Using a hammer and nail, poke at least ten holes in the lid of an empty plastic peanut butter jar. Have children place a little bit of grass on the bottom of the jar. Screw the lid on the jar. Allow children to decorate the jar with stickers, craft paint and glitter. In the evening, the children can collect fireflies to place in their new firefly jar for observation. Encourage children to release the fireflies after enjoying them for an hour or less.
Paint a craft stick with glow-in-the-dark paint. Once the paint is dry, draw two black spots for eyes and glue on two pieces of yarn or pipe cleaners for antennae. Cut out two ovals from construction paper or wax paper. Glue the ovals to the top of the craft stick to create the firefly's wings. Turn off the lights and let students fly their fireflies around the room.
Hand two sheets of white paper to each child. Instruct the children to fold the two sheets of paper in half, to create a little book. Hand out crayons to the children. On the front of the book, have children draw a picture of a firefly or multiple fireflies. On the inside of the book, have children draw pictures of fireflies and write why they like them.
Have students dip their thumbs into white paint and make two white thumbprints on a piece of black construction paper. Cut silver or gold pipe cleaners into 3-inch pieces. Glue a piece of pipe cleaner between the two thumbprints. Add more fireflies to the picture by repeating the process.
Remove the label from an empty, green plastic bottle. Around the neck of the bottle, wrap a pipe cleaner, leaving two ends standing up to form antennae. Cut out wings from construction paper and glue them to the bottle, holding the bottle length-wise. Place a fluorescent glow stick in the bottle. Turn off the lights and watch the firefly glow.