Conezio and French say that preschool students are biologically prepared to learn about the world around them. Children learn best when they have the opportunity to practice new content with meaningful activities, they write. After teaching students the characteristics of an insect, allow them to use this knowledge. Children can race to identify insects and non-insects. Create a T-shaped diagram at the front of the classroom. One side should say "insect," and the other side should say "non-insect." Have several small pieces of paper with animals---some insects and some not---printed on them. Give each student a certain number of animals. After yelling "Go!" students can run to the diagram and tape their animals onto the appropriate side of the diagram. To make the game more durable, laminate the diagram and the pieces and use Velcro pieces to attach the pieces to the diagram. Discuss the diagram with the students after the game. See how many students are correctly able to identify which animals are insects.
Instead of playing pin the tail on the donkey, students can play pin the spots on the ladybug. This twist on the classic party game works well for an insect-themed birthday party. Draw a large, red ladybug without spots on a white sheet of paper. Cut black circles out of construction paper. Stick double-sided tape on the spots, blindfold the children and encourage them to see if they can stick the spots on the ladybug.
Teachers can make matching ladybug cards to improve preschooler's math skills. Create several pairs of matching ladybugs. Each pair should have the same number of spots. Different pairs, however, should have different numbers of spots. After mixing up the cards, allow students to match the ladybug pairs. See which students can find the most matches. Older students can find matches based on an addition or subtraction. For instance, the teacher could say, "Find three plus one," and the students would search for the ladybugs with four spots.