Summer Homeschooling Idea For Kids: Love Bugs!

I have always found that we fear the things we do not understand. Since summer is in full swing, and bugs are everywhere, why not take this opportunity to inform you little ones about bugs. I’m always a bit saddened when I see kids squealing in fear around bugs. They just need to understand a little bit more about them, and this squeamish fear can quickly transform itself into curious fascination.

I loved these little tidbits about bugs that Angela forwarded me the other day! Enjoy! And read it to your kids!

By Angela Elliott, Author of Alive in Five

Did you know that for every person, there are at least 200 million bugs? In every square mile of dirt, there are more bugs than there are people in the world.

Bugs are pretty cool when you think about it.

Take dragonflies for example: they squirt water out one end to shoot themselves forward like an airplane. They can catch thousands of mosquitoes by making a basket with their legs. Ants work together in a colony to look for food, build their homes, and care for their babies. Bees work together to make honey and can lift and pull 300 times their own body weight!

When a bee finds food, it flies back to the hive and tells the other bees where the food is by doing a dance in a certain direction and at a certain speed. How about those amazing caterpillars? They turn themselves into beautiful butterflies. How cool is that?

OK, I’ll admit that there are some nasty bugs out there…. Like the flea. Even though they can be nasty, they can sure do a neat trick! Did you know that fleas can jump 100 times their own body length and they always land backwards? That would be like us jumping up to the top of those tall buildings downtown.
Did any of you see A Bug’s Life? In the movie, one little bug had the courage to be different and brave enough to help his entire colony. The greatest message in the movie was that we can accomplish anything if we have the courage and if we all just work together to do the right thing.

I guess if you really think about it, we can learn a lot from the insects around us. When you see a cockroach on your floor or a flea bites you on the leg, you may wish we didn’t have bugs, but without bugs, butterflies and silkworms, all the plants would not get pollinated and you wouldn’t have any chocolate, peaches, apples and other yummy things to eat? Not to mention, the world would be a much dirtier place, because believe it or not, bugs clean up after us.

Spend some time learning more about the bugs in your environment and see what you can learn from the ways they work and live together. Bugs are hard working little critters and definitely worthy of being called our “friends!” So careful where you walk and bring a magnifying glass next time you go to the park!

Happy Summer!!

-Angela

Related posts:

• Helpful Online Resources For Homeschooling Moms It looks like my full time homeschooling days will be coming to an end as...