Over the Spring and Summer the toddlers have shown a deep interest in all things insects! Outside, they join Eli on bug hunts, searching around and under stumps to find the little creatures. On rainy days one of their first thoughts drifts to "Will we see worms?", often picking them up and carrying them around after they are discovered on those wet days. With this interest in mind, picking a special guest was easy to do. Quickly the educators reached out to the outreach program staff at Butterfly Conservatory to join us for a morning this summer.
Jennifer from the Butterfly Conservatory came in to present the "Tropical Bugs" program to the toddlers. They started by gathering around her as she opened a cooler that stores all of the bugs that came for a visit. The children were introduced to two owl butterfly caterpillars, one large and one small, as they lay on a large leaf having a bit of a snack. Then they met a giant Asian millipede named Millie, followed by Teresa the thorny devil walking stick and finally a spiny stick bug named Stacey. With each new interaction, the toddlers were invited to stick one finger out and gently touch each creature if they would like to.
The toddlers were curious about each new insect that was brought out before them, they watched them crawl around, observed their wiggly legs - Millie the millipede has 400 of them, and then chose whether or not they would like to get closer with the bug. Everyone participated at their own comfort level, observing or interacting however they preferred with each creature. One child touched an owl butterfly caterpillar, but quickly decided that was not for him, backing up to take on the observer roll, until later when the insects were going around for their last pets and then he decided to get a bit closer, touching, getting very close to them and eventually ended up sitting right with the instructor!
During this presentation little containers with the live three stages of the beetle were out for observation and hands on learning. There was a mealworm, larva, and black beetle in each of the five containers. "I need to touch it!" Mackenzie exclaimed, as she could hardly wait to get close to them. The children pet them, some picked them up to watch the little larva "dance" and wiggle, held a mealworm in their hand or let a beetle crawl down their arm. The beetles moved fairly fast and their little legs tickled, so not all toddlers wanted to have one climb over them. Heather picked one up and let it move across her arm. Wesley, Mackenzie, Clive, Cadence and Isabelle moved closer to watch the beetle crawl down Heathers arm and onto her hand, "Scary!" Cadence said with some excitement. Then Mackenzie noticed a dot nearby the insect, "Cater poo!" she laughed thinking that was too funny a bug pooped on her teacher!
Near the end of the hour, the first bugs came out for a second visit at the toddlers request. They gathered close again to see the walking sticks, millipede and caterpillars. Raphael was so interested that Jennifer offered to let her hold one of the walking sticks. She held her little hands still as the insect was placed in them, then she looked up, taking on the instructor’s role and offered her friends nearby, "You want to touch him?", allowing her peers to gently pet the bug again.
Besides visiting with the live insects, (which the toddlers did learn not all qualified for the "insect" title, as they must have only 6 legs and 3 body parts), but there was also two fun filled tables with bug related learning activities. One had special viewfinders and a variety of real butterfly wings for the toddlers to look at up closely, and the other had these interesting butterfly kaleidoscope glasses to try on. The containers with mealworms, larva and beetles later was added for the children to visit again with, if they chose to do so.
Before she left, Jennifer listened to the toddler’s ideas and observations about the visit and bugs in general. Owen shared with her his own observation, "Some(bugs) go fast in the sand." And the toddlers then waved bye to their new wiggly friends before reading a story called "I Love Bugs!"
From petting to holding, to bug high fives and waving to the insects, the toddlers participated at their own comfort level, making discoveries about each small guest as they were presented. But other learning and skills were also continuing to be developed during this time, learning how to be kind and gentle, encouraging social connections and interactions between the children, building on their vocabulary and early literacy skills were also being formed during this fun filled bug visit!
