Language2½–4 yrsOutdoors

Bug patrol

Slow, quiet, and weirdly gripping.

Prep

1 min

Mess

None

How to play

Lift a stone, check under a leaf, follow an ant and see where it goes. Count the legs. Give each one a name. Put everything back where you found it.

  1. a magnifying glass and a leaf in the grass
    1

    Your eyes. A magnifying glass if you have one.

  2. a hand lifting a stone, a ladybird on the ground below
    2

    Lift a stone and see who lives underneath.

  3. a magnifying glass held over the ladybird
    3

    Count the legs, name it, then put everything back.

What you need

Your eyes. A magnifying glass if you have one.

What it secretly builds

Language

Watching one small thing for a long time is sustained attention, and describing it out loud — how many legs, what colour, where it went — is where the sentences get longer.

Safety first
Look, don't touch, and wash hands afterwards.
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