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If there is one thing I know about gardening with kids, it’s that they are both fascinated and repulsed by insects. I volunteer at a school-to-farm program where we teach kids about agriculture, farming and growing food. Nothing can derail a day of planting like a bug find!
Last week, the children found a spider with a large egg sack attached to her. They wanted to pick her up and have a good look, but instead of prodding at her with fingers or sticks, we encourage the kids to use bug collection jars.
They collected Ms. Spider and were able to spend some time inspecting her and the egg sack while she was safely contained in glass. They asked questions and chatted with each other about what they were learning, but at the end they set her back down in the garden where she was found and let her scramble away. What a wonderful learning experience it was, and it kept the kids engaged for quite a long time.
- Make a bunch of these for a science or insect birthday bash and label with the birthday theme, and you will have a fun activity for a group of curious bug inspectors!
- To make them, I uploaded some clip art of a lady bug to the custom jar topper label. I choose a wide-mouth topper to fit on a pint-sized, wide-mouth jar.
- When my labels arrived, I poked holes in the cardstock with a BBQ skewer and secured it in place with the canning ring.
- I added a little branch in the jar so there would be something for the insects to climb on, and then I set my little guy loose to collect some creatures!
Used In This Project:
- Small Rectangle Labels • I chose the “Lil’ Bug” style in lime.
- Large Canning Jar Topper • I chose the custom style and uploaded ladybug clipart.
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Stephanie Rose is a gardener who lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she has grown over 100 edibles, 400 perennials, and countless other plants in her small urban yard; a hobby that continues to grow with each season. Stephanie writes DIY garden projects, yummy recipes and crafty goodness at Garden Therapy where she hopes you will find something to inspire you to get outside for a little, well, garden therapy.
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