Outdoor Education Activity – Symmetry Bugs
By MARISSA DESPINS Updated April 09, 2024
Welcome back to post #4 in my ongoing Outdoor Learning series! Through these posts I hope to share some fun outdoor education based ideas and resources to help you and your students take your learning outside!
In my last post, I talked all about our creation of symmetrical snowflakes out of natural materials. Sticking with the theme of symmetry (always great to find ways to pull in some math curriculum!), I thought I would share an activity a bit more fitting to the nicer weather we have been having this month (although snow is back in the forecast for next week!).
Looking for some no-prep resources to help take your learning outside? Click on the image or button below to see all of the outdoor learning activities available in my TPT shop!
For detailed information on the importance of outdoor education, check out our place based learning guide!
Outdoor Education: Symmetry Stick Bugs
Read on for a detailed explanation about how to complete this activity with your learners!
All About Insects
To begin our lesson, and get us excited about creating our own bugs, we watched a quick YouTube video about insects.
What is Symmetry?
After the video, we did a quick review of symmetry. If you are looking for a great video to review this concept, this one below is great. They actually use a butterfly as an example in the video, which is a perfect lead in to our outdoor education activity.
Symmetry Practice
Using the butterfly in the video as a lead in, I passed out some different insect and arachnid cards. Then, I had the kids talk to a partner about the different lines of symmetry they could find. We started with the black and white cards, which are easiest. Then, we moved on to the colored cards.
After our discussions, I pass out some insect symmetry sheets for the kids to practice on. These free ones from Art Hub for Kids are fantastic. You can download them for free by clicking here.
I let the kids practice on a few different sheets, and then, when I felt that they really understood the concept, we grabbed the insect and arachnid cards, as well as a stack of black construction paper, and headed outside.
For additional outdoor math activities, check out our outdoor math projects for Earth Day!
Outdoor Education: Symmetrical Bug Creation
Once outside, I divided the kids into groups of two. Then, I gave them each a random insect card and a sheet of black construction paper. We started with the black and white cards. These ones really allowed the kids to focus on the symmetry and not get weighed down with the details.
Once they mastered the black and white cards, I challenged them by giving them the colored cards. The symmetry is not as obvious in these cards, making them a bit more challenging for the kiddos. They did like the colorful details though, and enjoyed hunting for materials to match the designs.
We used the black construction paper to build on. This really helped our bugs stand out. If you build the bugs right on the ground, they can be hard to see. It was a dry day, so the construction paper worked well without getting soggy. If it was a wetter day, laminated paper, clipboards, or plastic place mats would be a great alternative.
I love how the little bits of trash from the playground made their way into this last creation.
One last word of advice for this activity – wind is not your friend. If it is a windy day, their papers and natural materials will blow around, making it really hard and frustrating for the kids to create their insects. If it is too windy out, you may want to find a covered area to build in, or wait for a day that is less windy.
I hope these little bugs inspire you to head outside and create them with your students! They are a fun way to pull some science (bugs), math (symmetry), and art into your outdoor learning time.
Looking for the entire Symmetry Stick Bug resource?
You can check out my entire Symmetrical Stick Bug resource by clicking on the image below. It will take you directly to my Teachers Pay Teachers store! This resource contains a full color activity card, outdoor journaling and reflection pages, and insect inspiration cards.
Interested in more Outdoor Education Activities?
Click on the image below to go directly to the Outdoor Learning section of my Teachers Pay Teachers store – I have a variety of different Outdoor Learning resources available!
Do want to read more about Outdoor Learning Activities?
Click on these links to go directly to some of my previous outdoor learning posts!
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