Book Unit: 10 Little Ladybugs

10 Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth is one of our family’s favorite books. Treyton fell in love with it by the time he was 2, and asked to read it every night, over and over and over again. Tim and I had it memorized well before Alexa was ever born.

We turned this book unit in to a small study on bugs. I bought the kids a ladybug land from insect lore and also got some caterpillars to watch turn into butterflies. Hands-on, real-life experiences are priceless!!

After watching our larva turn into ladybugs, we let them go in our garden. Because we learned that ladybugs are friendly garden creatures.

We did the same with our butterflies but instead of releasing them near our vegetable garden, where they might lay their eggs, we decided to release them by our flower garden, where they would have lots of nectar to eat!

     

Butterfly Footprint Crafts

One of our favorite crafts with this book was a foot print butterfly. Each of the kids (even Audrey) made one.

 

Counting

10 Little Ladybugs introduces counting backwards from 10. I had Lexie put together her number puzzle a couple of times with Treyton’s help on numbers 10-20.

The Letter Ll

Alexa is learning how to write the letter L, mostly the lower case letter l. She prefers to write on a dry erase board, which works for me. She actually does a really good job writing. Like her big brother Treyton…. lots and lots of practice is what she needs! And lucky for her, she likes it!She is so proud of her work!

Ladybug Finger Print Craft

Lexie made an absolutely adorable ladybug fingerprint picture. I showed her how to draw grass (with a light green color), she finished coloring it (with the dark green).

I also told her how to draw a sun, which she did on her own. We then added in red fingerprints, with black spots.

She is such a self-motivated, independent student, a true joy to teach.

Go-Along Books

We read lots of scientific bug books to go-along with our bug studies:

• Why Don’t Worms Have Legs? by Jenny Vaughn
• Leaping Grasshoppers by Meish Goldish
• Bug Butts by Dawn Cusick
• Ladybugs: Red, Fiery and Bright by Mia Posada
• The Three Grasshoppers by Francesca Bosca
• Life Cycles: Grasshoppers by Robin Nelson
• Grasshoppers by Margaret Hall (A Pebble Plus Book)

A fun unit, that both of the kids enjoyed. I kept hoping to go more in depth with Treyton on the topic of bugs, but we ended up focusing on toads, frogs and then other nature topics. God is in control, so I know that the kids learned what they needed to for now.

To find more fun bug unit ideas and links visit my bug unit pinterest board.