This time of year fireflies are out in Michigan. It is a family tradition that we stay up later than usual to get to dark. It can be 9:30 or 10pm before it is dusk here. Then all the kids run around catching fireflies. We put them in a jar to watch them flicker off and on then let them go. The kids see who can catch the most.
Many kids can relate to catching fireflies. It is a common summer activity in Michigan. With fireflies as the theme, I created a counting game on PowerPoint to use in our virtual circle time.
Prior to our circle time, the children were asked to bring a bug. It could be drawn, a plastic bug, a stuffed animal, or real!
We began our circle time by sharing our bugs. Some were colored, some were printed, and some were stickers. Once everyone had shared, we moved on to our story. I had the book, The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle pulled up on youtube.
This version makes the firefly light up. The narrator reads slowly so the children are able to follow along.
After reading the book, I presented the following counting activity.
I created this activity using PowerPoint. I created the bug and jar clipart, but any bug image would work. Add the images to the slide. Include the final number for the bug count. Open the animations tab, select the emphasis button. Choose the pulse option to make the bug glow. On the number, choose an entrance animation to reveal the number after counting.
The activity had basic counting and basic addition.
For this part of the slideshow on PowerPoint, I used the spin emphasis to indicate which ladybug we were counting. The firefly was “flown” into the jar by choosing the bounce entrance on the animations tab. It was fun to hear the kids counting on their own during this activity.
We ended our virtual circle time with a new finger play. I created a basic slideshow with photos showing the children the motions to the Here is the Beehive finger play. I shared my screen and we did the finger play along with the presentation.
The virtual circle time finished with the following song using the beehive finger play.
Have fun while counting bugs!