A bug safari

The little boys love hunting for bugs in the back garden, it’s something we do quite a lot and we try to find new bugs each time to expand their knowledge. As it was so wet this weekend it was a great time to get out in the garden and look for bugs.

As any parent will know, little fingers often want to touch and pick things up. To avoid any over enthusiastic handling of the creatures in the garden we used a super little bug safari kit produce by Interplay.

bug safari kit

Inside were a range of useful tools for handling and viewing the bugs. Despite the rain the boys really got stuck in. They always find exploring in the rain even more exciting. They lifted up stones and dug down in the soil looking for a range of things, and got so excited when a family of woodlice ran out from underneath a pile of bricks.

hunting for bugs

They collected all sorts in their little pot and added in a few leaves for the creatures to climb on. They were cautious with the spiders we found, but with everything else they really went for it.

It created a great opportunity to discuss colour and texture and also numbers as they were trying to count the legs of various bugs they picked up.

bug inspection

Once they had filled their pot with interesting bugs we headed back inside to discuss what they had collected and have a proper ‘bug inspection’. The paintbrush is used to touch the bugs, as fingers can be a bit heavy handed.

bug inspection

If you are looking for things to do over the holidays, I highly recommend a bug hunt. The only ‘bugs’ the boys really don’t like are flies and wasps as we had a wasp sting incident with one of them last year. As small as he was at the time, he still remembers.

Something that I remember being in the house when I was little and, which still exists is Anthisan for bites and stings. It’s one of those things that it’s always worth having in just in case.

Happy bug hunting and remember, don’t be put off by bad weather as it can mean you have more to find. Encourage your children to pick things up, teach them to be gentle and how to handle small creatures with care.

7 comments

  1. That is a great bug hunting kit. May have to get one for my youngest as she’s forever walking into the house with insects and the like that she’s found in the garden. #ShareWithMe

  2. It looks like you had so much fun. My 21 month old loves finding bugs. She is forever bringing them in to show me – much to my horror haha

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