Singalong Saturdays: You Could Learn a Lot from a Wasp

There are so many things to learn in Hot Toast Music Co.’s songs each week. Let’s learn together and make discoveries! Each week’s Singalong Saturdays will include ways to connect ideas in the songs to fun at-home activities you can do together as a family. Simple activities are multidisciplinary and appropriate for a wide variety of learners. They include storytime, artmaking, science explorations, film suggestions, discussion prompts, and more!

Storytime!

Play Along: You Could Learn a Lot from a Wasp

Download Activity Guide

Step One: Watch the song, and sing along!

Try this Next!

Join Ms. Jenny and read Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner (https://youtu.be/9QT6o0oyk0s)  

Take a Look!

Join Ernie as he discovers all the amazing bugs that live in his backyard! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50Vm1Ssx2jY)

Watch the first few minutes of this Blippi episode as Blippi explores the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y865xEoxjcI)

Local Highlight

Did you know Tulsa is home to the Wasp Whisperer? Terry Prouty has some of the largest abandoned wasp nests in the WORLD in his private collection!

You can learn more about Terry and his love for these misunderstood insects on his Facebook page: (https://www.facebook.com/Hornetboy1970) or in this video from VICE: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ2YAefNaYk)

Go Outside!

Go on an Insect Hunt! Take your child on an adventure through your back yard or at a local field or wooded area. This is a great way to combine the fun of a scavenger hunt while also encouraging your child to use their powers of observation: Look for bugs on stalks, under leaves, or carefully lift rocks. You can even carefully place some of the bugs you caught in a see-through jar so you can watch the bug for a few minutes before releasing it.

Use this website to identify bugs you find outside. By entering simple information, like the state where you live and the bug’s color, you can figure out, whether that dragonfly is an Eastern Pondhawk or a Widow Skimmer. (https://www.insectidentification.org/bugfinder-start.asp )

Check out this Guide to Beneficial Bugs just for kids! (https://www.seewhatgrows.org/kids-guide-beneficial-bugs-garden/)

For Grownups and Older Kids

Teach / Demonstrate Bug Safety

Teach children to calmly move away from bees, wasps, and other stinging insects. (Bees and wasps sting defensively, and swatting or flailing your arms around can actually provoke a sting!) https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/helping-children-overcome-a-fear-of-bugs

Check out a couple insect documentaries: long and short!

• Learning to See: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-See-Robert-Oelman/dp/B07B52YR23
• Beauty Through the Microscope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMefm1thqiY

Creative Challenges: Float like a butterfly, sting like a… wasp?

Insect Noisemakers

Make bug noises with a buzzing noise maker! This project creates a noise that is very similar to mosquitoes. Give it a try!

What you will need:

• A large popsicle stick
• Scissors
• Sticky foam
• String
• Wide rubber band
• One notecard

1. Start by cutting two of the corners off the alongside of the notecard.
2. Next, take the notecard to cover half of the width of the popsicle stick. Use the sticky foam to attach the corners of the notecard to the stick. Leave some of the stick foam hanging off the edge.
3. Cut a 3-inch piece of string.
4. Fold over the remaining stick foam while placing the string under just one side. Fold the remaining sticky foam over the stick on the other end (one end will not have string; the string is only attached at one end)
5. Take the rubber band and stretch it length wise over both stick ends
6. On the end with the string, tie the ends of the string together so that it makes a loop.
7. Then, spin! Listen to the cool noise it makes!

Wasps: Paper Makers and Architects

Like bees, wasps play and important part of our ecological environment. They may have sharp stingers, but they use those stingers to ward off predators and also help control the numbers of pesky bugs in gardens.

Have you ever seen a wasp nest? They are so interesting to look at! They look similar to a bee hive, but are usually more structured in design.  Wasps will grow their nest as the number of their hive grows. Wasp nests are very strong and can last for several months!

Did You Know: By combining saliva with wood particles to build their nests, wasps are the originators of paper!

Let’s build our own nest. This project is fun to put together using things you may already have laying around your house.

What you will need:

• Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
• Lids (or the bottoms of egg cartons)
• Markers

1. Cut the paper rolls to the size your desire. Each roll will represent one hole that a larva grows up in. Holes in the nests are like nurseries for baby wasp larvae!
2. Next, indicate which holes you what to still have larvae in them. After a larva grows up and becomes a wasp, they are ready to leave their hole in the nest and join the colony. Then the empty spot is ready for the next larvae. Draw a symbol on the bottle caps to indicate where the babies are still growing!
3. Add wasp toys or any other decoration to your nest!

Download Activity Guide