Fireflies in a Jar
Have you ever gone out on a summer evening to catch fireflies. They flit and fly everywhere. Soon you have five and then six. One escapes and then you catch two more. In the morning you let them go.
These wonderful experiences of childhood may be disappearing. With city lights and urban sprawl fireflies may disappear forever.
Dozens of activities, games and projects make learning about these bright little insects come to life while teaching skills to beginning readers across the curriculum.
Firefly Table of Contents
- Firefly Reading
- The Firefly Star: A Hispanic Folk Tale
- Catch the Firefly Reading Bug
- Firefly Poetry
- Firefly Words
- Firefly Science
- Firefly Math
- Firefly Art
- Firefly Thumbprint Art
- Firefly Social Studies
- Firefly Music
- Fireflies on the Move
- The Lightening Bug Pole
- Lightening Bugs on a Warm Summer Evening
- About the Author
Firefly Reading
Fireflies turn on their lights to read
The Firefly Star: A Hispanic Folk Tale
Each year the kings travel through the sky on their Royal Camels and place presents in boxes of grass that children leave out for the animals.
One year, however, the jealous Royal Horses enlist the fireflies into forming a star that leads the camels in circles, thus making the kings angry.
Disaster is averted by the two smallest creatures in the palace, a mouse and a ladybug.
- The Firefly Star
MobiStories: digital books
Catch the Firefly Reading Bug
Bulletin Board
Make a large jar on a bulletin board with a nighttime meadow behind it. Add some fireflies in the distance.
Use fly shaped paper to write the names of books the children have read and attach them to the jar.
When Lightning Comes in a Jar
Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/02/2008) 
The Very Lonely Firefly Puppet Theater
Set up a puppet theater in the room and model often how to put on a puppet show and soon you will have amazing shows being put. One day the children reenacted the lifecycle of the Firefly for the 2nd graders who were duly impressed with the show.
The World Of Eric Carle THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR - THE VERY LONELY FIREFLY FINGER PUPPET 5" Plush
Amazon Price: $5.49 (as of 12/02/2008)
The Very Lonely Firefly
Amazon Price: $14.94 (as of 12/02/2008)
Firefly Poems and Songs
"Fireflies in Flight" to the tune of "Camptown Races"
Fireflies come out at night.
Blink, blink, blink, blink.
Showing off their little lights
In the summer sky!
Can you see them glow
Flying to and fro?
Fireflies come out at night
In the summer sky!
Print this poem on a poster board large enough for everyone to see the words. Use a flashlight to point to the words while chanting together.
- Going Buggy! @ lilteacher.com
- "Fireflies in Flight" to the tune of "Camptown Races"
Firefly Poetry
To A Baby Firefly (Preschool)Little baby firefly
when your night is through
does your mommy tuck you in
and tell you she loves you?
Does she kiss your forehead
and say in morning's light...
'Day-day little sleepyhead,
close your eyes, put out your light.'
C.J. Heck
- To A Baby Firefly by C.J. Heck
- To A Baby Firefly by C.J. Heck
Firefly Flashlights
for Read the Room Activities
Firefly Flashlights can be used for Read the Room Pointers.
Use the flashlights to spy words written on charts, posters and Word Walls. The flashlights help the children to focus on the words.
For Spelling practice, use the flashlights to point to the letters on the Alphabet for each word.
Word Wall Practice:
Firefly, firefly, oh so bright,
Shine on a word with your light.
Everyone quickly turns on their flashlight and shines it on the right word.
Lightning Bugs Beetle
Amazon Price: $15.25 (as of 12/02/2008)
Manhattan Toy Lightning Bugs Dragonfly Flashlight
Amazon Price: $11.95 (as of 12/02/2008)
Firefly Words
Fireflies are insects. They all have six legs, three body parts, and are invertibrates.
- Unscramble Insect Words: EnchantedLearning.com
- Unscramble Insect Words: A printout about Insects words for early readers: ant, bee, fly, moth, caterpillar, beetle, butterfly, dragonfly, grasshopper, mosquito.
Firefly Science
Firefly Science
Before you let the fireflies go in the morning take a close look at them.
1. Can you see how many legs they have?
2. What do you notice about their wings?
3. Can you tell them apart?
Take a digital picture of each one, name it and tell how each one is different from all the others.
Draw a picture of one of your fireflies and color it in with colored pencils.
Fireflies in the Night: Revised Edition (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)
Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 12/02/2008)
Tiny Wings
Amazon Price: (as of 12/02/2008)
Creatures of the Night
Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 12/02/2008)
Firefly Life Cycle
Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, are soft-winged beetles, which belong to the Lampyridae family. They lay eggs in damp soil along ponds, rivers and in wetlands. The larvae live in these moist habitats where they feast on slugs, snails, and other invertebrates. After pupating, they emerge as adults.
Fireflies (All Aboard Science Reader)
Amazon Price: $3.99 (as of 12/02/2008)
The Life Cycle of a Beetle (The Life Cycle)
Amazon Price: $6.95 (as of 12/02/2008)
Firefly Math
Count the Fireflies
For each child you will need a plastic jar and 10 fireflies.
Mathmat: Start with all the fireflies on a dark blue paper above the jar.
1. Ask: How many fireflies are in the jar? (0)
2. Write the number 0 and then the + symbol.
3. Catch a firefly and add it to the jar.
4.Now how many fireflies are in the jar? (1)
5. Finish the number sentence. 0+1+1
Repeat until you have written all the number sentences to 10+0=10.
Make Fireflies: Lay out a bag of dried lima beans. Spraypaint them neon green on one side. Use a permanent marker to draw the wings and eyes.
When dry, draw six legs on each and then paint the tail of the fireflies with glow in the dark paint.
Cheap hairspray works well as a fixative.
Firefly Art
Paint a Night of Fireflies
Use glow in the dark paint and Q-tips to make fireflies on a dark blue paper. You might also like to add grass, trees, and bushes with watered down black paint.
Glow In The Dark Paint-4 Ounces
Amazon Price: $3.99 (as of 12/02/2008)
Firefly Thumbprint Art
Ed Emberley uses colorful step-by-step drawings show how to turn your thumbprints into all kinds of animals. I find that this is a skill that helps young children illustrate their stories when they are hesitant about drawing.
Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book
Amazon Price: $9.59 (as of 12/02/2008)
"Fireflies At Night" Painting Process
"Fireflies At Night" Painting Process Recorded
I'm a children's book illustrator, and since I get a lot of question regarding my process, I thought I would make some painting videos for my website. Enjoy!
Runtime: 3:05
10608 views
9 Comments:
Firefly Social Studies
Fireflies in the News!
Already fireflies have disappeared from many of their native habitats, from the suburbs and neighborhoods around many major metropolitan areas. Some have countered that mosquito spraying and light pollution have been factors contributing to the demise of fireflies.
- Lights out? Experts fear fireflies are dwindling - Yahoo! News
- BAN LOMTUAN, Thailand - Preecha Jiabyu used to take tourists on a rowboat to see the banks of the Mae Klong River aglow with thousands of fireflies.
These days, all he sees are the fluorescent lights of hotels, restaurants and highway overpasses. He says he'd have to row a good two miles to see trees lit up with the magical creatures of his younger days.
The fate of the insects drew more than 100 entomologists and biologists to Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai last week for an international symposium on the "Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies."
Firefly Magazine
Rising Firefly
Amazon Price: $25.00 (as of 12/02/2008)
Firefly Music
Glow Worm Song
The Glow Worm
Amazon Price: $0.99 (as of 12/02/2008)
The Glow-Worm (Sheet Music)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/02/2008)
Glow Worm Song
- HANK THOMPSON - GLOW-WORM LYRICS
- Glow-Worm lyrics performed by Hank Thompson
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer
Lead us lest too far we wander
Love's sweet voice is calling yonder
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer
Hey, there don't get dimmer, dimmer
Light the path below, above
And lead us on to love!
Glow little glow-worm, fly of fire
Glow like an incandescent wire
Glow for the female of the species
Turn on the AC and the DC
This night could use a little brightnin'
Light up you little ol' bug of lightnin'
When you gotta glow, you gotta glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow and glimmer
Swim through the sea of night, little swimmer
Thou aeronautical boll weevil
Illuminate yon woods primeval
See how the shadows deep and darken
You and your chick should get to sparkin'
I got a gal that I love so
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Glow little glow-worm, turn the key on
You are equipped with taillight neon
You got a cute vest-pocket Master
Which you can make both slow and faster
I don't know who you took a shine to
Or who you're out to make a sign to
I got a gal that I love so
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Fireflies on the Move
Firefly Flashlight Game
- Flashlight Game: Firefly - and More Great Family Fun Game Ideas
- This summer night's game is illuminating kids' play.
In this nocturnal game of chase, a flashing light is the clue to catching an elusive quarry.
WHAT YOU NEED:
3 or more players
A flashlight
HOW TO PLAY:
1. Once it's dark, give a chosen player (the firefly) a flashlight and have her head away from the group with the light off, silently counting to 60 as she goes.
2. When the firefly reaches 60, she must flash the light once.
3. The rest of the players then count to 100 before setting out in pursuit of the firefly, who tries to avoid capture by hiding and changing directions.
4. But here's the catch: she must continuously count to 60, flashing the light each time she reaches the end of her count.
5. The first person to tag the firefly takes her place for the next round.
VARIATIONS:
Have the firefly alternate flashing the light with chirping. To find her, the other players will have to listen as well as watch.
The Lightening Bug Pole
Insect Lenses
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Old Black Fly
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Old Black Fly's been buzzing around and lands on an alphabet's worth of spilled drips and drops of food. This poem is fun to read aloud with it's lilting rhyme has makes you want to dance. Use Old Black Fly to start a unit on insects that will inspi...
Firefly Literacy Bag
I Love Fireflies Tote Bag
Price: 19.49
Lightening Bugs on a Warm Summer Evening
When was the last time you saw fireflies or lightening bugs? Who were you with and what did you do?
naturegirl7 wrote...
Another great thematic unit lens to make learning fun. Welcome to the Naturally Native Squids group. Don't forget to add your lens links to the appropriate plexos and vote for them.
Posted October 25, 2008
lakeerieartists wrote...
I love looking for fireflies in the dusk. My girls and I still wonder over them.
Posted October 14, 2008
groovyoldlady wrote...
A very enlightening lens. :D
One tip (from my eldest daughter) for those who catch lightning bugs: Don't catch them and release them inside your tent to make cool little nightlights or you will have little insects crawling over you all night!
Posted October 04, 2008
About the Author
Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog.Fly over to see what else I'm up to:
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Evelyn Saenz: Lensography of a Teacher
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My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The lenses I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning should be integrated and no skills should be taught in isolation. I believe that each topic studied...
