by Angela Thayer 8 Comments

We are continuing the theme of ladybugs this week by learning about their life cycle. Today, I am sharing with you our ladybug life cycle printables and sensory bin.

To start, I showed my kiddos a ladybug life cycle wheel and explained the stages a ladybug goes through. It’s pretty easy to understand, since they only have 5 stages: eggs, larva, pupa, young ladybug, and adult ladybug. I love this wheel because it gives them a visual of the life cycle.

To put it together, just cut out the two circles. Also cut out the window section on the first page. Then lay them on top of each other. Place a brad in the middle. Then you will be able to spin the bottom circle and see the different pictures in the window.

(I’d like to point out that my kids are on a current tattoo kick…which is why their arms are very colorful!)

To download your copy of the ladybug life cycle wheel, click here —> Ladybug Life Cycle Wheel

For my preschooler, I had him do an activity where he cuts out the life cycle pieces and then glue them in their correct order.  It was a good way for him to practice cutting, gluing, and remembering the order of the life cycle.

You can download your copy of this here —> Ladybug Life Cycle Pieces

To put what we learned into practice, we made a ladybug sensory bin. Here is what we used inside:

I taught them that ladybugs eat aphids, which are small insects that suck juices out of plants. I placed the aphids all around the bin and some next to flowers to show where to find them. We talked about how ladybugs are very helpful in gardens because they eat aphids, which destroy plants. Some ladybugs eat leaves, which is why I there are a few leaves in the bin.

I don’t have too many pictures of them playing with the bin because I was busy playing with them! They liked to pretend to be ladybugs and eat aphids and leaves. They also liked to bury the eggs and aphids for the ladybugs to find.

Then of course, a tornado happened and the ladybug garden was destroyed. 🙂

Lastly, I want to share a couple printables that I put on our bulletin board this week. One is a ladybug fact sheet and the other is a phrase thanking God for making every living creature. That will be our theme as we study bugs and insects this spring.

You can download a copy of these here:

Living Creature Poster

Facts About Ladybugs

And for more ladybug fun, check out these posts!

Ladybug Craft

5 Little Ladybugs Song and Fingerplay

This post is part of the 13 Days of Learning Printables For Kids series. Between May 7th to May 26, 13 of us kid bloggers will be sharing a learning printable with you. There are some pretty fun printables in this series so be sure to check them out!

| Life Over C’s | The Measured Mom | Preschool Powol Packets | Itsy Bitsy Fun |

| The Connection We Share | Teaching Mama | Lovely Commotion |

| 3 Dinosaurs | Edventures With Kids | This Reading Mama | Mama Miss |

| A Moment In Our World | The Mommy Talks | Ingles360 |

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Filed Under: Printables, Science, Spring Activities Tagged With: bugs and insect theme, ladybug