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This post has been co-written with Ben Wolfson, a full-time educator and assistant principal in the USA.
You’ll find that there’s something magic about getting your kindergarten students outside into your school’s nature garden. While kindergarten students have a reputation for going one hundred miles an hour, there’s something about the variety of flowers and plants that makes them slow down and really pay attention to what’s around them.
As they move slower, they’ll start to pay attention to all the bugs out there, and that’s when things get really fun. Suddenly, your classroom will be filled with questions and observations about every insect in your garden, so it makes sense to create a bugs thematic unit. This cute insects sort by quantity printable is a great tool to talk about quantities, counting and subitizing.
The Power Of Subitizing
Growing up, you’ll never have been explicitly taught about subitizing, and it’s unlikely that you’ll use the word when you’re teaching the skill to your kindergarten students. However, it’s the next step once students have mastered their one to one correspondence counting skills.
In essence, subitizing is the brain’s ability to recognize a group of objects as representing a specific number. Think about how you instantly recognize the numbers represented by the patterns of dots on a die without having to count each one individually. Teaching this skill is tricky as students like to revert to safe counting habits of touch one say one.
This is where activities like this insects sort by quantity game helps. It starts by having students split the cards between “one” and “many” but then expands it to “more than 5” and “less than 5”. This will help them develop their subitizing skills which will make further count work much easier.
Bugs Quantity Sorting Printable
For this activity you will need:
Paper
Printer
Optional: bugs mini erasers or counting tokens
Optional: laminator
If you don’t have the materials needed, don’t sweat! You can get it delivered to your doorstep really quickly with Amazon Prime. You can get a 30-day free trial here.
Extending Your Bug Thematic Unit
Your students will quickly be able to recognize how many bugs are on each card in the insect sorting resources pack. This will help them complete even the final insects sort by quantity game, so you’ll want to try some of these extension activities:
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Create your own cards – there are many ways to create your own versions of the counting cards included in the insect sorting resources pack. If you have the resources, use mini erasers or small toy bugs to allow students to create their own groups, or print off pictures of different bugs to add a cut and stick activity to the mix.
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Use different benchmarks – in the original bugs quantity sorting pack, you get two benchmarks to sort by: one vs many, and more than 5 vs less than 5. You could change the benchmark numbers (e.g. more than 3 or less than 4), or increase the challenge by adding a third column (e.g. more than 2, exactly 2, less than 2).
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Comparison sentences – subitizing is the precursor to students being able to compare different groups of objects. To start them practicing these skills, give them two cards from different columns and show them how to make a comparison sentence (e.g. there are more ladybugs than ants). You can then have them do this task independently for one of your math centers during your bugs thematic unit.
Like this? Then you’ll love my 10 Bugs and Butterflies Themed Literacy and Math Centers. These easy-prep games will get your students working on letters, phonics, numbers and more!
Games included:
1) Bugs Playdough Counting Mats – Blank ten frame to count out playdough ball ‘insects’ + playdough number formation
2) Butterfly Spots Counting Clipcards to 20
3) Bugs Arrange By Size – 5 different bugs, 6 sizes each
4) Bumblebee Match By Math – Match the bee to the correct flower by solving the simple addition sums to 10
5) Caterpillar Complete The Pattern Strips – Use pompoms, dot markers, dot stickers, or other colored manipulatives to complete the patterns. Includes ABAB, AABB, ABCABC and ABCB patterns.
6) Butterfly Alphabet Match – Upper and lowercase matching cards. Single color and multicolor letter cards included
7) Catching Butterfly Beginning Sounds – Match objects to the correct letters.
8) Caterpillar Order Alphabet Strips – Look at the set of 5 letters and decide if they’re in the correct order then choose thumbs up or down.
9) Ladybug Tracing Lines – Fine motor pre-writing practice, 4 mats included.
10) Leaves for Lunch Ants Alphabet Sort – Divide up letter cards into vowels and consonants.
Check it out for more ready-to-go fun!
Educational Tools For Your Classroom:
Other Free Insect Printables You’ll Love:
1) Counting 1 to 20 Ladybugs – Include this free printable in your insect learning unit to combine math and fine motor strengthening this Spring.
2) Firefly Counting – This math activity is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, and homeschooling or for busy parents looking for something their little one can do independently.
3) Bugs Graphing – Kids will love using this hands-on math printable graphing the number of bugs they can find outdoors or, if you don’t have a garden, indoors in a sensory tub.
4) Counting Colorful Bugs Book – Printable bug-themed counting and coloring book from 1 to 10, great for spring!
5) Honey Bee Life Cycle – hands-on printable about the life cycle of bumblebees.
6) Count The Worms 1-10 – Practice early math skills while strengthening fine motor muscles with this set of clip cards that are perfect for Spring.
7) Insects Sort By Quantity – Help preschoolers develop number sense with this insect-themed activity
8) Bumblebee Addition Game – Colorful bee-themed math game for kids to practice simple sums to 10.
9) Count The Bees 1-10 – Bee-themed activities are always a hit at our house and this set of 1-10 counting clip cards is no exception!
10) Count The Fireflies 1-10 – Count up to 10 fireflies caught in the jar.
Books About Insects That We Love:
Browse Other Popular Math Printables:
1) Parking Cars Tracing Lines – More than 10 different tracing line patterns to choose from, all of which help with pencil control.
2) Scarecrow Arrange By Size – 3 different scarecrow-themed image sets that they will arrange from smallest to biggest.
3) Bumblebee Addition Game – Solve the sum and help the bee land on the correct flower!
4) Farm Shapes Mats – Use playdough, pompoms, stickers etc to learn 2D shapes.
5) Popsicle Stick Number Formation – Kids will love forming the numbers 1 to 10 when ice cream and popsicles are involved!
6) Valentines Printable Worksheets Pack – 50 pages of mixed literacy and math activities.
7) Zoo Animals Number Puzzle Strips – Complete these cute puzzles and learn the numbers 1 to 20.
8) Counting Colorful Bugs – This printable book will help kids count to 10 while also learning about color words.
9) Humpty Dumpty Numbers – In this printable game, your students will practice number recognition using 1 dice or simple addition when using 2 dice.
10) Build A Number Santa – Match the number to the correct number word, tally mark and domino to form a Santa Claus
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