Everything you need to explore bugs, beetles, butterflies and more…
Educators love mini beasts. Moreover, they love our mini beast resources to support them in their exploration. They’re some of our most popular science resources and it’s easy to understand why!
Mini beasts are the small animals and insects that share our planet. They include crabs, butterflies, jellyfish, spiders, snails and caterpillars. Mini beasts can be found all over the world in all types of habitats, micro-habitats and ecosystems from forests and rivers to deserts or beaches.
To make exploration come to life with these cute and sometimes creepy critters, it’s great to start with the MTA interactive flat panel and add on some of our extensive collection of mini beast resources!
In our video, discover how the fingertip-friendly interactive flat panel becomes a wonderful tool to explore mini beasts, embracing creativity, mathematics, storytelling, literacy, movement, art and collaboration. The panel itself provides the backdrop to learning with smooth writing, ultra-high definition with 4K resolution, responsive touch and easy access to the Cloud.
Fact finding
Through the web browser on the panel, educators can uncover amazing fun facts about their chosen mini beast (or number of mini beasts). Here, the exploration covers what a mini beast likes to do and eat.
Data collecting
Heading outside with children and exploring the outdoor environment with a magnifying glass offers an opportunity to be amongst nature. Capturing photos and uploading those to the interactive panel allows the mini beast exploration to continue once inside again.
Interactive exploration
Using an amazing butterfly picture, the video demonstrates how to import the image, select it and manipulate it for learning (such as making it larger or smaller or highlighting and labelling parts).
Infinite canvas
The infinite canvas allows educators to move an image and add more to the panel easily, or to utilise the canvas for creating shapes and drawings, allowing sensory exploration and movement.
Reading stories
The e-Reader on MTA’s panel allows for large groups to get involved in literacy and storytime. Children can interact with the panel and turn the pages, circle the mini beasts or sight words.
Messy craft fun
The video then shows how the images captured allows educators to continue the project into more creative learning, using the mini beasts as a reference point for creating art.
Evidence collecting
Once the mini beast lessons are complete, educators can export their project and share it with families as evidence of learning.
Exploring mini beasts further…
The Mini Beasts Complete Set includes each large set of our best-selling Mini Beasts, with a total of 62 specimens! The real-life specimens are safely encased in a crystal-clear resin, perfect for exploring under a magnifier or microscope. The durable blocks are safe for children of all ages, and each has the mini beast’s name printed on it for easy identification. These specimens are suitable for open-ended investigation or play, and each set includes a Teacher’s Guide with more information about the mini beasts in the set.
Our new Camouflage Mini Beasts Set of 9 can be used to explore how different animals and insects have evolved to camouflage themselves for protection in their habitat. Educators can discuss adaptive features including colouring, physical shapes, defensive features, behavioural habits and more!
Our Mini Beast Critters Kit includes three sets of four mini beasts critters: Marine Critters, Creepy Critters and Garden Critters. Each set shows the critters encased in resin so children can view the samples safely from all angles. They’re an excellent resource to extend children’s curiosity about commonly found critters in their environment.
MTA’s Insect Exploration Kit includes all the essentials for mini beast learning. Items can be used individually or in small groups, with 12 trays, 12 hand magnifiers, 12 giant bug-viewing jars, 12 tweezers, a total of 14 jumbo toy insects, and a set of 6 real-life mini beast specimens.
You’ll also find wonderful books and puzzles to continue mini beast exploration too. In Minibeasts Make the World Go Round, children can learn how minibeasts are essential to life on our planet! This book helps to teach about the interconnectedness of all creatures on our Earth, as an introduction to sustainability and an understanding of the balance of our biosphere.
In Discover: Mini Beasts, children can discover how vast the world of mini beasts is, from the worms on the ground, to the insects in the air and the jellyfish in the sea.
For tactile exploration and hands-on learning, children can explore the diversity of the insect world with these durable close-up Minibeasts Puzzles (Set of 8). These wooden puzzles feature real-life images of a caterpillar, spider, dragonfly, worm, ladybird, bumblebee, ant and fly. The puzzles allow children to work on these at one time together, promoting teamwork and encouraging them to help one another.
Ready to get interactive with insects and bug out on glorious bugs? We’re all a-flutter too just thinking about the possibilities.
Shop all things mini beast right here
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