A Bug's Life!

Will is fascinated by insects and spiders and all things creepy-crawly, so we read books about insects, visit the Museum of Natural Science to see butterflies up close and in person, and study Will's insect flashcards incessantly! Yesterday's bug "lesson" got a little more hands-on.

Gene and I found this cicada shell stuck on the side of a building after we had lunch yesterday, so like any good parents of bug-loving children, we scooped it up into a plastic bag and carried it home to show Will!

I didn't tell Will about the cicada right away when I got home. Instead, I pulled out Are You a Dragonfly? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries and we read it together. Dragonflies molt just like cicadas do, and this book has some awesome drawings of dragonflies pulling themselves out of their skin. It's written for preschoolers, so this series of bug books is just perfect for Will. Then we pulled out his insect cards and found the one of the cicada so he could see what an adult cicada looks like. Then I took the bag with the cicada shell in it outside and Will got to really look at it closely. He loved it!
Weezie was curious too!

Next Will had to pick up the cicada shell and compare it to his picture of a cicada.
When we came back in (with our cicada shell carefully preserved in a plastic box), we looked up pictures of cicadas online so we could learn about the molting process. If you don't know much about cicadas, here goes: the nymphs live underground for up to 17 years (depending on the species) and eat tree root sap. When a cicada nymph emerges from the ground, it attaches itself to a upright support, splits its skin, and molts. Then it looks for a mate, which is why we hear their loud buzzing or clacking mating songs in the summer. Interesting fact: adult cicadas do not eat! I found a cool set of photos showing the cicada molting process at http://emlado.com/cicada.htm. Check them out!

So, that was Will's impromptu bug "lesson" of the day, but it didn't stop there because Will turned into the teacher himself. Once Henry woke up from his nap, we climbed in the car to run errands, and Will wanted to take his bug cards with him. During the whole car ride, Will held up a card to Henry, told him what it was and a little bit about it. For example, Will held up the termite card and said "Henry, this is a termite. They eat wood. We don't like termites." Henry would look at the card and either say, "Mine don't like termites" or "That's mine favorite one!" Henry has lots of favorite bugs. And so does Will. Actually, it appears that we are just one big, bug-loving family! Who knew?