We closed out L-Week today with an exploration of a creature we’ve been missing in these cold months: ladybugs!  At Circle Time, we read the Eric Carle classic The Very Grouchy Ladybug.  In the story, a grouchy ladybug skips breakfast in an effort to avoid sharing and then attempts to fight a variety of creatures, ranging in size from a friendly ladybug to an apathetic blue whale, but backs out of each fight with a silly excuse.  At the end of the day, he’s tired, wet, hungry, and even grouchier than he began the day.  The children love the whacky idea of a ladybug trying to fight animals like hyenas and boa constrictors while Carle’s trademark collage illustrations keep them visually intrigued.  Aside from the whimsical sense of humor, the story also demonstrates that grouchiness and aggression don’t result in anything positive, and that a hard day could have been avoided with a little friendliness and sharing.

After our story, the children made their own ladybugs using paper plates!  Each child used 2 plates: one cut in half for the two wings and one intact for the ladybug’s body.  As one of the Tugboats noticed, when the ladybug’s wings were outstretched, we could see the ladybug’s booty!  With that in mind, they painted their ladybug’s bodies black and the wings red.  While the wings were still wet, they selected from a variety of sizes of black construction paper circles and placed them where they liked.  Once the pieces are dry, we’ll assemble them with a brad so that the wings can move, add antennae and eyes and it’ll feel just like springtime here at Harbor City School!