How to Make a Roly Poly Habitat with Kids

On our walks to school lately the girls have been spotting roly-polies, lots of them! After the third day of collecting them and releasing them my first grader asked if we could make a home for them and learn more about them. Well of course we can! Over the next few days we made a roly-poly habitat and learn more about these little bugs!

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As we got started making our roly-poly habitat, I remembered seeing a great activity about creating a terrarium in the new book A Little Bit of Dirt: 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature. It’s full of educational but easy-t0-do activities to try with kids. In it we found out more about roly-polies and what they’d need, and while the girls were at school I created a printable observation sheet to go along with our activity.

Materials

• Container that allows for circulation
• Natural materials that are good for decomposers like dirt, dead leaves, rotting wood, and moss
• Roly-polies
• Printable planning and recording sheet

After school my first grader read the activity guide in A Little Bit of Dirt and then used the free printable observation sheet I made to gather the materials for her roly-poly habitat. After building her habitat we did a little extra research to learn more about roly-polies.

Facts About Roly-Polies

• Roly-polies are also called isopods, wood lice, pill bugs, or potato bugs. (A Little Bit of Dirt)
• Roly-polies are not actually bugs. Like shrimp, lobster, and crabs they are crustaceans. (Northcoast Environmental Center)
• Roly-polies live about 2 years. (Pest World for Kids)
• Roly-polies are most active at night. (Pest World for Kids)

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This is such a simple way to build on a child’s natural curiosity. Use our free printable at home or in the classroom to encourage kids to look closely at the world around them and learn about things they encounter regularly.

MORE SPRING FUN WITH PRINTABLE SPRING THEME LESSON PLANS

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

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Preschool Spring Theme Lesson Plans

Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.