Not too long ago, I was watching a segment of one of our local morning talk shows. A representative from The Cleveland Metro Parks Zoo was talking about some of the educational activities hosted by the zoo. Lady Bug Rocks was one of these activities. I immediately thought that it would be a super companion activity to the Sock Walk I do with my students since ladybugs are found in abundance in our local natural habitats. We've seen them on every Sock Walk we've ever taken.
Materials:
- somewhat round, flat rock collected on a nature walk
- red and black tempera paint
- paint brushes
- black felt
- black pipe cleaners
Procedure:
- Clean and dry the rock
- Paint the rock red and black to resemble the body of a ladybug.
- Cut out small circles from the black felt and glue them onto the back of the painted rock. These are the spots on a ladybug's back.
- Cut two pieces of pipe cleaner approximately three inches long.
- Curl the ends of the pipe cleaner to resemble antennae.
- Glue the antennae to the head of the ladybug.
- Have the students research ladybugs and write an expository paragraph about them, OR
- Have them draw a diagram of a ladybug labeling body parts, OR
- Have them write a story from their newly created ladybug's point of view, incoprorating specific facts about ladybugs, OR
- Have them write a paragraph discussing superstitions and old wives' tales regarding ladybugs.
As an additional or alternative activity, students can create other insects from rocks they have collected. Perhaps they may see other beetles on their own walk and wish to recreate these.
