Do Bugs Bug You?

“It’s coming for me!” shrieked Colin at age 2 1/2.  Hiding behind our front door, he peered toward the front steps in pure terror.  Instantly, my mama adrenaline kicked in. I leaped from my garden toward the front ready to defeat and defend.  Instead, I stood staring in confusion.  I could see nothing or no one that could possibly bring harm to my child.

I gently beckoned Colin to come to me but he remained partially behind the front door shrieking, “Snake!”  Then I saw it.  At least 8 inches long, a sickly shade of yellow with brown spots with a foot long slime trail, the northwest king of slugs:  a banana slug.  It would take 2 years before my son developed a healthy interest in creepy crawly critters again.

Bugs.  You either find these alien-like creatures fascinating or nightmarish.  For most children, insects and bugs provide an entire world of discovery and open the doors to their imagination.

My 6 year old, Myles, fell in love with the bug world and can tell you that an insect has 3 body parts, six legs, and exoskeleton, and usually two antennae.  A spider has eight legs and two body parts.  Lastly, there are bugs like caterpillars, worms, and pill bugs.

Recently, a friend gave Myles a tube of live ants.  Both of my boys studied their ants for days.  To celebrate his ants, Myles ran to his bedroom and found the book “Ant Picnic,” a Kindermusik favorite from the Imagine That! curriculum, “See What I Saw,” which happens to be the class coming up in the Fall.  We then went in search of Kindermusik songs about bugs. I was surprised to find that just about every curriculum has some ode to the insect and bug kingdom!

My boys spend their days pretending to catch insects and bugs using the puppets from our Kindermusik classes.  They place them in a bug museum, using their Bilibos as the terrarium for their buggy catches.  Their bunk beds become an ant farm as they crawl underneath pillows and blankets in search of food (aka duplo blocks).  Today, they are outside with friends on a bug hunt, pretending to be great bug explorers and scientists.

Colin now loves bugs, except the spiders that find their way in to terrorize him!  We hear are giggles and sighs of awe unless he discovers the fear-inducing eight-leg bug crawling toward him.  Can you blame him?  I do the same thing!  My husband usually finds us, a four-year-old boy and a grown woman squeamish over some poor unsuspecting spider crawling across the kitchen floor.  We recover from scary encounters of the eight-legged kind by singing, “There’s a spider on my leg”  & tickling each other.  If you want to learn this silly song be sure to ask Miss Allison the next time you see her!

- posted by Miss Jesikah, who encourages you to try some of these bug activities with your child:

• Go on a bug walk.  You’ll be absolutely amused at the delight and wonder in your child as you point out the creepy-crawly critters just in your own backyard.
• Buy a plastic set of insects and hide them in your garden for your children to discover and catch with nets (use fishing nets if you can’t find bug catching nets).
• Recycle an old VCR case or other clear container to make a bug terrarium.  Simply fill with fake leaves, flowers or even the old Easter basket grass.  Have your child pick out some plastic bugs to place inside and then close the lid.  They can carry it around proudly.  Or as my kids do, place it next to their bed so they can look at their bugs before drifting off to sleep.
• Be sure to listen to your Kindermusik CD’s for great bug songs and have your child dance like an ant, a bee, a grasshopper, a butterfly or whatever insects holds their imagination.