It's Ladybug Time

Whether you are closing out the school year or just looking for a fun summertime activity for your kids, ladybugs are perfect!

I started out by reading The Grouchy Ladybug, by Eric Carle.  I also shared my U.K. version on the book which was renamed The Bad Tempered Ladybird.  I picked up a copy while in the U.K. many years ago and was fortunate enough to have Eric Carle sign it while at a book signing here in California.

The kids loved comparing this to The Grouchy Ladybug.

We hatched ladybugs in my classroom this year and released the adult ladybugs into our organic, edible garden.

Then, we made ladybug paperweights:

Each one turned out a little different. 

We started with a bag of rocks from the Dollar Store.  You can also find really nice round river rocks at your local home improvement store.

We base coated them with white acrylic paint and then, when they were dry, we painted them with red acrylic paint.  We let them dry and then we wrote the children's names on the bottom with a black fine tip marker.

We worked on laminated construction paper mats.

Each child painted a semi circle for the head with black acrylic paint and added a stripe down the back.  That made it look like it has two red wings.

We used the tip of the paintbrush handle to make the poke-dots.

Once it dried, we gave it a coat of Mod Podge and used white glue to attach two google eyes.

We finished up by reading Ladybug Girl at the Beach, by Jacky Davis.  She has written a few Ladybug Girl books.  :)