Preschool at Home, Day Two - Ants

Black ant picture source: Dylan O'Donnell

Day two of PAH was all about ANTS! It was a great second day because Jack had a classmate, his cousin Max. We decided to go to my sister's house for a visit that day and include Max in our plans for the day. Jack loved having Max do preschool with him, although I think he enjoyed having an audience for his little comedian act most. He was in a silly mood and whenever I would ask him a question his answer was "Bologna Sandwich!" Ahhhhh. Patience.

Educational but Fun Movie - We started the morning at home watching The Magic School Bus "Bugs, Bugs, Bugs" dvd segment on Ants, called "Gets Ants in Its Pants." It is all about the life cycle of an ant and how industrious they are, which was a great segway into our bible verse for the day, Proverbs 6:6, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."

Activity - Next we made a homemade ant farm using a mason jar. You put a smaller covered bottle or jar (like an olive or caper bottle) inside the mason jar and fill up halfway with sand and then the rest of the way with soil around the smaller jar. Jack decorated a black piece of construction paper using a white crayon to make it look like a house with windows and a door, and made a matching roof. Tape your paper around the jar to so it stays dark and then go searching for ants! Once you add your ants to the jar, place a small square of a sponge soaked in water in the top of the jar (or you can use a cotton ball) and add a few drips of honey. Cover with the lid (punch air holes in first) and then secure the paper roof with a rubber band. This was really fun and easy to make. Then we headed to Max's house for the rest of the day. Arts & Crafts - We made paper ants using these instructions and this pattern out of black construction paper, black pipe cleaners and googley eyes.
Max was very excited to use glue to put the eyes on.
Jack and Max learned the three different parts of an ant's anatomy - head, thorax and abdomen. My cute little niece Addie just sat and listened. She liked school too.

Counting Game - Next we did a little counting game with rocks. I gave the boys little circles with numbers and a small plastic bowl with little rocks and had them count out the number of rocks to correspond with the numbers written on each circle. This was supposed to be in six cup muffin pans but I couldn't find any and I thought a 12 cup muffin pan was too big and bulky. They enjoyed counting AND playing with the rocks.
Field Trip - We went on an ant hunt outside which turned out to be more difficult than I imagined. The ants were all hiding.
Jack and Max had fun looking through the magnifying glass.
More Arts & Crafts - We drew an ant hill on brown butcher paper, colored ziti pasta brown to resemble tunnels, and stamped ants using the eraser end of a pencil and a black ink pad.
Story Time - We all cuddled in Max's bed to read "I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track." Even Addie loved it.
Play Time - A trip to Fox Park near Max's house completed the day. The boys loved the fish pond just as much as the park itself.
Day Two was another success.