Nature study can be as simple as a short walk in the neighborhood or as elaborate as a week in a National Park. Don’t make it hard. This month, we are going to look for Wasps. If you can’t find these builders in your yard, you’ll be able to find pictures of these wasps and many others online to explore with your children. Remember: you don’t have to know all the answers to your kids’ questions because you can look up the answers together.
Here are some questions to consider with your kids while you explore:
- What kind of wings does this wasp have? How many are there?
- How does the wasp move? What’s the process?
- How does the wasp see?
- What does the wasp eat?
- Does the wasp make any sounds?
- What kind of house does it build?
Insects to Find
- Yellow Jacket
- Mud-dauber
- Paper Wasp
- Cicada Killer Wasp
Websites:
Videos:
Books:
- A Wasp Builds a Nest: See Inside a Paper Wasp’s Nest and Watch It Grow by Kate Scarborough and Martin Camm
- Is it a Honeybee or a Wasp? by Susan B. Katz
- Insects & Bugs for Kids: An Introduction to Entomology by Jaret C. Daniels
Handbook of Nature Study:
Have you heard of Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study? It’s a fantastic book that covers all kinds of creatures, plants, and habitats. Since it has all sorts of resources in it, you should download it for free here.
Anna Botsford Comstock talks about Wasps on pages 429-435 of the linked edition of the Handbook of Nature Study. Take a few minutes to read those pages, and then keep those ideas in mind as you and your kids watch the weather this month. That way, you may remember the answers to some of their questions, and you have another handy resource to check when you can’t.
