Purchase a large bag of toy bugs that are big enough to hide around a backyard, but not small enough for a child to put in their mouth. Pair up preschoolers with a friend and tell them that you have hidden a bunch of bugs around the garden or yard. Give each pair a colored pail or basket and let them run around the open space as fast as they can, searching for bugs. Let them know they only have a designated amount of time to find these bugs. Time the kids with a stop watch. Countdown when they only have 10 seconds left. The team that finds the most bugs the fastest wins a prize.
The Queen Bee game is a version of "duck, duck, goose" with a more active and educational spin. Review with kids what the queen bee does in a hive of bees. Have kids sit in a circle and choose one child to be the queen bee. The queen bee walks around the circle, tapping random kids. As she taps the child, she should say "buzz, buzz." The children who have received a tap must follow her as she makes her way around the circle. At any moment the queen can yell, "Go make honey!" When this happens, the kids, including the queen bee, have to quickly find a spot to sit down within the circle. The odd person out is the new queen bee.
Create several brightly colored paper butterfly cut-outs. Make half as many as there are children. Cut each paper butterfly in half down the middle. Review with kids the stages of how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Another idea is to ask the children to act the metamorphosis out. Give each child half of a butterfly at random. Have them run around the room, trying to find the child that has their matching half. Once a pair of children find each other and make a complete butterfly, they yell, "Butterfly!" The first few pairs to finish get prizes.