10 ways to teach children to respect insects and create curiosity

Children's curiosity and creativity is heightened when they are living in the moment. When children get to explore their natural world freely and observe the life around them, many new connections and memories can be made. When we as caretakers get the opportunity to assist in learning, it can be an exciting adventure for both the children and ourselves to dive into new information. With climate change on the rise and species going extinct, I believe it is important to teach our next generations about how to protect our Earth and respect the life living amongst us.

Here are some ways we can help teach our children to respect insects and ways to spark their curiosity towards bugs.

1. Research the bugs that the children are around

It is important when teaching children about most things, to have knowledge on the topic so you can be a bit more prepared when questions arise! If you haven't had the time to research, it's always a great bonding moment to research and find new information together with the children/your child.

2. Teach them about the purpose of insects

Many times, we may not even know why the earth has so many bugs, but if we research and learn more about the bug, we can find out what the role of the bug is in our large world. For example; worms have an amazing role to help aerate soil, eat decaying matter and leave castings behind to nourish the soil for healthier plants.

3. Talk about the importance of bugs for our ecosystem

Once you have done some research or already have the knowledge to teach our next generation about the importance bugs have for our ecosystem and creating biodiversity around us, we can start to have more conversations about them. Not only do bugs play vital roles in helping plants or feeding animals, but they can also be helping a different kind of species through symbiotic relationships (another fun topic to explore). There are many things to learn about the roles bugs play in our ecosystem!

4. Supply books and resources

Through public libraries, book shares or online you can find great resources to help you dive into the topic of teaching more about insects. Playful stories can be the best to help the children relate better rather than all nonfiction resources (having both is great, though).

5. Go for a field trip

If you have the local spaces that can help you expand on this topic, hands-on learning and visuals are key for teaching young ones. Some examples of places to bring children to have a more sensory-inducing experience are; a compost centre, bug zoo, bug museum, a forest/park education centre. Even your local municipality may have people available to talk about the biodiversity of your area.

6. Build a compost

Building a composter or setting one up with the help of the children can let them be a part of the composting process. Talk about how bugs like to eat fruits and veggies too, so when we are done with the food we don't eat we can reuse it in creating compost but by also feeding and supporting the insects around us. It's also great to have some compost for plants and your garden. If you don't have a yard or the space to have an outdoor compost, vermicomposting has become very popular and you can easily make a DIY vermicompost for under $30.

7. Raise them in your classroom/home

With online shopping at the tips of our fingers, we can easily order almost anything. You can raise butterfly chrysalis, have an ant farm, or make a mealworm farm all indoors (if you want to go this route). If you choose to raise insects indoors, always do your research and have them in a location that can be easily monitored. This would be a wonderful experience for the children - they will learn all about responsibility, caring, patience and will create an amazing memory through learning that they will remember their whole life.

8.Go on a scavenger hunt (I spy)

Scavenger hunts are always so much fun for children in any size of group. This could be done individually or in a group/class setting. Bring the kids out to a local park to see where they can find the bugs and observe where they are most commonly found. Many open-ended questions can be asked with this activity.

• Why do we think they like to live under rocks or in logs?

• What do you see the bugs doing?

• How can we keep them safe?

• Why does this bug move faster than a worm?

• What do you think this bug eats?

• Who is the leader / in charge?

• Where are they going/where do they live?

9. Talk about lifecycles

Just as humans go through stages of life, insects do too. Talking about how bugs grow into adults too can make it relatable to children and intrigue their interests in the bugs. Showing visuals of the lifecycle of the insects can help the children see the process of how the bug changes over time. As an activity, have the children create a life cycle visual (modelling clay, drawing, collage, etc). Going through the process of creating a visual of the life cycle helps the children have the freedom to create the visual/interpretation of what they are learning about the life cycle of the insect you choose.

10. Create curiosity by exposing them with knowledge of rare/exotic bugs

Just as it's important to teach children about diversity and multiculturalism within the world, we should be exposing them to new and different information about other life around the world. For example, if you live in North America you can expand on teaching about insects that live in South America. Have conversations about why they may have different insects than the bugs you find in your country.

I hope you enjoy this learning adventure with the children in your life!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Gandhi

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