Each pupil should get a paper with about six ants printed on it. Each ant should have two writing lines next to it. The top line should have a number from 1 to 6; pupils will print the same number on the bottom line. After they print the numbers, glue the ants on a piece of construction paper. This activity benefits the pupils in many ways, They are writing, learning their numbers, cutting and gluing.
For this project use paper that has blank space at the top and writing lines at the bottom (see Resources). Tell the pupils to draw an ant on the top of the paper. Allow the children to be creative with their drawing and depict the ants as they interpret what an ant does. Then have the children write a sentence or two about what they drew.
The book "One Hundred Hungry Ants" by Elinor J. Pinczes tells a story of ants and a picnic basket. You can have each child draw a picnic basket with ants and draw a few food choices that they would like in their picnic basket. In addition to drawing the food, they should also label it. This exercise gives practice in sounding out words, writing and drawing.
Bring in either ants in a jar or a non-fiction ant book to introduce the insect to the children. After the children have been familiarized with ants, have them think of some descriptive words and phrases about ants. Then have the children jot these words on their own small slate board. After a short time, have all the children hold up the slate boards to show what they wrote. You can also use mini-whiteboards for this activity.