Bugs!

We had a chance for some quiet family time over Thanksgiving weekend.  We decided to introduce J to board games and pulled out our cheap MB games that we rescued from our parents houses when we "grew up" and officially moved out.

The first one we pulled out was my Giant Cootie!  The pieces are large enough that I don't have to worry about my 2.5 yr old choking.

We explained a little bit of insect anatomy as we built our bugs (the competition part of the game still is a bit above J's level).



Insects have:

• A head
• A thorax (middle section)
• An abdomen (the rear section)
• Six legs
• Two antennae
• Eyes

Other things to discuss:

• Where do insects come from?
• What purposes do insects serve?
• What are helpful insects?
• What are harmful insects?
• What do insects eat?
• What eats insects?
• How do insects protect themselves?  - We discussed this one as a grasshopper hopped a ride on our car home from church two weeks ago.  It was a giant grasshopper that resembled a leaf!  (Sorry, I don't have a picture).

Other things to try:

• Collect a bug from outside and study it.  Point out the features you just discussed and release it back into the "wild".
• Visit a museum with a bug collection on display to see a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and kinds of bugs.

**I don't think MB currently sells Giant Cootie (mine has a copyright of 1986 on the box), but they sure do have regular Cootie (which we also have an updated version from John's family).  I did some internet research over the weekend and they were half off at many toy shops (prob due to Black Friday sales), but they typically run ~$10 non-sale.