For better or worse, my dad has instilled a love for bugs in my kids. I watch them outside for hours finding critters in our backyard. So with him visiting I thought it was perfect timing to make these three easy bug habitats.
Crickets
- large clear container w/ ventilation
- hole puncher
- crickets (you can obvs find in yard, but I hedged my bet and got them at the pet store).
- cotton balls
- 2 bottle caps
- fish food
- twigs, leaves
- egg carton
Start by wetting cotton balls and putting them in a bottle cap for water and filling another with fish food (which crickets apparently love) and placing them in the container. Add twigs and leaves to resemble their natural habitat and egg cartons so they can hide and finally your crickets! The kids LOVED them. Magnifying glasses are great so they can view them up close.
- clear plastic container
- paper towel
- egg carton
- ladybugs
Next up, we made a home for our ladybugs. For moisture, we wet a piece of paper towel and put it at the bottom of a clear plastic aquarium. Again we added some cut up egg cartons and finally the ladybugs. The container you can get at the hardware store has A LOT of ladybugs. They may be ladies, but they’re still bugs. Fun fact: people put them in their gardens to eat the aphids and according to my dad you’re never too young to start loving bugs.
Worms
- clear plastic deli container (the kind used for soup)
- dirt
- sand
- paper towel tube
- packaging tape
- carrots
- worms
Lastly, although these aren’t technically bugs we assembled a home for worms using this plastic deli container. First, we wrapped an empty paper towel tube with packaging tape and placed it in the middle of the container for better viewing. We then alternated adding dirt and sand until the container was almost full. Now we’re ready for the worms…or not. I couldn’t pick them up and had my dad do it! My kids are way braver than me. You can add food like carrots and lettuce and make sure to spritz the soil so it stays nice and moist.
