We had such an amazing morning at the Norman Mayer branch of New Orleans Public Library because, today we made bug hotels! We talked about the importance of bugs in the ecosystem and how there are a variety of different bugs that do different tasks to help a garden grow.

Children and their caregivers arrived and we started the program by singing the “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. We went right to reading our story, “Some Bugs” by Angela DiTerlizzi, which was a great lead in to our activities. Learners started their project by arranging a variety of materials and trying to “think like a bug” to make comfortable and interesting spaces for insects to colonize.

It was fantastic to witness the different approaches the children took to filling their boxes! Then, we painted the bug hotels!

Again, we were so impressed by all the different types of painting we got to facilitate alongside caregivers! Some children had a great time mixing paint and making new colors, some explored patterns and design, while other learners were very intent on carefully painting their boxes a clean solid color. Painting in three dimensions is always a great exploratory experience for young artists!

We assembled and painted the bug hotels for approximately half of the session (some of the parents painted their own bug boxes as well). One learner made this out-of-the-box bug box, and we think it’s wonderful!

We closed the lesson with reading, “Beetle Bop” by Denise Fleming and everyone had a wonderful day at the library. We’re excited for next week, the last week in this program, when we will conclude with a gardening project that the children can grow at home. Look forward to see your smiling faces next Thursday!