I really like Insect Lore. Over the years, we've done the butterfly garden kit three times, the silkworms once and the frog kit once.
I'm really tempted to do the carnivorous plant kit soon.
We also did frogs once by catching tadpoles in a pond and then watching them change from tadpoles to frogs in an old aquarium we had. They turned into such tiny, cute little frogs. Only problem was I forgot that frogs have to eat. After a couple of days they all died, which was highly traumatic to my kids who had gotten very attached to them!
Once we studied worms. We made our own wormery using instructions like this.
Some other bug related resources we've enjoyed over the years:
Children of Summer This is one of my favorite read alouds EVER in all my years of homeschooling. You'll love it.
Journey to the Ants I have one son who went through quite a phase of ant fascination who loved this book.
We enjoyed this just-for-fun book.
And for identifying the many insects and bugs you and your children discover around your house and yard: The National Audubon Society's Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. Invaluable!
If you want to do the carnivorous plants soon, you may want to go ahead and buy the set now. If I am not mistaken, the carnivorous plant seeds have to go into the fridge for SIX WEEKS before you plant them. It doesn't say so on the box, but I think the directions inside (in fine print) explain that the plants need to do go through this process or they will not sprout. I was looking at the carnivorous plant set in the store for my daughter's birthday (which was the next day) and I opened the package to read the instructions... I just went with the desert plants. They only take one week to sprout! :) (And our local zoo has an extensive collection of desert plants, so I knew we'd be able to connect the two in our learning experiences). ;) But, I may go ahead and buy the carnivorous plants set now, too, so they will be ready for all the bugs of the next spring. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's really good to know Veronica! Thanks for the heads up!
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