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Bug theme for 3 and 4 year olds: a week of activities

A bug theme lesson plan for 3 and 4 year olds: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (ten to fifteen minutes, with a child holding the book), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for 3 and 4 year oldsThe whole bug week

A day of the bug theme with 3 and 4 year olds

  1. Arrival, sign-in, and a job from the helper chart.
  2. Circle (ten to fifteen minutes): calendar, “How many legs does an ant have?”, sing “itsy bitsy spider”, then Ants Are Strong.
  3. Centers, with the craft at one table: egg-carton caterpillar.
  4. Letter B: trace it once, then hunt for B around the room.
  5. Snack: Ants on a Log, with children pouring and counting.
  6. Outside: bug hunt.
  7. Rest, then a longer read-aloud: Who Lives Under the Log?.

Bug circle time

  1. Good morning song, then say each name together.
  2. Calendar: the day, the date and the weather.
  3. Ask: “How many legs does an ant have?”
  4. Sing: Itsy Bitsy Spider.
  5. Read: Ants Are Strong (level 3).

Threes and fours: ten to fifteen minutes; let a child hold the book.

Bug theme books

  • Ants Are Strong (level 3, free on peabody.kids): True facts about ants, for the fours.
  • I See a Boy (level 3, free on peabody.kids): A boy, the animals and the bees.
  • Go, Snail, Go! (level 3, free on peabody.kids): A slow snail, for the bug hunt.
  • Who Lives Under the Log? (read aloud, level 5): A read-aloud: true facts about what lives under a log.

Bug craft: Egg-carton caterpillar

You need (4): a strip of egg carton (grown-up cuts), paint, pipe cleaners, sticker eyes.

  1. Paint the carton strip.
  2. Push in two pipe-cleaner feelers (a grown-up helps).
  3. Add the eyes and count the body parts.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Bug song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

The words

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the waterspout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.

Traditional; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Bug snack

Ants on a Log from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Swap: Peanut butter → sunflower seed butter.

Letter B activities

BbB is for bug. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Threes and fours: trace B and b once, then find B in the room and in the book.

Outside activity: Bug hunt

Look under a log or a stone with a grown-up. Look, count and put it back. Never take a bug home.

Bug theme for toddlersBug theme for 2 year oldsBug theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30