Bugs in the Bible: Devotions for Toddlers

Who has a toddler obsessed with bugs? The little critters are fascinating. The way they wriggle and squirm, crawling along the ground. They capture the attention of young an old alike. But did you know the Bible even has a few things to say about our little friends? Capture child’s attention, and grow their faith with these buggy devotions.

Proverbs 30

The book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom. Little nuggets of wisdom that can help guide our lives, even today. Proverbs 30:24-28 describes four teeny-tiny creatures that are full of wisdom. Three of these are bugs!

‘There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;

The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.”

-Proverbs 30:24‭-‬28 (KJV)

Ants

Ants are tiny little creatures. However, they do their work when they need to in season. This verse feels a bit like a call back to Proverbs 6:

‘Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.’

Proverbs 6:6‭-‬8 ESV

The ant doesn’t need anyone to tell him what to do. He does his job when it needs to be done.

Praying with Littles:

Read:

‘The ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer.’ -Proverbs 30:25 (ESV)

Pray:

Ants don’t need someone to tell them to do their job. They just do it, because they know it needs to be done.

Dear God, help us be like ants. Remind us to do our work with out grumbling or reminding. Amen

Play:

Ant Picnic

We have been using the free preschool resources over at Niños al Natural. In her ‘I es para Insectos’ packet is a fun ant math game. Vale LOVED it, and I made a simplified version for Naomi that we worked on together. I drew various picnic items on a piece of paper and gave them each a number. Then I drew some very simple ants on dot stickers. Finally we matched the correct number of ants to each food.

‘Look to the Ant’

We also listened to the song Look the the Ant by the Donut Man. This song helps littles see what this verse is all about. Ants can teach us a lot about hard work, and doing our jobs when no one is looking.

Locusts

Locusts are quite the pest of crops, but they can also teach us about team work. Proverbs 30, again talks about a little creature with no leader, but they work together to accomplish great things. Alone, one locus probably can’t do a lot of damage, but together they can wipe out a whole field. This verse is kinda the ancient equivalent of ‘Team work makes the dream work.’

Praying with Littles:

Read:

‘Locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks’- Proverbs 30:27 (NIV)

Pray:

One little locust (or grasshopper) can’t do much all by himself, but when he works with other locusts they can eat a whole field!

Dear God, help me to remember I am not alone. I have friends you have placed in my life to help me. Amen.

Play:

Leaf Munching

For this activity with did a little ‘leaf muching’ like a locust. We went outside and gathered some leaves from the ground. Then we used hole-punches to work our fine motor skills and ‘eat’ some leaves.

Clothes-pin Grasshopper

We also made this super simple clothespin grasshopper craft.

1. Paint or use markers to color the clothespin green.

2. Use brown or green pipe cleaner to make legs. Pinch the the pipecleaner between the middle of the clothespin. Then cut and bend the pipecleaner until it is the correct length and shape.

3. Glue on googly eye. Let dry and have fun.

Spiders

Okay, so this verse is, indeed, a little tricky. A lot of translations argue that the word used for spider in this verse could also be lizard. However, we followed the lead of David Guzik and gleaned some lessons from this verse that could apply to either, and enrich our human lives. Guzik concludes in his commentary:

‘The spider isn’t loved, but it wisely uses its skill and unique abilities to go anywhere it wants to, even in king’s palaces. Using your gifts and unique skills can take you anywhere.‘

Praying with Littles:

Read:

“The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.”-Proverbs 30:28 (KJV).

Pray:

Spiders are tiny creature, but they make beautiful webs. They use their unique gifts to glorify God.

Dear God, help me use the gifts you have given me to point others to you. Amen.

Play:

Spider Matching

I absolutely love this color-matching spider game from Days with Grey. Simply draw a web on a piece of paper. Then add some colorful dots (make them the same color as your dot stickers). Add legs to the spiders on your web. Draw smiley faces on your dot stickers. Have your little one give each spider a face by matching the dot stickers to a same-colored spider.

Web Walking

Using painters tape, we made a giant web on our livingroom floor (You could also use chalk on a side walk or driveway). We then practiced balancing, and walking on the web. And just for fun, we threw some plastic spiders on it for them to collect with tongs. They raced to see who could collect the most and played on repeat for over an hour!

Get Outside

King Solomon was gifted wisdom from God, and it gave him the ability to see the lesson we can learn from even the tiniest of God’s creations. We can observe these creatures just like Solomon! Go out on a nature hunt with your little one. See what litle bugs you can find. Check under logs and rocks. Maybe even bring a magnifying glass to get a close-up look. Thank God for the incredible creatures he has made and all the lessons we can learn from them.

For more Bug Fun, be sure to check out The Butterfly Gospel.