Ant themed preschool lesson plans

Arts and Crafts

Arts and crafts, games, math, science, group time activities, songs and snack ideas.

Giant Ant Hill

Materials: Large Butcher Paper Black crayon Cut the paper in the shape of an ant hill. Help your child draw tunnels with the crayon and draw ants in the tunnels.

Ants in the Dirt

Materials: Brown and blue construction paper None toxic ink pad Glue Black Marker Have the children tear pieces of the brown construction paper and glue them onto the bottom of the blue paper to represent the dirt and sky. After the glue has dried, have the children place a few fingerprints on the brown paper to represent ants. Add legs and antennae with black marker.

Ants at My Picnic

Materials: Construction paper Paper plates Magazine ads for food Black marker Have your child glue pictures of their favorite foods onto the paper plate, then glue the plate onto the paper as if the paper were the place mat. Then have your child draw the ants on the place mat and plate.

Fingerprint Ants

Materials: Non toxic ink pad (black) Paper Black pen or crayon Show your child how to make finger prints on a piece of paper. Have your child draw six legs, a head and antennae onto their prints to create ants.

Balloon Ants

Materials: Balloon Marker Yarn Blow up a balloon, have your child tape six pieces of yarn onto the balloon for the ants legs, and let them draw on a face.

Tube Ants

Materials: Cardboard tube from a tissue paper roll Raisins Have your child dip the raisins into glue and stick them inside the tube to simulate ants being in their tunnels. Add pieces of green yarn to represent grass.

Play Doh Ants

Have your children make Ants out of play doh.

Busy Ants Headbands

Have the children cut out two strips of paper that when connected will fit around their head. Connect the strips with glue or tape, (staples will catch the child’s hair). Supply the children with two pipe cleaners… and have them shape them however they want to and tape them on the inside of the headband. On mine I wrote “Busy Ant Suzy” and “Busy Ant Max” or whatever they wanted to be.

Toothpick and Marshmallow Ants

Supply older children with marshmallows and toothpicks. They can connect three marshmallows with toothpicks to form the body and head. They may use toothpicks for the legs as well.

Starbucks (w/paint) Ant Hills!

Have your child use and ant stamp to create an ant scene. When dry, add a mixture of coffee grounds, glue and brown paint to create an ant hill. Allow to dry completely.

Egg Carton Ants

Cut out three sections of a cardboard egg carton. Have the child paint the egg carton brown. When dry attach pipe cleaners for legs and googly eyes.

Games, Math and Science

Ant Hunt

Simply go outside and observe some ants.

Sand Table Fun

Add plastic ants to your sand or water table.

Lacing Cards

Cut colored poster board into a ant shape and punch holes around the edges. Then let your child lace yarn or a shoestring into the cards.

Bean Bag Toss

Have your child toss bean bags into a box with fingerprint ants on it. You can use masking tape to mark where the child should stand.

Ant Sizing

Cut out many different sized ants. Ask the children to line up the ants from largest to smallest.

Ant Numbers

Cut out ten ant shapes. Number them one to ten. Ask the children to line up the ants from one to ten.

Ant Colors

Cut out many ant shapes from different colors. Ask the children to sort the ants by color.

Ants in a nest

You need: Muffin Tin Raisins Small Tongs Paper, tape, pen How to: Number small pieces of paper 1 through 6. Tape these numbers into the bottom of each hole in the muffin tin. Ask your child to place the appropriate number of raisins (ants) in each hole (nest). One raisin in the hole marked 1, and so on.

Group Time and Songs

Ant Shapes

Cut out ant shapes from large white construction paper. Have the children paint them red, black or brown, and after they dry write each childs name on them. Laminate them so you can use them for the activities below.

Ant Jump

Set out the ant shapes on the floor. Have the children hop from one ant shapes to another.

Ant Musical Chairs

Set out the ant shapes on the floor in a circle. Have the children walk around the circle of ants. When the music stops have the children race to their ant shapes. Every child should have an ant shape to stand on.

Ant Circle Time

Set out the ant shapes on the floor in a circle. Have each child sit on his/her own ant for circle time.

Ant Place Mat

Make ant shaped place mats. Use instructions above.

The Ants go Marching

The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two,
The little one stops to tie his shoe
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three,
The little one stops to climb a tree
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four,
The little one stops to shut the door
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five,
The little one stops to take a dive
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six,
The little one stops to pick up sticks
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven,
The little one stops to pray to heaven
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight,
The little one stops to shut the gate
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine,
The little one stops to check the time
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten,
The little one stops to say “THE END”
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Ant Song Written by Chicky

Sung to “The more we get together”
If I could be an ant
an ant, an ant
If I could be an ant, What color would I be?
Red or brown or black you see
If I could be an ant, I would be quite (child fills in the color)

Building Ants by chicky

(sung to “London Bridge”)
Ants are building a big hill
A big hill
A big hill
Ants are building a big hill
And they call it home.

Ants are Busy by chicky

(sung to “Where is Thumbkin?”)
The ants are busy
The ants are busy
Yes they are
Yes they are
Busy finding some food
Busy building their home
Work away
Work away

Simple Ant Farm

Materials:
Glass Jar, Black Paper, An old nylon stocking, Soil and Ants, A rubber band
Fill a glass jar with loose soil, and add your ants. Use the rubber band to secure the stocking on the top of the jar, and cut off the excess, leaving a good amount left so you can easily take it off and put it on the jar again. Tape black paper around the outside of the jar so the ants will build tunnels on the sides of the jar. Don’t forget to feed and water your new pets. After a couple of hours, take off the paper and see what is happening. Don’t forget to put the paper back on the jar.

What do Ants Eat?

Divide a paper plate into sections with a black marker. Place various food items on the plate (i.e. crackers, sugar, lettuce).Set the plate outside on a nice warm day, in a low traffic shaded area where you have seen ants. Check back after 1 hour to see what has happened. Check back in 2 hours. What foods have the ants taken? Which is their favorite? Ask your child what foods they like the best.

Field Trip

Take your child outside to observe the ants.

Gets Ants In Its Pants

Scholastic’s “The Magic School Bus” video is wonderful. It is recommended for children 6 to 11, but my two year old son will watch any “School Bus” video before “Barney”. (Gosh, I wrote this a while ago… my son is now six… YIKES) It explores the jobs of all the ants. Like all the “The Magic School Bus” videos, it is lively and educational. Check it out.

Parts of an ants

Talk about the different parts of an ant, head, body, legs. For older children talk about thorax, abdomen, antennae. Have the children compare the ant to themselves. What is the same? What is different? Make a list.

Ants on a Log Snack

spread peanut butter on a piece of celery. Add raisins to the peanut butter.

Ants on a Log Snack 2

spread peanut butter on a pretzel rod. Add raisins to the peanut butter.

Ants in Your Pants

You will need to cut a banana into 2″ sections. Supply each child with 2 banana pieces, 2 grapes (do not serve grapes to children under the age of 3 without cutting them into quarters), peanut butter, and either raisins or chocolate chips. The child will also need a safe spreading utensil. The child should place two spots of peanut butter on their plate next to each other, then place the two banana shapes on the peanut butter to help keep them in place. The bananas are the legs. Spread peanut butter onto the top of the two bananas and add the raisins or chocolate chips onto the peanut butter. Finally add the two grapes for feet.

Ants in Dirt

Supply each child with three mini marshmallows and three pretzels. They can connect three marshmallows with a dab of peanut butter to form the body and head. Break each pretzel in half and use them for the legs.

Ants in the Grass

Peel the outside of a green apple, make the peels long and skinny. These peels will represent the grass. Cut the apple in half and core the apple. Place one half on the apple on a plate (this is the ant hill) and sprinkle half of the peels around the apple. Sprinkle raisins (the ants) on top of the hill and the grass.