Are you ready for some fun in the garden? This week we’ll discover the mystery of the garden. Join our adventure, go outside and look for little animals that live around us. Try to build a bug hotel or a pitfall trap so you can examine the ‘mini-beasts’ closely.
Bugs are essential to life – from the bees that pollinate the flowers to the worms and beetles that mix up the dead matter into the soil and help them grow. Creating a bug hotel gives your kids an opportunity to look at habitats as well as discuss the types and functions of bugs in your environment.
We’re going to make a recycle bin bug hotel – but check out the extension activity for making a more permanent natural bug hotel.
You’ll need:
Instructions:
1. Start off by designing your bug hotel on paper after looking at the materials in the recycling box – what will help bugs to hide and keep safe, which size of materials would be best, what sort of bugs do you think you would find in the garden?
2. Using a plastic pot as the container, fill with different materials – instead of a plastic pot you could use a shoe box but this will rapidly deteriorate when it rains.
3. Place it in a shady area about 2 ft off the ground.
Summer is necessary down time for kids but that doesn`t mean learning has to stop instead take their interests and make it a summer long project. If they are interested in animals then create a fun summer project around the animals in their back garden, or if space is their thing then some late nights to watch the stars will make learning fun.
Rainy Day Mum is a marine biologist, environmental educator and qualified teacher who lives naturally with her children. In her blog she creates activities to support the kids learning at school and recommends many ideas to spend quality time with the children. See her article here.
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