Kids are usually pretty curious about bugs. Even though we tend to want to get rid of them, and keep them away from our kids.

Kids will stop and admire ants in the sidewalk cracks, pick up worms after it rains, and somehow they always spot the tiny bugs we completely miss (and usually want to miss!) and want to bring them inside.

This bug tray is simple that allows your kids to explore bugs in a way you might be more manageable to you.

You can buy a big assortment of plastic bugs and insects to really get their imagination going. Or go on a real nature hunt for real bugs.

Grab a tray (a baking sheet works great),add in some fun things from around the house, like jewels or gems, and shredded paper. Then take the kids on a nature hunt to collect some fun things like rocks, sticks, dirt, and leaves.

Add them all to the tray and scatter the plastic bugs around your collection of items.

That’s all this takes.

From here, its your child’s imagination.

Let Kids Build Small Worlds

For some kids, this is second nature, and they’ll immediately start sorting and exploring, or setting up extravagant scenes.

They might build homes for the bugs, or create hiding spots. Maybe set up some obstacles for the bugs and paths for them to get around in their own little world they’ve created.

Ask them! They may have created a whole story in their heads about what’s going on with these bugs and insects.

If you’re brave enough, you could do this with real bugs outside. I’m not! But you could do a jar of lightning bugs… I can do that!

Questions to Ask During this Bug Small World Play

If your child seems a little unsure of how to play in this bug tray, you can prompt them with some questions. But don’t keep at it if they’re not interested. Just leave it out and let them come back to it later.

• Where do the bugs live?
• What are they building?
• Are the bugs looking for food?
• What do the bugs eat in this world?
• Where do they sleep?
• Do the bugs have a family?
• Are they going on an adventure?
• Can you build a home for the bugs?
• Where does this path lead?
• Do any of the bugs need help?
• Uh oh… I think this bug is lost!
• Oh no! A storm is coming…
• This bug looks hungry.

Don’t take over the play, just give them a tiny nudge to get started.

Sometimes a question is al they’ll need before suddenly they have their entire world figured out. They may just be unsure of what they’re intended to do and might feel silly.

This is partly an art project with a sensory aspect, as well as a good time for a snack!

If you’ve got some berries in the fridge that may be past their prime but you hate to throw them away, this is such a fun way to use them before they go real bad.

Grab the berries, a bowl, or fork or spoon, some paper and paintbrushes!

Let your child mash up the berries in the bowl. Maybe with the fork or spoon, or maybe with their hands!

While they’re doing that, you can set out the paper and paintbrushes.

Then they can start painting to their hearts desire.

Don’t get be wrong, this isn’t going to be a pretty masterpiece to hang on the fridge.

This is all about the process and fun. There’s no wrong way!

Spice it up a bit and bring out some other utensils to paint with. What about the baster brush, or the potato masher? Those might be fun!

Or literally, spice it up! Grab some cinnamon, parsley, or whatever spices you have excess of or might be expiring. Sprinkle it on like glitter!

Bonus, add in a couple of fruits to the berry mix that your child has never tried before, or maybe has turned down in the past. They might just want to explore the food and try it in this context.

If you don’t have berries that can be mashed, you can blend up other fruits in the blender. Or use baby food. There’s no one right way, this is an exploration!

This can get messy though, so prep ahead of time with a tablecloth, a tray, or do this outside on the sidewalk or deck. Then you can just hose it off (the sidewalk too *wink*)

When you need an easy indoor activity that gets your kids moving, this paper plate sock toss is a simple DIY game that helps kids practice their throwing skills, work on hand-eye coordination, and just good fun active play using supplies you’ll likely already have at home. All wins in my book!

Set up the Paper Plate Toss

Cut the center out of a few paper plates. You can do as many as you like, we did three.

Tape, or tie yard to each of the paper plates. And then tape them in an open area to hang them. We used a large doorway.

Roll socks into balls (how else do you fold your socks!?). Or use a soft ball.

Then let the fun begin. Have your kids aim and try to toss the ball through the center, cut out part of the paper plates.

Make it Fun & Challenging!

You can adjust things based on your child’s ability. Adjust the height of the paper plates. Adjust where their throwing line to toss from.

Make it a math game and assign different values to each plate. Have them add them up as they target a number.

Challenge them to how many tosses can they make in a row.

Start up close, and have them step back with every toss they make. How far back can they get?

Try different size sock balls. Is it easier to use the baby’s socks, or dad’s socks?

Let me know how this goes on your next rainy day! Its a pretty easy activity to set up, clean up is easy (maybe beware of what might behind your targets!).

I bet your child will be asking to this one again and again.

Bring nature and art together with this simple sticky collage activity for kids! A vertical nature collage is an easy way to get outside, explore, and create at the same time. Kids can collect leaves, flowers, grass, and other natural treasures to stick onto contact paper and design their own masterpiece.

The best part? The nature hunt becomes part of the fun too!

Supplies Needed

• Clear contact paper
• Nature items
• Tape

How to Make a Vertical Nature Collage

Tape a piece of clear contact paper to a vertical surface, sticky side facing out. A wall, window, fence, or sliding glass door all work well for this activity.

Head outside to collect nature items to add to the collage. Kids can gather leaves, flower petals, sticks, grass, clovers, or anything else they find interesting.

Stick the nature items directly onto the contact paper to create a collage. Once the artwork is finished, place another piece of contact paper over the top to seal everything in place.

Ways to Extend the Activity

Turn the nature hunt into its own activity by giving kids simple challenges while collecting:

• Find 3 green items
• Look for something brown
• Collect something soft
• Find an item with 5 points
• Search for tiny and large items

Older kids may enjoy creating patterns, pictures, or even a mandala design with their nature treasures.

For younger kids, let them explore the sticky contact paper first before introducing the nature items. Simply touching and sticking materials is great sensory play!

Why Kids Love This Activity

This nature activity combines outdoor exploration, sensory play, creativity, and fine motor practice all in one easy setup. Since it’s done vertically, it also helps strengthen shoulder and arm muscles while kids create.

Plus, every collage turns out completely unique depending on what kids discover outside!

This simple science activity is a great way to WOW your kids! This color-changing flower experiment is an easy way to explore how plants absorb water. And plus, you create beautiful rainbow-colored flowers during it!

Kids will love checking in on this science experiment throughout the day to see how the petals of the flowers have changed. It’s a little magical.

Head out to the garden, or local flower shop, and grab some white flowers (carnations work great, daisies do too). And grab some clear jars or drinking glasses, water, and some food coloring of your choice.

Have your child fill the jars with water. Add in 10-15 drops of food coloring in each jar and stir it so it’s mixed.

Trim the stems of the flower so its a fresh cut and so they fit nicely in the jar like you would with a vase. Place one flower in each jar.

Ask your kids what they think is going to happen.

Check in on the flowers throughout the day, every couple of hours. Take photos of the progress, and write down what they observe.

It may take a couple of days for the full effect of the flowers absorbing the colored water. If you’re impatient, you can try carefully splitting the stem in half before placing it in the water. This can help the water move up the stem faster.

Try the walking water experiment next!

Want to make it different the next time you do it?

Split a flower’s stem in half and put half in one color jar and the other half in another. Can you make the flower absorb both colors? What happens? Do the colors mix? Or do they color the flower half and half?

Or try different types of white flowers. Try carnations, daisies, and baby’s breath. How do they absorb differently? Is one faster than another? Does one take on the color better? Experiment to find out!

This is a fun introduction to how flowers and plants absorb water. You can look up the process, the correct terms, and their definitions to understand it more to make it a full science lesson. Or just be amazed at the magical process.

A fun science experiment, but also a great opportunity for kids to practice making predictions (isn’t this called a hypothesis? a scientific thing to do!), observe the changes (the next step in the scientific process?), and it just may trigger some eagerness to learn about how plants grow and absorb their water through the ground.

There are many benefits of activities that teach opposites to preschoolers.

It can help them expand their vocabulary, learn directions, understand how to express feelings and emotions, and so much more.

But simply repeating hot and cold, happy and sad, up and down, and other opposites over and over again can get so boring.

So what is a parent to do?

Here are more than thirty opposite activities for preschoolers that you can try today.

Simple, educational, and the opposite of boring!

Download FREE Week of Activities for Preschoolers! (3-5 year olds)

Opposite Directions Activities for Preschoolers

Up and down. Over and under. In and Out. Left and right. We’ve got you covered with these twelve opposite activities for preschoolers. Get ready to dive in and check them out!

• Hatch your own pop up bird as seen on I Heart Crafty Things. A template is available for purchase if desired. Peek a boo!
• Blast up and down with a rocket found on Arty Crafty Kids. A free template is provided with an email subscription. Up, up, and back down!
• Raid the craft cupboard to make this craft supplies weaving as shown on The Craft Train. Use leftover supplies while practicing over and under!
• Go outside with this opposites preschooler activity and collect items for this nature weaving from Rocket City Mom. Outside, inside, over, and under.
• Grab some paper for a paper weaving found on Kids Activities Blog. Paper is so versatile!
• Construct a paper and yarn weaving as seen on Days with Grey.
• Move a worm in and out with this worm in an apple craft shown on I Heart Crafty Things.
• Catch an insect in this frog toilet paper roll craft as seen on Messy Little Monster. Then spit it back out. Does the frog want the insect in or out of its mouth?
• Do the hokey pokey like Homeschool Preschool. Put your right hand in, take your right hand out. Great gross motor activity for practicing opposites with your preschoolers while getting out the wiggles!
• Jump up and down with this left and right game shown on Childhood 101.
• Play a left, right, up, down activity as seen on Shumee.
• Practice left and right with this painted hands wrapping paper found on Stories of a Shift Working Mom. Perfect for wrapping gifts!

Opposite Feelings Activities for Preschoolers

Feelings can include emotions and textures, right? Happy and sad. Hard and soft. Smooth and rough. Wet and dry. I’m happy to share these six opposite feelings activities for preschoolers. Please don’t be sad when they’re done!

• Smile and frown with this face craft found on East Coast Mommy. How are you feeling today?
• Go on an opposite hunt with this hard vs. soft activity and as seen on TeachersMag.
• Stick your hand in sensory boxes as shown on How We Montessori. A great way to practice many texture opposites!
• Play with oatmeal in these wet and dry oatmeal sensory bins found on Fantastic Fun and Learning. O is for opposites and oatmeal. And sensory bins are great for hands-on learning!
• Feel various objects on a texture collage like the one on The Picky Apple. Soft pom poms, hard buttons, rough sand paper, smooth pebbles, shiny and dull pennies. These are just some items that could be used.
• Talk about big emotions and small emotions with this sticky learning activity seen on I Can Teach My Child.

More Opposite Activities for Preschoolers

Are you looking for even more opposite activities for preschoolers?

Don’t miss the following list of fifteen more fun learning activities you can do at home.

• Taste opposite treats like cold ice cream in a bag as seen on The Best Ideas for Kids with hot chocolate. What about soft and hard pretzels or sweet and sour candies? Opposites are yummy!
• Build short and tall towers without blocks. What other opposites can your preschoolers create in this activity? Wide and narrow, wavy and straight?
• Create a day and night craft as seen on Fun a Day. A great craft for light and dark, too!
• Paint black and white art as shown on Play to Learn Preschool.
• Learn about germs with dirty and clean hands as seen on Adanna Dill. A great way to discuss hand washing!
• Explore dental health with dirty and clean teeth shown on Curious Little Gnomes.
• Practice fine motor skills and full or empty with a pom pom activity found on Super Simple. Click the link to find two more opposite activities to try.
• Stretch a short and long dog as seen on Seasonal Memories.
• Race with a game of red light, green light found on Kids Learning for Life. Fast, slow! Stop, go!
• Expand vocabulary with this possible or impossible activity. Try this activity with other opposites, too.
• Create a little book of opposites as seen on Real Life at Home.
• Play an opposites game found on The Measured Mom. An email is required for the free download.
• Flip some cards to play an opposites memory game shown on Playdough to Plato.
• Match the opposites puzzles available for free on Tot Schooling.
• Use this free opposite words printable from Itsy Bitsy Fun to play even more opposite games.

What activities will you try first and last?

Simple is best, right? Sometimes the simplest of crafts end up being the ones the kids play with the longest.

All you’ll need it two craft sticks and a little glue to create some airplanes for the kids to fly around the house.

Simple glue the craft sticks in a cross shape. Let them dry.

Have your child decorate their airplane with markers, washi tape, stickers, or paint if you have time to let it dry.

Then, its time to fly!

Flying into Pretend Play

This is really all about their imagination. Add in some questions:

• Where are you flying to?
• Who’s on the airplane?
• Are you going on vacation? visiting family? going to work?

The conversations that happen during pretend play can often give you insight into how your child views what’s going on around them. Plus, its absolutely adorable.

A good, simple craft that encourages pretend play is great for a last-minute something to do! Have fun encouraging their creativity and storytelling.

Don’t overthink it! There’s no right or wrong in this craft. Just let your child create and see where their imagination takes you.