All Things Creepy Crawly
There's usually little love to lose between many adults and insects. On the other hand, kids are fascinated by all things creepy crawly. With the kids natural curiosity of insects growing during this time of year, I thought this is the perfect time to introduce the insects theme.
Here's an Insects themed A3 poster. You'll notice that all the vocabulary consist of this radical 虫, meaning (as you would guess it) "insect". As always, the best way to learn the new vocabulary is to let your child see or touch the real things. As you probably don't have a centipede or scorpio lurking in your backyard (not that I would recommend touching them either), you may need a trip to a special pet store, a local zoo, or a special Animal Planet episode of creepy crawlies. As I do not like bugs, I have found some small toy insects at a one dollar store as my teaching aids for this theme. You can also find the insects themed flashcards here to practice the new vocabulary.
An insects theme can be so much fun. You can just send your child on a "bug watch" with a magnifying glass and a bug jar. Don't forget to remind your child not to touch insects that sting. My kids found a ladybug and a snail last time, and they spent hours watching them in a ventilated bug jar.
If you're squeamish about bugs, you can make some (cute) insects instead. I've created a "Crafts: Insects 昆蟲" Pinterest board where you can find many fun insect themed craft ideas.
We saw a mantis once in a park and my daughter was fascinated by its movements. So I thought it would be fun to have an insect themed movement activity too. Print out this "Creepy Crawly Dice" template, cut it out, and tape it into a dice. You may want to glue the template onto a card board before cutting it out, so the dice will be sturdier and hence last longer. You can show your child how the insects move (some suggestions below), or you can ask them to show you how they think the insects move first. It can be a silly and funny activity. Then you can take turn to roll the dice and move like the bug facing up.
Move slowly like a snail.
蝸牛慢慢行。
wo1 ngau4 maan6 maan6 hang4
Crawl like a centipede.
蜈蚣爬爬吓。
ng4 gung1 paa4 paa4 haa5
Jump like a grasshopper.
草蜢紮紮跳。
cou2 maang5 zaak3 zaak3 tiu3
Wiggle like an earthworm.
蚯蚓蠕蠕動。
jau1 jan5 jyu4 jyu4 dung6
Flap like a butterfly.
蝴蝶飛呀飛。
wu4 dip6 fei1 aa3 fei1
Buzz like a bee.
蜜蜂嗡嗡叫。
mat6 fung1 jung1 jung1 giu3
We also have two songs about bugs. Go to my Cantonese Nursery Rhymes page and look up these two songs: 小蜜蜂 and 點蟲蟲. If you're not familiar with the melody of the song 點蟲蟲, this YouTube video may be helpful (note: the video shows an extended version of the song).
