The Bug Garden
In the garden, each station is a bug's home and children move like that bug: the ant crawls under the branches, the grasshopper hops leaf to leaf, the caterpillar rolls, the ladybug crosses the stem, the spider climbs its web and the bee carries pollen to the flower. Children freely choose which home to visit.
How to play
- The teacher introduces the garden: ant (sticks on cones to crawl under), grasshopper (hoops), caterpillar (mats to roll on), ladybug (gym bench), spider (stacked mats to climb on all fours) and bee (toss pollen balls into a flower made from a large hoop) (2 min).
- Everyone goes together from home to home, copying each bug as the teacher models it (3 min).
- Open garden: each child picks a home and switches whenever they like, avoiding long lines (5 min).
- Rain in the garden! Everyone hurries to shelter under the giant leaf (a parachute held by two adults); when the sun comes out, they go back to the bug homes (3 min).
- Finish as butterflies: fly slowly around the garden and land sitting on a flower (2 min).
Rules
- At each home, move like that bug.
- If a home is full, find another one.
- Go under the ant's branches on your tummy without touching.
- When it rains, everyone to the leaf.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, use four homes (ant, grasshopper, caterpillar and bee) with the teacher at the balance stations.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, open all six homes with free choice.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, each child must visit all six homes and marks each with a sticker on a six-bug card.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the child is the queen bee who receives the pollen at the flower, or does the homes they can on the floor with support.
- Autism: let the child repeat a favorite home as often as they like and preview the rain with a card.
- Visual impairment: a different sound at each home (bell, maraca, clapping) to find the way.
Learning goals
- Explore different ways of moving by imitating animals.
- Decide which station to go to and when to switch.
- React to a signal and regroup safely.
Equipment for a class of 25
- picas: 3
- conos: 6
- aros: 6
- colchonetas: 5
- banco sueco: 1
- pelotas: 10
- aro grande: 1
- paracaídas de juego: 1
Teacher tip
Space the stations out so free movement doesn't cause collisions. Sticks just resting on the cones. If you don't have a parachute, the leaf can be an area marked with rope.
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