Backyard Critter Mini-Camp - Day 6 - Grasshopper - check text

Backyard Bugs - Grasshopper

 We began the day with a devotion from the book Five Minute Devotions.  Then we read  Are You a Grasshopper?

We also looked at the two-page spread from Bugs and Spiders.  This is a great book with photos and information on various insects (and spiders) including life cycle, size, basic info and anatomy.

Next we shared some information with the children on grasshoppers.  When we were able to insert a fun activity to go along with the fact - we did that.  Did you know that there are more than 18,000 kinds of grasshoppers and they are found all over the world with the exception of the colder areas near the North and South Pole.

We also talked about the differences between grasshoppers and crickets. 

Differences Between Grasshoppers and Crickets

Characteristic	Grasshoppers & Locusts	Crickets & Katydids
Antennae	short	long
Auditory Organs	on the abdomen	on the forelegs
Stridulation	rubbing the hind leg against the forewing	rubbing forewings together
Ovipositors	short	long, extended
Activity	diurnal	nocturnal
Feeding Habits	herbivorous	predatory, omnivorous, or herbivorous

Our two youngest kids just playing and having fun. 

One of the facts we shared was that grasshoppers are able to jump up to 20 times their  height!  Isn't that amazing?  We measured how tall each of the children are and then mulitplied that by 20.  We had them measure out how far they could jump if they were able to jump like a grasshopper.  Needless to say - they didn't even come close!

We made homemade catapaults for the next activity.  It was very easy and a lot of fun.  Try it!  I used a 2 inch block (or the closest square I had to it).  Tape a ruler to the bottom of the block.  Tape a spoon to the top.  That's it! 

We talked about how the strong muscles in the legs of the grasshopper are what is enables him to catapault great distances.  We used m&ms to illustrate the point.  Each child got a different color so they could compare which went the furthest.

Even the little boys liked the catapault, though I think they liked the chocolate even better. 

For snack, we went easy today - grasshopper cookies.  The children wondered what these had to do with grasshoppers.  Nothing really, but they did taste good. 

We ended a little early because we wanted to get to lunch early.  We knew we would be eating an early dinner (so that the girls in the play could eat before having to be back at the church at 5:30).

After lunch, some of the children spent time drawing insects from a really neat book I found at a local store.

A site to listen to sounds of a grasshopper - http://www.naturesongs.com/insects.html

Here are a few more more interesting Facts about grasshoppers

**When a grasshopper is picked up, they "spit" a brown liquid which is known by most kids and adults as "tobacco juice".  Some scientists believe that this liquid may protect grasshoppers from attacks by insects such as ants.

 

**A more attractive feature of some grasshoppers is their ability to sing. It's the males that sing, and they do it to attract female mates, or to warn off other males.

**Q.  How many eyes does a grasshopper have?  Where are they placed?
A.  The grasshopper has five eyes. It has 2 very large eyes on the side of their head with thousands of tiny lenses that enable them to see forward to the side and behind them. They also has a small eye on each of its antennas. And one more eye between them.

**Q.  What kind of crops can a grasshopper destroy? 
A.  They will destroy an entire crop of alfalfa, clover, cotton, corn, and other grains causing millions of dollars in damage every year.

*Grasshoppers can’t drink. They take in water from the plants they eat.
*The differential grasshopper, which lives throughout North America, can eat 16 times its weight in food in a day.

*Millions even billions of grasshoppers have flown together in a single swarm so thick it blocked out the sunlight.

* The world’s largest grasshoppers are about 150 mm long, while the smallest measure less than 6 mm.

* A female grasshopper can dig a burrow using tiny hooks at her rear end. Then she lays 20 to 100 eggs in the burrow.

 

One of the benefits to me of doing this type of camp is that I gain a greater appreciation for all that God has done - the variety, the creativitiy - it's really amazing.  So many interesting things for us to learn about - and what fun it is to learn! 

Blessings

Leslie

Backyard Critter Mini-Camp - Day 5 - Dragonflies

Dragonfly Camp

Catherine and I decided to do a mini-camp with our younger kids while the older girls were in camp.  We continued with the same books that we used last week in our co-op camp.  Have I mentioned that this series is really great?!  The story line is so much fun.  It starts out as if you are the insect/spider and talks about how you grow, what you eat, your predators, etc.  The end is always the same ... if your parent/friend looks like this or this or this (pictures of a variety of people), then you are not a "type of insect", you are a human child.  Check it out!  I think you'll like them.

We started the day in the same fashion with devotion and then a reading of the story, Are You a Dragonfly?

While we were hosting camp, Christopher helped out by playing with our younger non-campers.  It was nice for all of us!

We also read from the book Bugs and Spiders - the two page spread on dragonflies.

Next we covered a variety of facts about dragonflies.  We found this site to be a helpful one.  Some of our activities had the children acting like dragonflies.

We learned that a dragonfly sheds its skin as it grows - at least 4 times.  We layered 4 layers of clothing on the children and had them shed their skin.

 

We also learned that dragonfly eyes contain up to 30,000 individual lenses. Human eyes only one.  They have 360 degree vision.  Isn't that amazing?!  We had the children stand together to see how many of them it would take to get 360 vision.  It took 3 to get it from a circumference perspective, but this still didn't get up and down without moving their heads.

Dragonflies have two sets of wings. They don’t have to beat their wings in unison like other insects do. Their front wings can be going up while their backs ones are going down.  

To illustrate this we had the children lay on their backs and move their arms and legs independently.  Or stand and pat their head (not in a circle) while rubbing their stomach. 

Dragonflies flap their wings at about 30 beats per second compared to a bee’s 300 bps.  We timed the children to see how long it would take them to flap their arms 30 times.

 Dragonflies are excellent and strong fliers, they can loop-the-loop, hover, and fly backwards.  We had the children act this out.

Just two cuties moving through. 

 The largest dragonfly is found in Costa Rica. It has a wingspan of 7 1/2 inches.   The children used a ruler to compare this length with their feet, hand, etc to get an understanding of how large this insect could be.

Dragonflies live most of their life in the water before becoming an adult.  While underwater they eat mosquito nymphs, tiny fish, and pollywogs. When they have matured to airborne insects, they catch mosquitoes and gnats in mid-air before devouring them.

We had the children catch their “prey”/snack.  We used goldfish and this activity was a big hit!  

 

For snack we had them make their own dragonfly.  They used gummy worms for the body, fruit roll-ups to make the wings and gummy life savers for the eyes. 

          For the craft activity, we had the children make a dragonfly from model magic (Daniel) or sculpy (older kids).  We talked about the parts of the body as they formed the clay.  They did a great job making the 3 parts of the body, the large compound eyes, the legs, antennae and more.  

 

The younger two made pretty dragonfly pictures by glueing foam dragonflies onto the paper.

Here are a few more facts for those who are still interested.  LOL 

Is a dragonfly a fly?

No. Flies are insects with two wings. Dragonflies have four wings. However, both flies and dragonflies are insects, meaning that they have six legs and three body parts: a head, a thorax, and an abdomen.

Why are they called dragonflies?

The name comes from their fierce jaws, which they use to catch flies (among other winged insects).


Are dragonflies like other insects?

Dragonflies and damselflies belong to an order of insects all their own, called Odonata. Although the two are similar, damselflies are smaller than dragonflies. In addition, damselflies can fold their wings over their backs when they are at rest. Dragonflies can't fold their wings, so they rest with their wings held straight out.

Are dragonflies beneficial to humans?

You bet they are! In fact, dragonflies are sometimes called "mosquito hawk" because they catch and eat so many mosquitoes. Always on the hunt, dragonflies consume gnats, flies, and mosquitoes--all of which humans consider pests.

Why are dragonflies such good hunters?

Dragonflies' ability to maneuver makes them able to out-fly their prey. But dragonflies also have the advantage of excellent eyesight. If you've ever watched dragonflies, no doubt you have noticed their huge eyes. Each of the two large eyes is made up of thousands of six-sided units. Together, these smaller eyes enable a dragonfly to detect even the slightest movement. To test this, try sneaking up and catching a dragonfly. You usually come up empty-handed.

 That's it - a fun day learning about these fascinating creatures that God has made.

Blessings

Leslie

Friends Visiting

I haven't had much time to blog this week as we have had friends staying with us for the week.  Our sweet friends from VA, that used to live next door, came down for the week.  Our oldest girls were attending a drama camp together, along with another friend.  The rest of us had fun just playing and hanging out together.

Here are Rebecca and Hannah - they have been friends their whole lives. 

The little ones played so nicely together - and it is really funny to see a couple of 2 year olds (and hear them).  "No no" and "mine" were some favorite phrases.  LOL  Aren't they cute?!

We spent time working on projects together (preschool bags and science bags), organizing, talking, looking at books, and playing with the kids.  We also did a couple of days of mini-camp which I'll post more about later.  It was a fun week!  :-)  I'm glad they were willing to come and stay for a nice long visit. 

More later.  My sweet hubby figured out the problem with the photos, so I'll load more as I can.  Our connection is slow though so maybe tomorrow will be better.

Blessings

Leslie

 

God Doesn't Make Mistakes

I'm having some problems with my blog - actually with photobucket which hosts my pictures.  It's frustrating to me and make me wonder if it is time to change sites to one that is a little easier to work with.  I hesitate for several reasons.  I have a lot of time invested in this blog and don't want to lose it all (including all of the encouraging comments).  I guess I just don't want to start from scratch, kwim? 

So, I've got several posts ready to go - except for the photos.  They are loaded into photobucket - but now I can't access them.  Not sure what is going on there.  I can see the picture, but I can't edit or copy the picture.  I get a message saying that it's no longer available from the owner.  What does that mean?  I can't upload them again right now either.  So, while I thought I'd be able to post a lot, I may have to wait awhile. 

If anyone has suggestions - I'm open to hearing them!!!

Here's a neat video/song that I thought some of you might enjoy. 

God Doesn't Make Mistakes

Backyard Critter Camp - Day 4 - Spiders

This was our final day of camp.  I was concerned about the weather (80 percent chance of rain from the previous afternoon through the following day).  We started dry - though a very wet yard - and only had light rains in the morning.  We did most of our work in the garage and under and awning - and then a little in the yard.  It worked well despite my misgivings.  God was gracious to allow us this break in weather.

Our book for today was Are You a Spider?

 We began our day with devotions.  We talked about spider webs and how they are made and used.  Lies are a lot like spider webs in that they can trap us.  We talked about how the best thing is to tell the truth. 

Psalm 34:13

Then watch your tongue!

Keep your lips from telling lies!

 We then read the story and had an information time on some of the varieties of spiders that God has made.  It is truly amazing!  I'll share one interesting story.  You all know that spiders have 8 legs and no antennae.  Insects on the other hand have 6 legs and 2 antennae.  There is one type of spider that mimics insects (ants) in order to avoid predators (birds that won't eat ants) or to hunt for ants themselves.  They put their front legs in front of their body so that they look like antennae.  Isn't that interesting?  (And I'm not a huge spider fan either.)

Then we broke up by age.  The older children learned more about spider anatomy (blue blood) and which ones lived in our area.  The long trail of papers are pictures and facts about spiders that live where we do.

The younger children did a quiz to see how much they knew about spiders.  I picked questions that had been either in the book or that we had talked about.  I asked them to stand up if the statement was true and to sit if it were false. 

When they had answered each question, they took turns applying sticker pictures that related to the answers on a large piece of paper (it was really the bottom of a box covered in white paper).  Each child had a turn and they did a really great job in answering the questions.  For those who are curious, I made the stickers by scanning images from the book and also from the internet.  These were then printed on sticker paper.  My sweet dh helped me to do this. 

Next, they moved to an observation area.  More information to learn about spiders and a picture of a spider to label with sticker words.

There were some live specimens for them to examine - even a black widow (one of only two dangerous spiders in our area).  That one was found just the morning at one of the camper's homes.  (Glad it wasn't mine!  If they are here, I don't want to see them!)

Next it was snack time.  Bet you can guess what we ate - spiders, of course.  We made them using rice cakes as a base.  The children could choose to cover it with peanut butter, cream cheese, jelly or a chocolate spread.  Peanut butter was the hands-down favorite.  Then they added raisin eyes.  Last the legs which could be either carrot sticks or pretzel sticks.

 Christopher chose his own snack (peanut allergies) and Eliana let him know that she wanted some too.  He was happy to share.

The younger children made spider gliders for a craft.  I don't have pictures of the actual making since I needed to help the children.  Here's a picture of two of the finished spiders.

And here is one of them in action.

We ended the day by playing a couple of spider games.  Both the older and younger children did these, but I wasn't able to get pictures of the older kids.

First, they tried to throw some prey onto the spider's web.  They had learned that not all of the strands on the web are sticky.  We used cotton balls as the prey and they threw them at the circles made of tape on the web.

In the second game, one child stood on block of wood to which 8 strings were tied.  This child was the spider.  He/she closed eyes and placed their hands on the strings.  The eight strings were being held by the other children.  One child was selected to "strum" their string to see if the spider could feel it.

The spider then followed the string to capture the prey!

 And that is a wrap!  I had hoped to have people over for a movie watching outside and dessert social.  (Showing movie using a projector)  The weather however was uncooperative.  We had thought that A Bug's Life would be a fun one to watch.  We may try again - though our weather is looking iffy this week as well - you know, summer thunderstorms.

I'm thankful for this time to have a fun learing experience with friends.  I'm thankful for the other creative moms that joined me in teaching as it was truly a cooperative effort.  I highly recommend doing this type of camp!  I'm happy to answer questions on how we did it for anyone that may have any.

Blessings

Leslie