Inchworm gluing and painting activity in pre-kindergarten

In my last post, I  shared with you how we read the book Inch by Inch” by Leo Lionni then made and measured playdough inchworms. As we read the book, we talked about how the inchworm was hard to see among the tall blades of grass and why the inchworm might want to hide in the grass. To extend the inchworm book into art we created our own paper inchworms and hid them in the grass too…

We started by gluing a green paper strip on a sheet of paper and then put a dot above it. You will notice that the inchworm looks a bit like a lower case “i”.  My goal was to combine a little letter recognition in the process of making our inchworm pictures…

Because inchworms move their bodies up and down, we only glued down the ends of the paper strips and pushed them in a bit so the inchworm would have a little curve in its body.  The children got the idea right away…

The children followed the 10 second rule and counted to 10 as they held down the ends of their paper strips so the glue would stick and the inchworm wouldn’t fall over…

Once they had their inchworm on the paper, the children then added some green grass by using a plastic fork to paint the grass all around the inchworm…

I noticed that whether the children are writing a lower case “i” or making the inchworm “i”, many of them want that dot to touch the line of the “i”. The children just can’t seem to grasp that there should be a space between the dot and the line. I just thought that was interesting to observe today…

Some of our children really went to great lengths trying to hide their inchworms in the grass.  They even painted over the inchworm so he couldn’t be seen…

No bird is going to find this inchworm!

Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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