With so many families learning at home, I wanted to share one of our favorite spring-time science projects : raising beneficial insects and releasing them into the backyard!
There are many ways that you can incorporate this into your lessons:
- what makes an insect an insect
- metamorphosis
- food webs
- why are these insects considered “beneficial”
- what would happen if insects disappeared?
- make timelines of when the larva pupates and then turns into an adult
- create charts of how many insects are at different stages
- write observations in a science journal
- create realistic drawings of the insects
- study an artist and imitate their style using the insects as your subject
- learn about scientific classification
- learn the scientific names of the insects
What would you add to our list?
I’m sure it’s no surprise to learn that among all of the other things it offers, you can also purchase insects from Amazon. Below are a few of our favorite products for learning about, observing, and raising insects at home.
- bug catcher : we like this small bug catcher because it easily fits in a little kid’s hand and it has the built-in magnifying glass.
- collapsible bug catcher : we absolutely love this bug catcher. It’s great when you want to collect a few insects at once. And its collapsing feature makes it so easy to pack with our camping gear when we’re heading out on an adventure.
- Are You a Ladybug? This whole series of books is great preK & elementary kids. You learn about the life cycle, habitat, and behavior of the insect. I think it’s great companion to the ladybug larva kit.
- Are You a Butterfly? Same as with #3. This whole series is packed with scientific information and follows a formula that the kids love, because, by the end of the book, you know that “You aren’t a butterfly! You’re a human!”
- Painted Lady Butterflies! If you haven’t raised butterfly larva before, we recommend a kit that comes with a large, collapsable net like this one. I’m partial to the easily collapsible net because it’s great for viewing your butterflies before releasing them. It’s easy to store so that next year you only have to buy the larva to raise a new generation. AND because this net structure is perfect for holding the praying mantis egg cases that are #6 on our list. ***Be aware when ordering your kit. This one comes with a voucher to order the larva when you’re ready. Other kits come with the larva at the same time. ***
- praying mantis egg cases : did you know that the female praying mantis lays her egg case in the fall and the babies won’t hatch out until the following spring?! The boys and I saw a lot of egg cases this winter, so I’m excited to buy a few for us to observe at home.
- ladybug larva : ladybug larva look NOTHING like the adults. Order this kit and you’ll be amazed. Like the butterfly kit, we liked ordering the all-in-one kit the first year so that we could reuse it whenever we’re ready to buy more larva.
So, those are the insects on our list. What’s on yours? A pink foot millipede?
