Bug/Invertebrate Hunt
Go on a bug hunt! Discover fascinating bugs in your backyard. If you have any piles of wood, or rotting logs, lift them up and break them apart. Try digging in some soil. Look in the bark and branches of trees and bushes. What can you find? It's incredible how many amazing bugs are living all around us!
Learn about how important bugs are by watching the Yucky Bugs video.
You could use a sweep net and discover the amazing hidden biodiversity in your space, like Ruud does in this Backyard Bugging Biodiversity video.
Click HERE to see how to do a leaf litter exploration.
You could use this website to help identify the bugs that you find or this ID sheet.
Download this SEEK app for free and have a go at identifying interesting things in your garden.
Do some research on the bugs in your backyard! Use these resources from DOC for ideas on how to experience invertebrates in green spaces.
Download and print instructions for an insect pitfall trap here or watch the video to see how to do it.
Here is a great invertebrate data recording sheet from the experiencing invertebrates in your green space education resource for teachers.
Doing a bug hunt biodiversity survey is a great maths activity. Can you graph your results? What did you notice? What did you have a lot of in your space? Are they a good bug for your garden, or are they something that should not be there? What is missing from the space? How could you make your space a better habitat and bring the missing bugs (or other native creatures like birds and lizards) back? Maybe you could make a bug hotel or even a make a lizard friendly space?
Lots of bugs come out at night, so try going on a nocturnal adventure with a headlamp. You will be surprised by what you find!
Learn about the connections between our native plants and native invertebrates in this Bug and Plant Hunt
Learn some te reo Māori by doing the bug hunt below and watching the singalong book video.
Check out all our other awesome scavenger hunts here!