Bugs Galore!!

Once again, a beautiful day in the garden, and after last weeks plentiful rains the garden is looking more productive than ever. The radishes are bursting out of the ground, the beans are growing ever taller, broadening their heart shaped leaves, and the lettuce has gone bananas!Our kindergartners were eager to get into the garden and we obliged with another scavenger hunt activity. This weeks scavenger hunt was a twist on last weeks plant-hunt exchanging bugs for plants, in a fun and instructive hunt for bugs. The clover is flowering on the edges of the garden prompting an abundance of bees flying from flower to flower collecting nectar and pollen. The stigma surrounding bees was approached delicately with the students, and we explained the benefits of pollinators such as bees for the garden. . The first graders joined in this activity with a little more artistic flare, each brandishing their own clipboard and pencil. At the end of the day the students had discovered, drawn, identified and learned a bit about the benefits or harms of each of the bugs. The class ended with a demonstration in planting a sprouted onion brought from home. The class left with a stronger sense of the insect community that inhabits our humble garden and the important interactions that take place at the minuscule level of the ladybugs and bees.