Bug Day

I love being a mother and I enjoy teaching. I also love how these two roles go hand-in-hand. As a friend told me recently, it is so rewarding to see your child do or say something and know that you taught him or her that.

One of my goals as a mom is to spend quality, intentional time with both kids every day. As a way to accomplish this goal in a fun/unique way, my sister and I started theme days. We decided to plan at least one theme day a month and hopefully two.

Our first theme was bugs. It was an all-around success! I don't know who had more fun, the kids or the adults.

We started the day by reading a book about bugs.


After that, Sophie and Ori made a butterfly out of their hand prints. They were precious, and Ori's masterpiece is now hanging proudly from the fridge.


The kids and I headed outside on a bug hunt while Sharla stayed inside with the babies. Even though we only found a roly poly, ants, and a June bug, the kids had a blast. Sophie was really into the bug hunt and was in charge of the bug container. Ori just liked being outside and playing/digging in the mud.


Like his bug shirt? Perfect attire for the day.


Lunch was next on the agenda. Ori and Sophie painted bread with melted butter and food coloring to form butterfly wings. This was Ori's first time to use a paint brush and he smiled from ear to ear. I think he might be artistic like his daddy.


The finished product:


Sophie was such a dainty painter. She was very careful and did not appreciate when Ori dipped his paint brush in more than one color and it mixed them. Oops. We will have to work on that.


Sharla and I served ladybug cupcakes for dessert. Sophie was delighted.


Bug day concluded with more books and a shaving cream activity. The kids pushed plastic bugs through the shaving cream, Sophie wrote a "B," and they basically just had fun playing.


And last but not least, a picture of our precious butterfly babies (and Sophie).




Since Bug Day, every time I say the word "bug" or point out a bug in a book, Ori gets a cute little smirk on his face. It makes me smile to know that he enjoyed the day and maybe learned something too.

We are planning a Flower Day in May and I can't wait!

NOTES:
If you are thinking about doing theme days, here are a few things that I found helpful.

1. Use the site No Time for Flash Cards for ideas. It has crafts, songs, and other preschool activities on it and makes searching easy. I probably spent 30 minutes max planning my portion of Bug Day. It was not time consuming at all.
2. Do it with a friend. Not only did we split the work, but we also had an entire day together. It was fun spending time with my sister and nieces and Ori really likes playing with Sophie.
3. HAVE FUN and know that it is okay to make messes. Yes, Ori still has food coloring stains on his hands and legs. Yes, he got marker on his cute bug shirt (it will come out). And yes, I dropped the bowl of chocolate cake batter all over the kitchen floor. But it was worth it.