Hobbies And Interests
Catching Lightning Bugs
When it's dark enough for lightning bugs to appear, an adult gives preschoolers a jar and stands by as they try to catch as many lightning bugs as possible within an allocated time frame. The kid who catches the most lightning bugs wins a small prize.
Grouping Games
Preschoolers transform caterpillars into fireflies and collect as many as possible in Flashbang Studios' "Glow Worm," available as a 1-hour free-trial download at Shockwave. Fireflies disappear from the screen when kids align them next to three or more bugs of the same body color. To advance in the game, players must remove all white tiles in "Classic" mode, destroy all bushes in "Adventure" mode and earn a certain number of points in "Puzzle" mode.
Preschoolers try to clear the screen of all glowing insects in "Lightning Bugs," found at Kongregate. Players click on groups of the same color to make them disappear. Clicking on single bugs - that have no adjacent matches - costs players one crystal ball. The game ends if players do not clear the screen of all bugs before time runs out or if they have no crystal balls left to use on single bugs.
Flashlight Games
Preschoolers try to catch a "firefly" in an outdoor dark-setting game. The firefly child carries a flashlight and silently counts to 10 as he walks away from the group. When the firefly reaches 10, he flashes the light once. Other players then count to 10 and take off to find the firefly, who tries to evade his pursuers. The firefly continuously counts to 10 and flashes the light at the end of each count. The first kid to tag the firefly becomes the new firefly.
For an additional flashlight game, kids form a circle while one "It" child stands in the center with the flashlight. The "It" child turns around while all other players chant for her to "pick a new friend and shine your light." The firefly turns back around and shines the flashlight on one of the other kids, who becomes the new firefly.
Matching Games
Spark the lightning bug leads Reader Rabbit, Sam the Lion and preschoolers on a quest to restore sparkle in the stars in The Learning Company and Graffiti Entertainment's "Reader Rabbit Preschool," available for the Nintendo Wii platform. Also available for PC and Mac systems, the game takes preschoolers to Sparkalot, where they must collect five yellow stones to restore the stars' sparkle. To collect the stones, kids use counting, pre-reading and matching skills. In one challenge, preschoolers must match baby lightning bugs to their parents.
Spot-The-Difference Games
Preschoolers try to spot differences between firefly images in "Fireflies," found at Dif Games. With the clock ticking, players click differences between two images. The game offers kids hints after a certain amount of time passes. Players advance to the next level upon finding all 10 differences before time runs out.