Who is ready for a bug gardening activity? You all know how much I love zoology activities. The month of January came quickly to a close. I can smell the spring air lurking around us. I can practically hear the Pacific tree frogs croaking already. I do love their chorus. I feel my heart begin to flutter with the excitement of planting and growing season.
We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics. ~Bill Vaughan
I try to plan ahead when it comes to our garden. This year, one major motivation is involving my kids in the garden planning process. One way I hope to inspire them is with their own garden planner. I want them to imagine the garden they would want to create and then see where we can go from there. The planner is the perfect first step with kids.
Bug Gardening Activity for Kids
Planning a garden with kids isn't enough. Kids will see right through the “lesson”. Well, at least my kids do.
Adults need to step back and consider the interests of the child and go from that point.
Education is a big part of garden planning and discovering. Learning a bit more about a topic actually works well to ignite a desire to want to to learn more, or at least results in being less afraid or intimidated by certain insects like spiders, ants, and slugs.
Did you know there are certain plants that when planted together fend off pests in the garden?
Yes, it is true. Certain plants when planted near one another are beneficial, or not, depending on the plant.
Yes, I know. Mind blown.
So, imagine the possibilities when we can arm kids with this information!
That is precisely why I created this Good Bugs / Bad Bugs Sorting Activity available to YOU for FREE!
So, how should you introduce kids to gardening?
Beyond this gardening bug activity, here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Introduce children to gardening with these amazing children's books.
- Get them thinking about their own garden by helping them imagine what they might like to imagine growing!
- Create an herb garden with kids
- Consider the outdoors your classroom. Don't have plans, just go explore!
- Check out this awesome list of gardening activities to do with kids!
If you enjoyed this post and this material, check out other Life Science Activities in my Activity Pack!
If you like learning outdoors, I wrote a Taking Montessori Outside eBook with over 40 activities across the Practical Life, Sensorial, Math, and Language areas.
Thanks for reading!
Marnie