Animals after the storm

We’ve had our bug finder out again this week and been looking at the summer bugs. It’s amazing to see what changes we have in the bugs in the garden throughout the year – but after a storm we found possibly our most exciting yet.

After reading the Very Quiet Cricket we’ve been on the look out for grasshoppers or crickets in the garden – we’ve heard them which was very exciting but hadn’t seen them. Then J and T disappeared outside and came running back to say we’ve found a bug.

It was wonderful – I was able to explain to J what it was – get out The Very Quiet Cricket Book and also our bug viewer and we set about looking at it.

What surprised both of us was how green the under belly of the grass hopper was. Using a bug viewer is a great way for kids to be able to look a bugs differently than they would normally.

J is getting very good at using the bug viewer – he loves the double magnification that it has and will often swap between then looking at the different parts of the bugs to see what they look like. I must admit that I love his fascination with bugs it’s great to see and I hope to continue to encourage him to explore and learn about them as he wants to.

When we released the grasshopper it was great to see that J and T worked together following it as it jumped around the garden. All the time J was telling T about it how it looked, what it did and retelling the very quite cricket story to her as well.

I have been wanting to do the Movement Card Activity that Toddler Approved did with the Very Quiet Cricket as part of the Virtual Book Club and when the showers started again we moved inside and I got out the cards I had printed and we played being different insects.

Our book link and one that we have enjoyed before and continue to do so is The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle.

I love the images and the different sounds that each of the insects make – if you haven’t got this in your collection and you love The Very Hungry Caterpillar as well as having a bug obsessed preschooler and toddler then this should be on your next item to buy.