Ladybugs: Hard Working Garden Helpers

The following is a guest post from author Colleen Kessler.

This post contains affiliate links.

I love summertime, don't you? My kids and I try to get outside as much as we possibly can to enjoy the seasons all year round, but summer usually finds us out there from morning until late night. And since I'm on a mission to raise my kids to be lifelong learners, and love to explore and discover the answers to their world themselves, I try to incorporate as many learning experiences as possible.



The best thing -- the kids don't even realize they are learning!

In Hands-On Ecology: Real-Life Activities for Kids, kids are challenged to learn about the earth's ecology through hands-on experiments, observations, and projects. They learn about things that cause problems in our environment, and they learn about things that can help our environment thrive.

Did you know that insects are super important to the health and well-being of our environment? It's true! Take gardening for instance...

While there are many insects that can damage your vegetables and flowers, some can be really good for your garden. Like ladybugs... These little beetles prey on tiny plant-eating pests like aphids. In fact, ladybugs can eat as many as 5,000 aphids in a year! 

Can you imagine eating that many cheeseburgers in one year? Whew!

Do you have a garden at home? Try this activity from Hands-On Ecology and make your own Ladybug Lair... You can click on the thumbnail below to download your own copy.

If you're looking for more Hands-On Ecology, you can find my book on Amazon.com, my author website, or through my publisher, Prufrock Press. For more family fun to help you raise kids that love to learn and explore their world, check out my blog Raising Lifelong Learners...we're always up to something crazy. You can also find me chit-chatting in the wee hours on Twitter or sharing about gifted kids and hands-on learning on Facebook, Pinterest, or Google+. Come join in the conversation!