Bugs in Classrooms

When we asked the children what they would like to learn about, many said minibeasts, little creatures and insects. We therefore delivered three weeks of ‘Bugs in Classrooms’ work to the whole school.

Each class focused on one insect and completed a range of activities to learn in detail about the life cycle and habitat of that insect. The children also worked with Tan Draig, creative practitioner, to make some huge ‘bugs’!

Class 1 learnt about bees and made some giant bees! Class 2 focused on spiders and made a giant web complete with giant spiders. In Class 3 the children explored the lifecycle of ladybirds and made a huge ladybird which the children could sit on in their role play area. Children in Class 4 made giant butterflies whilst in Class 5 the children were fascinated by the life of dung beetles and as well as making life-size beetles they also made huge balls of poo! In Class 6 children made very long worms and each child made a wormery to provide a home to some worms. Class 7 was dominated by a very tall termite mound made by the children as they explored the lives of ants.

Over two days, all children spent time in each classroom to learn about the different insects and to undertake a range of art and science activities.

The work culminated with a whole school dressing up day when the school was full of spiders, bees, butterflies and ladybirds! Other costumes included caterpillars, a daddy long legs, a praying mantis and some flies!

Tan Draig transformed the hall into ‘The Undergrowth’ using some of the huge sculptures and models created by the children. Every child thoroughly enjoyed exploring ‘the undergrowth’ and completing different challenges whilst in costume, eg, crawling through webs carefully without making the bells ring, finding worm eggs, working out how to use a pulley to get the bee to the nectar, throwing beanbags into the termite mound and making a ladybird fly.

Parents were also invited into school to explore ‘The Undergrowth’ with their children and to see some of the exciting work completed by the children.

Many children and their families took up the challenge of making a bug hotel at home – these were displayed in school and they looked fantastic ranging from hotels which will attract insects if placed outside, to fantasy hotels complete with swimming pools and bedrooms for the bugs! Every child who participated received a special personalised certificate to recognise their super work.