Now that it is Spring time, what do students want to learn about? …Bugs! Butterflies and ants are my personal favorites but every child finds insects to be so fascinating, especially when they can see them up-close.

My school is surrounded by nature. We have a garden and an empty lot nearby with an abundance of wildlife in it. Many of the boys like to go hunting for grasshoppers. (I guess that grasshoppers are their favorite insects). When they bring them back to school, they go straight into my science-drawer for my bug containers and magnifying glasses.

How do I make bug containers? Any transparent container that I come across, I never throw them away. I peel the labels off, wash them out, and reuse them as bug containers. I cut out some pieces of mesh material and keep them in my science-drawer along with rubber-bands so that the students can cover each container with something that will prevent insect suffocation.

Containers like these, as long as they are transparent, never throw them away.

Commercially made bug containers and handling sets are also available like the ones seen below:

Don’t forget to keep the insect books handy!

 This book is such a classic that there are lots of free printables from TpT (see two examples above) that you can use with your students for integrating math and ELA into your insect theme. 

Other Eric Carle Insect books are below: