Find a book about ladybugs to share with your toddlers. "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle is a good choice if you want a fiction book. For nonfiction, try "Ladybugs: Red, Fiery, and Bright" by Mia Posada or "Are You a Ladybug?" by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries.
For the craft, you'll need a large red circle for a ladybug body and a smaller black one for the head, one of each per child. Each child will also need glue and some small black circles.
Materials needed for the snack activity are one rice cake per child, strawberry or raspberry jelly or fruit spread, and chocolate chips or raisins.
Begin the lesson by gathering the students around you for a story. Tell them that you are going to be reading them a book about a kind of insect. Show them the picture of a ladybug on the cover of the book and ask if anyone knows its name. Then read the book you have chosen, showing the pictures to the students and discussing them as you go. If you have been teaching about insects, you might point out the characteristics that make ladybugs insects, such as having six legs.
After you have read and discussed the book, let the toddlers make their own ladybug. Give each toddler a large red circle and a smaller black one. Show them how to glue the black circle to the top of the red one to make the ladybug's body and head. Then give them some small black circles to glue on the red body for the spots. You can also use black dot stickers for the spots. The finished ladybugs would make cute bulletin board display.
Finish the lesson by making a ladybug snack. Before you plan for the snack, check to make sure none of your students have food allergies.
To make the ladybugs, give each student a rice cake and then help spread strawberry or raspberry jelly over the rice cake. You might put a spoonful of jelly on each rice cake and give the students plastic spoons to spread it with or you can just go around and spread it on yourself, if you're worried about making too much of a mess. Next, give the students raisins or chocolate chips and let them put them on their ladybug snack for the spots. Now the insects are ready to be eaten.
Whether this lesson is taught as a part of an insect unit or as a stand-alone, these ladybug activities will make learning fun for toddlers.