Bug Activities for Kids

Insect Inspections Sensory Bin

April 8, 2016August 14, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

The other day we played around with a spaghetti bug bin that was an absolute blast! It was so much fun that my kids have been begging me to do another insect sensory bin with them. While they would have loved to do the spaghetti one again, I needed to find a use for all this pink crinkle paper shred (is that what you would call this?). And so the Insect Inspections Sensory Bin came to be. Gotta love playful excuses to recycle!

Insect Inspections Sensory Bin

Plus it is always a fun challenge to find ways to incorporate the same toys into different sensory bins! We had so much fun with this it would be a close call in deciding which sensory bin we enjoyed more!!

Bug Bin: A Simple Slimy Sensory Bin

April 8, 2016August 5, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

My kids have always had a certain fascination with bugs while I myself am not a huge insect person. Certain things such as raising butterflies are a lot of fun, but up close interactions with bugs beyond that is just not something I can handle without my skin crawling. This Insect Sensory Bin was a fun way for us to explore the fascination of slimy creepy crawlers without me actually having to handle live bugs. A happy middle ground for us!

Bug Bin! A Simple Slimy Sensory Bin

Sensory Bins are one of my kids favorite activities, and quite honestly I love them too. They are simple to throw together and can usually entertain kids for quite some time. They are also a fantastic tool for imaginative play, fine motor, and language development. Activities such as this insect sensory bin are extremely open ended and easy to modify to your child’s developmental level and needs.

Butterfly Life Cycle Observation Experiment

April 8, 2016June 8, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

Butterfly Life Cycle for Kids: There is something absolutely magical about Butterflies. Over the last month we have been observing the life cycle of caterpillars into Painted Lady Butterflies from a kit that Insect Lore sent us for review. We had way too much fun with this simple observation experiment. Here is what we experienced and discovered (plus free printables and lesson ideas)!

Butterfly Life Cycle Unit for Kids

When our package arrived all the kids got super excited. This has been something they have been asking to try for awhile now. The entire experiment took us about three weeks.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Puzzle

March 8, 2025May 17, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Puzzle: Bring this classic Eric Carle book to life with this delightful DIY puzzle. This is one busy bag your kids will want to play with often!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Puzzle

One of the great things about this busy bag puzzle is that it can easily be recreated to go with any book your child loves, is a fun upcycle, and it can be tailored to the complexity that your child needs! Adventures in a Box created one to go with Good Night, Good Night Construction Site that we just adore!

Since we are just starting to really explore puzzles with Meatball I kept our caterpillar puzzle on the simple end. I am in love with how it turned out!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Lacing Cards

March 8, 2025April 21, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Lacing Cards are an excellent activity for developing fine motor skills, improving hand-eye coordination and concentration, and keeping little kids busy {especially during quiet time}!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar DIY Lacing Cards --A Brilliantly Simple Way to Reuse Your Book Sleeves!
These last couple weeks have been beyond crazy with our move. With chaos fully exploding around us and restless kiddos we have been on the hunt for simple DIY quiet games our kids could create. Before we gave these a try we made some DIY Paint Chip Puzzles that were an absolute hit with the kids for our house hunting road trip. Wanting to expand on some of our easy busy bags before the big move we gave this DIY Lacing Cards a try — they loved them!