Insect Kick

I've never seen so many insects until I moved here. We have central air, and so the windows are often closed, but we hear many insects as they bounce on our windows. Koko and Cheeky spend ample amounts of time peering outside the windows watching the insect show. It's amusing to hear Koko count all the legs and announce to me, "Ma! This here is an insect! It has six legs!"

I think I need to do some kind of insect classification activity like this Introduction to Insects or better yet, some kind of activity with bunch of insects and insect-looking non-insects like spiders and worms that she could categorize as "Insect" and "Non-insect". But the lazy part of me just wants me to sit down and just listen to her sort everything out and maybe find some insect books instead. Though I did print out this butterfly life cycle because some child convinced Koko that the chrysalis is where the butterfly laid eggs! And she's already discovered that I'm fallible. Though I think she's known that since she was two. "Mom, when I was a little baby, you told me that butterflies came out of cocoons but now we both know that moths come from cocoons; butterflies come out of chrysalises. She's a riot!

We've read Gail Gibbons's Spiders and I just purchased and received Benjamin's Bugs (I bought it for a cent, but with shipping it was about $4) which both children adore, but I have to say that I was disappointed that the pictures of the insects were so small. Though I have to say, Koko was so thrilled to use her magnifying glass to have a better view. And she was tickled pink that all the so-called bugs were not insects after all. So, she did kind of do a mental sorting activity. Anyway, it's a starting point to learn the basic names of common insects, not to mention just a charming book for babies and toddlers. (She started bursting out laughing when she saw the ants dancing.) Today, Koko poured over Wonders of Nature which also, like Benjamin's Bugs is not fact-filled or very scientific, but just sees various "wonders of nature" from a little child's point of view.

Some more scientific books that are on my hit list:

The Life Cycles of Butterflies
Simon and Schuster Children's Guide to Insects and Spiders
Bugs are Insects

Any other recommendations? I've grabbed a lot of insect books from the library and none of them disappointed me. It's all new and interesting for both of us. But still, I would like to have a great insect book to purchase some day.

Needless to say, I am not fond of insects. They gross me out. But my childhood was full of happy memories of making mud, grass, dandelion "pizzas" "fishing" for leaves in the curb, and cutting up a lot of worms to see one become two. I hope to nurture her love for insects. Though she's funny. She understands that I need to "get rid" of some insects in the house, i.e. mosquitoes, but she can be strangely compassionate at times. One day, we saw a big beetle in the garage and she said to me, "Mom, don't kill it. It's a mommy beetle who is homeschooling her babies!"