Intrepid Insect Explorers

The DIY bug hunt bonanza that will have your kids giggling for days!

By Lisa Bradburn

It’s sunny. Finally. After an exceptionally soggy weekend I am very glad to see the back of that weather front!

Mother to three children, when the sun deems to shine, I always think: YES! They can go outside!

But as an ex-teacher turned full time toy-hunter (yes that really is my job), I reach the back door and think: what can we learn today?

While I love to see my children running around, enjoying the space and exploring, I get that all-too-familiar pang of guilt when I think I should be playing with them and educating them, too.

So over the years I have formulated a number of activities that combine the freedom and excitement of the outdoors with learning and a little structure thrown in.

Here’s one of my all-time favourite outdoor activities for kids. I’m going to take you through a whole day’s worth of fun, but I’ve been known to break this up over two or three days, and even a week.

Intrepid Insect Explorers!
From colouring and dressing up, to pretend jungles and make-believe camps, this insect hunt is simple, educational and lots of fun for kids of all ages. I had mine doing this until they were 10!

A little learning to begin
First off, teach your kids about the insects they’re going to hunt down later in the day – what they’re called, look like and do (this is a good re-fresh for us parents, too!)

The usual suspects are: spiders, ants, slugs, snails, worms, ladybirds, caterpillars, beetles, butterflies, bees, bumble bees, wasps and hover flies. Use the most common insects found in your part of the world. 5-6 is usually enough for a little brain to handle.

Adjusting to the age and ability of your child, use a picture book or outlined drawings for the kids to colour in or spelling games for older children.

After talking about the insects and asking questions about what colour they might be and where you might find them, ask them to colour in an outline or make up a new insect all of their own.

ZOOB, Playdough and even clay (if you dare!) are great materials to use for this. Or try Rock Art – a fun way to bring the outdoors into the playroom by painting and decorating rocks to look like insects.

 

This activity sets up the theme for the day: discovering the wonders of the world! It’s also a great balance between intervening and independent play – be sure to leave them to create once you’ve set the scene.

Getting into character
Now, it’s time for dressing up. There’s no need to buy special outfits: welly boots, a big hat and a net or bucket are enough to make kids feel like intrepid explorers!

There are some wonderful toys available if you’d like to make this extra special. A magnifying glass is adorable and these bug goggles add a whole new dimension to the day!

Out into the unknown!
Keeping with the theme, you now have two choices: find the actual bugs or plant giant plastic bugs around the garden for the kids to find.

(I prefer the latter because the success rate is pretty much guaranteed and I’m not a big fan of spiders!)

Equipped with their buckets, send them off around the garden to find the bugs they’ve just learned about – you’ll be reinforcing the learning and getting them outside into the fresh air.

Optional extra: pretend your garden is a jungle filled with monkeys and tigers for the children to run from!

Even explorers need a break!
A packed lunch filled with healthy snacks provides a welcome reprieve from all this fun. Sit them down in a circle to count their discoveries as they eat lunch. This light-weight wilderness tent is the perfect accompaniment and a life-saver if it starts to rain!

Left to play, they’ll no doubt continue and evolve this story to make it their own. At this point, you can leave them to run around content you’ve educated and entertained for the day!

Remember, if this is too much for one day, you can break it up: colouring one day, dressing up the next, then a bug hunt and picnic to end – perfect for a long weekend.

There are endless opportunities for outdoor fun and free time outside can be secretly educational, too. How do you play with your kids outdoors? Have you been on a bug hunt? How did it go?

Lisa Bradburn is the managing director of what2buy4kids – a place to find quality, unusual gifts for kids. Lisa built her business out of first-hand frustration at the lack of interesting and available gift ideas for children. Now, she hunts them down so you don’t have to and provides endless entertainment inspiration for children of all ages.