Adventures in Entomology

With only a few short months left of warmth before we are covered completely in snow up here in Canada, I am definitely making the most of my time spent outdoors with my toddler! One thing we both love to do right now are tiny treasure hunts around our yard. This all started when spring brought hundreds of tiny bright orange ladybugs to our backyard and my little girl was overjoyed with their presence! Each day we would scour the yard in search of these little ladybugs. She would squeal with delight upon spotting one in the grass and beg me to collect it and put it in our potted plants so it could munch on the leaves or mites. Some days we would have a dozen or more little ladybirds collected!

She would feed them sprigs of grass and want to check on them throughout the day. My little scientist had such a big heart for these itty-bitty bugs. The search for more was never-ending. As spring turned into hot summer though, the ladybugs flew away and I was left with a very sad little girl. So I decided I could try and recreate her little ladybug backyard oasis with some of the rock ladybugs I had made her for Easter. This was a satisfactory second best scenario for her. In the grass, my budding entomologist would play happily with her rock bugs. Feeding them sprigs just like she had the real ones. Then my mom had the marvellous idea of hiding these fake little bugs in the yard for her to find. Well, this was a huge success and started the beginning of several scavenger hunts for all kinds of brightly painted rock bugs in our yard and hers!

Here we are now deep into summer's heat and we are still treasure hunting for all kinds of real and fake bugs, insects and critters becayse once the ladybugs flew off for summer, it wasn’t long before the butterflies arrived. She was just as excited about these flighty friends as she was the ladybugs. Chasing the butterflies endlessly around the yard, she was never able to catch one. So I found these vibrant butterflies at the local dollar store for her instead. They were actually stickers but I removed the adhesive so I could use them for our outdoor seek and find fun!

She uses this woven basket to collect her treasures in as she finds them. Sometimes she will carry it from spot to spot with her or sometimes she will leave it in the grass as a home base from which to set forth from on her entomology adventures and to return to once a treasured bug has been found. Nothing brings her more joy than gathering up insects and winged wonders. Whether she is finding a fake flight of butterflies, a loveliness of lookalike ladybugs, or the real deal hiding in her yard, happiness radiates from her tiny soul. As a mom, that's all you can ask for.

Recently, she has been intrigued by dragonflies because one landed on her daddy the other night and she now is very curious about these 'anisoptera' as real entomologists call them! Another crawly critter she is curious about are caterpillars! She found one the other day on the front porch and has been on the hunt for more ever since! So I am now attempting to track down some fake ones that I can hide in the yard for her next scavenger hunt!

Since we've been through our yard quite a few times, she’s getting good at finding all the hidden bugs! The best hiding places are all the best spots you would normally find them! I like to hide them in the trees, on the grass, in the weeds, and especially in the flowers! Hiding the items is both fun and exciting for me. I am getting creative with where I put the items, too! Especially since my go-to spots are now all figured out! So I put them up a little higher in the trees so she has to balance on tip toes to reach them or tuck them completely out of sight. Sometimes I will put one so out in the open and right in sight for her… Surprisingly she usually misses those ones entirely!

Honestly, watching her peek through the trees and grass for tiny bugs (real or fake) makes me smile. I foresee a pet tarantula in my future. Lucky for her, mama isn’t afraid of spiders!