More Bugs...

You know you want more bugs. There can never be too many bugs. Just ask your kids, they'll tell you.

You shook the tree, and that was good for a couple of hours of bug observations. Those bugs are all gone, though. Your kids are begging for more bugs. You probably learned from shaking that tree that you put yourself in danger by standing under the shaking tree... (bugs in your hair?) So today you want a new method of attracting bugs for your little ones observing pleasure.

I aim to please. Today I will give you a new idea for getting those critters to put on a show for your kids. Here's what you do...

You will need a plastic or foil pie plate. Dig a hole in the ground that is big enough to hold the plate with the rim at the same level as the surrounding ground.

Ask your kids what might work well to lure a few bugs to their observatory. They generally prefer sweet foods. You might try some jelly, honey, soft fruit, bread, or peanut butter. Actually, I recommend a variety of baits to add to your plate so that you can observe what each different bug finds most appealing.

You'll need to go away from the area for at approximately 30 minutes. This would be a good time to have a few pictures available of local bugs that you might encounter. You could also read something about bugs.

When you return to your plate, expect that your kids will want to hang out for a while and watch whatever came to visit. If you take paper and crayons out to the plate with you, your kids can draw pictures of what they see. You can even have each child tell a story about the bugs. The possibilities are endless.

When you finish observing the bugs, be sure to turn the pie plate upside down and dump all the bugs out. They won't be able to get out if you don't. It's important to remind your children that looking at the bugs is okay, but releasing them back into the wild is necessary.