Science Club - Insects

I wanted to really concentrate on experimenting and learning outside this summer, as much as I could.  I got a little idea in my head to start a weekly science club.  It's been fun.  We've met two times now and I think all the kid really like it.

This week we learned about insects......and it was a favorite with Caty.

BTW....while setting up for science club, future mental note....don't leave the crayons in the sun.  They will start to melt!

Make a bee honeycomb.  They taped together a few straws to see what a hive looks like inside (I didn't get a chance to get to the local honeybee shop to get some hive pieces).  We talked about the bee life cycle.

Fun puzzles and book and materials to remember the life cycle of the butterfly.

Drink like a butterfly.  You can barely see the cut flowers in the pic.  The kids had to use a short straw to try and drink their "nectar".  And then give them a longer straw to show how important a butterfly's proboscis.

The kiddos wrapped themselves like a cocoon.

 Examination Stations....lots of magnifying glasses ready

 Another fun fact....

 I have a bunch of insect eggs.  I laid them out for the kids who were younger or those wanting to relax a bit.  They were to match the halves together.

 Spider web craft materials.

 This project has taken a while.  They learned how spider shoot venom into their wrapped prey and make a bug shake....yuck.  So we tried to melt styrofoam balls like a spider would an insect.  Didn't work real well.

 This was an extra craft I remembered from a friend a few years ago.

 Caty breaking out of her cocoon.

 Lydia's spider web.

 All the kids went on a bug hunt then....we started digging first and then went to piles of wood.  They found worms, pill bugs, and a dad found a huge spider.

 See the very tiny young worm in the bottom of the container...

This club then led to more bug hunting for Caty and I....and some fun reading about pill bugs!!!

The girls have been watching Magic School Bus episodes on butterflies, ants, and whatever other insect they can watch them on.  It's been fun this week....and will continue since I now have a pill bug habitat in my living room!