On a whim, I bought K a "bug kit" and the dollar store a few days ago.  The kit consisted of a clear plastic tub with a vented lid for observing the bugs and a small net for catching them.  I didn't honestly anticipate that she'd catch anything, but figured she might have some luck with fireflies.  I should have known better. . .

Yesterday, both girls were outside with the bug kit when I heard, "Mom!  You've got to come and see this bug!  It's huge!"  Hearing the words "huge" and "bug" in the same sentence never gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, but in the name of science and providing learning opportunities for all of you Lancaster County moms and kids, I went to investigate. 

They were right.  It was a very huge bug.  White with black spots, with an orange body underneath.  Something about it didn't look right.  With my husband laughing at me, I caught the bug in the box on my second attempt.  After making sure that lid was on darn tight, we had a closer look. 

We had caught a moth, specifically a Giant Leopard Moth--that's the picture that's attached to this entry.  It had likely just hatched from its cocoon, because it could only crawl around and the wings still looked somewhat slimy.  The body was quite large--probably an inch and a half in length.  Turns out these critters live in in the Eastern US, from Massachusetts down to Florida.  We studied it briefly and then returned it to the same place in the yard where we found it.  I looked up the bug online at www.bugguide.net to find out what kind of moth we'd discovered.  They have a clickable guide that you can search, which makes it easy.  There are many photos of bugs that people from all over submit to the site (who knew--bugwatching?)  If your kid is into bugs, the bug kit (or even just an empty butter tub with holes in the lid) and the Internet are a great place to start learning more. 

Even I have to admit, the moth was quite pretty to look at, but I was still quite happy to let it go back to living in my neighborhood.  My husband tells me that in the Philippines there are beetles as big as your hand.  Ewww.  I'll stick to Pennsylvania bugs. 

Good news!  J had her first success with the KenKen puzzle I talked about in my last entry.  It did take a few tries and correcting some errors, but she did it.  She was really excited about getting it right, which was fun to see.  This was an easy puzzle, that only used numbers 1 through 5.  As the puzzles increase in the amount of numbers they use, the difficulty seems to increase.  We're going to try another one tomorrow.

I never expected to recommend a TV show as a part of our educational finds this summer, but I'm learning that education can happen in some unexpected places.  J has learned a few things, reviewed a few science concepts, and had many laughs while watching "Mythbusters" on Discovery Channel.  http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/mythbusters/  I wish this show had been around when I was in middle school!  The folks on the show test myths and scenarios you see on TV and movies to see if they actually work in real life.  Yes, they generally are exploding some object in at least one segment of the show, but that's part of the fun.  By the way, viewers are always warned to never try the experiments at home.  There was one exception to that rule--they tried to separate 2 phone books that had their pages interlaced (but not glued or taped in any way).  There are more examples of the phone book experiments on their website you can check out.  It's pretty amazing, and really fun. 

Safety is always considered--that's where their crash test dummy named "Buster" comes in.  The poor thing has been dropped, exploded, set on fire, shot, you name it.  In one episode, they had to actually create a new dummy because the old one was just worn out.  

I know that the experiments shown aren't really practical in any sense (mostly), but I think it is good to have some proof for kids that stuff shown in the movies and TV is not real, even if you say this all the time.  They also explain each experiement, what they are doing and why, and why the myth is busted or confirmed.  One word of warning--some of the experiements have to do with alcohol consumption, so you may need to prescreen the shows or material on the website for age appropriatness. 

So, educational moments can come from some unlikely places.  But anything that can get my kid interested in science and experiements and make it fun and entertaining has my vote.  More cooking to come in the next installment!

We have A LOT of trees in our yard.  Big ones.  We love them in the spring and summer for their shade and leaves, and are not so fond of them in autumn, when we are cleaning up those leaves.  It's practically a neighborhood requirement to own a leafblower.  During that 3 hour long thunderstorm on Memorial Day, an ash tree in the side yard started to pull out of the ground.  By the end of the week, it fell over, mercifully missing the house.  And yes, a tree DOES make a sound when it falls in the forest! 

We had the tree cut up into firewood lengths that we plan to use in our fire pit out back.  This also led to a great opportunity to figure out how old the tree was.  First we estimated the age of the tree--J guessed 100 years, K guessed 80 years.  Then, starting in the middle, we counted the rings.  We found 73.  I took a pen and marked the tree rings when each of us were born, the year the house was built, and calcualted when the tree was born.  I also showed the girls how some rings were larger than others, indicating the tree grew more in those years, perhaps due to good weather and growing conditions. 

I'll be honest--they were not as fascinated with this process as I was, and it didn't hold their interest for a terribly long time, although the entire activity wasn't time consuming either.  But hopefully they learned a little something about the trees around us and could appreciate nature a bit more.  J did mention a large tree section in the nature center where she goes to summer camp, so she did relate this experience to a past one. 

I know it's hard for them to really understand how different the world would have been in the 1930's, when the tree first started growing.  It's a bit hard for me, too!  Yet in a world where everything seems to happen in an instant and we're told that the newest things must be the greatest, it's nice to take a moment to appreciate something lasted way longer than some electronic gadget. 

One of K's favorite Lancaster destinations is That Fish Place/That Pet Place, located on Centerville Pike (www.thatpetplace.com).  If you have a kid under the age of 12, you've probably made at least one excursion to this wonderful place.

Yes, it's a humongous pet store.  They have great supplies for all kinds of pets, and a great helpful staff.  If you are one of those families who can't keep a goldfish alive for more than 2 weeks, fear not--there is so much to see at That Fish Place, you don't even need to worry about having your own pet. 

The main entrance leads you in to the pet supply section of the store.  There is a large reptile area immediately to the right.  They have snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs.  The last time we were there, they had just received a shipment of new snakes, so we watched one of the employees put the snakes into the cages.  The snakes come in pillowcase-like bags--we thought they were empty until we realized they were moving on the countertop!  Some of the reptiles and other animals are permanent residents of the store, with signs on their cages explaining why they came to the store (they got too large, the owner couldn't care for them properly, etc.)  It's a good lesson for all of us, reminding us caring for these creatures is a big responsibility and shouldn't be taken lightly. 

Next, we usually visit the small mammal room, where you can see rabbits, ferrets, mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and the resident chinchilla.  I had a guinea pig as a kid, so this room brings back fond memories for me (except for having to clean the cage--not my favorite chore).  Usually the ferrets are kept in a large baby play yard, and you can watch them playing or eating, which always amuses K. 

There is a small enclosure with different birds that are very pretty to watch, but noisy!  We also saw a room with cats from the humane society.  The cats and dogs at That Pet Place are all shelter animals that are available for adoption.  Good to see that they are fighting the puppy mill problem and helping to provide forever homes for shelter animals.  More information and adoption fees can be found on the website. 

Before you get to the entrance of That Fish Place, there is a tidal pool where you can reach in and touch anything, including the coral, rocks and skates (fish that look like small stingrays).  There are also regular shows at the tidal pool, where the staff will give you lots of information about the creatures in the tidal pool.  And finally, the fish room--literally row after row of aquarium tanks filled with every kind of fish you can imagine, fresh water and salt water varieties.  There is a new section that is devoted to outdoor ponds, where they sell plants and fish for your own little garden oasis.

K completely loves this place, and I'm sure many more trips are in our future.  Yes, it's a store, and you may have to put up with your child asking you to buy them a new best friend.  But just going to and seeing all the animals is really fun.  Hey, you can always give the goldfish another try.