Bugs in a Jar!
When I was growing up, my family spent a lot of time in Western PA at my grandparent’s farm. We’d go for weekend visits all throughout the year. One of my favorite things to do in the warmer months was to go outside at dusk at catch lightning bugs in an old pickle or applesauce jar. There’s something magnetic that draws humans to collecting and something particular that draws tiny humans to bugs. In the spirit of this childhood staple my tiny humans created bug in a jar!
Materials:
+ paper
+ pencil
+ eraser
+ sharpie
+ colored pencils
+ paint
To start we talk about and list what makes an insect. In this unit they learn about some key features that seperate insects from things like worms, snails, and spiders. Once our rules have been established - six legs, head, thorax, abdomen, etc - then we brainstorm as many kinds of bugs as possible. We also talk about how in real life the jar is not a permanent home for the bugs- it’s a short term way to observe them. Once we’re finished they need to be released.
They head from the carpet to their seats and we get started. Below are my directed drawing instructions for a jar. I always go step by step, making sure we’re all on the same page before I move from step to step. This sheet includes instructions because I created it for our remote learning posts.
Once the jar is drawn we trace with sharpie so we know our drawing boundaries. Add insects and something to eat and climb on. Once those are all complete, we trace and erase leaving behind a fresh drawing to color in.
Once the insects are colored in we add a horizon line so that our jar isn’t floating in air but sitting on a table. Starting at one side of the paper draw a short straight line from the edge to the jar, skip the jar, and then finish the line from the other side of the jar to the edge of the paper. You can see this line in the photos below if my explanation was confusing.
Our last step throws in a little color theory. Instead of choosing two random colors for above and below the horizon line I ask the tiny humans to choose a warm color and a cool color. We use tempera cakes or faber-castell watercolors.
Enjoy the gallery of past work. Happy making!
