Children can use a variety of craft materials -- paper, glue, craft sticks, wiggly eyes, and bright neon paint or markers -- to create their own firefly. Modeling an age-appropriate sample picture of a firefly from books such as Eric Carle's The Very Lonely Firefly, the children can create their firefly with stick bodies and paper wings. The fireflies can be displayed on a classroom bulletin board or taken home.
Most preschoolers enjoy chasing, catching, or examining bugs. A bug collection or bug home can be created in the classroom as a whole class project. The teacher would need to provide a clear jar with small breathing holes at the top of the jar lid and one to two fireflies. Have the children gather materials needed to create a natural habit for the firefly such as sticks, grass, and leaves during a nature walk outside. The children can take turns placing the materials in the jar and caring for the fireflies throughout the day. Remind the students that the bug home is temporary and the fireflies need to be released after they have examined them.
Fireflies are not an edible treat but a representation of a firefly on a rice cereal bar can be delicious. The children can all play a role in this quick no-bake project. Have them each draw a firefly on card-stock paper and then cut it out. Their drawing becomes the stencil used to cut out a firefly-shaped rice cereal bar. The children can also decorate their own firefly using frosting or dipping them in chocolate and sprinkles.
Children love to wear t-shirts with silly characters or bright colors. After learning about fireflies, they can make their own glow-in-the-dark T-shirt to showcase their knowledge. The teacher would stencil a picture of a firefly on each dark-colored shirt prior to the project. Then each child can use fabric puff paint to trace the stencil and fill in the firefly's abdomen with glow-in-the-dark fabric paint.