learners to inspect the critters up close, taking notice of the small details first: the legs, wings, antennae, colours, shapes and patterns. Then see if they can recreate their Mini Beast on paper – or, get creative and draw an entirely new Mini Beast of their own. 

Take The Investigation Outside.

When the sun is shining, take the Mini Beasts outside and continue the investigation in the garden. 

Give each child a creature and ask them to think about where it might like to live. Under a leaf? Beside a flower? Somewhere cool and shady? High up in a tree? 

Children can search for possible habitats and compare what they find outside with the specimens in their hands.