Dadventures: Amazing Outdoor Adventures for Daring Dads and Fearless Kids. Alex Gregory

      An easy way to discover what you have in your garden, front yard, local park or woodland is to set a small insect trap. It’s quick to make and costs nothing except time.

      What you need

       A glass jar or clear beaker

       Some bait

       A small spade

       One large, flat rock

       Three small rocks

      What to do

      1 Find a spot on the ground in a place where people don’t usually walk. Under a rock in a flower bed is a great place to start, or in a quiet corner of the garden.

      2 Dig a hole as deep as the glass jar or beaker.

      3 Place your bait in the jar or beaker and then put it in the hole and adjust it so the top of the jar is in line with the surface of the soil or just a fraction below.

      4 Compact the soil around the top.

      5 Place the three small rocks around the embedded jar on the soil surface and carefully place the large flat rock on top of them to prevent rain getting in. You’re done!

      6 The trap is set. Now leave it alone for a few hours or, ideally, overnight.

      7 Check the traps the following morning.

      This is a great activity to do on a Friday afternoon after school, providing a perfect and exciting pretext for getting up and out on a weekend. If you’re organised, you can get a whole load of traps set in different parts of the garden, park or woodland – wherever you have easy access. It’s interesting to put a range of food in the jar or beaker to see what it attracts. Different bait will draw different insects, but even if you don’t use a food source, you’ll catch something. Also try to notice which insects live in the habitat where you set your traps. Grassland, for example, is likely to contain different species to woodland.

      Muddy hands, dirty knees, fresh air and fun together. And don’t forget to return the insects back where you found them.

      Challenge

      I’d suggest taking a white tray or bowl so that you can study your trapped insects. Once you’ve pulled the jar or beaker from the ground and had a good look through the glass, tip out your finds into the tray or bowl to have a further look from a different angle. The light white enables the usually dark insects to show up really well. From there you’ll be able to talk about them, identify them and maybe, if you’re all in the mood or have the time, draw and photograph them.

      Talking points

       How many legs?

       Colour?

       Shape?

       Texture?

       Speed?

      Make an insect aspirator

      Taking insect collecting even further, how about making an aspirator? An aspirator is a clever little device that enables you to suck through one pipe, drawing air and, hopefully, an insect through another. The way it’s made means you won’t be able to suck the insect into your mouth – as long as you get the tubes the right way round it’s a very safe way to collect your insect treasure. You can buy pre-made aspirators online, but they’re just as fun to make and test out as they are to use outdoors for real. I’ve made some with my kids, and it’s a really engrossing practical activity that gets you all thinking. And, what’s more, you see the results immediately.

      What you need

       A flexible plastic tube, around 45cm long. Aquarium tube is perfect. Alternatively, thick drinking straws can also work.

       A small, clear plastic container with a lid – jam-jar size is large enough.

       A piece of fine gauze around 4cm square. Any fine material that allows air to flow freely through can be used.

       Tape. Electrical, duct tape or Sellotape all work well.

      What to do

      1 Cut the plastic tube into two equal lengths.

      2 Very carefully pierce a hole in the lid of the plastic container. The hole needs to allow one end of the tube to fit in without gaps around the aperture. Push one length of the tube through, leaving approximately 15cm of tube protruding from the lid of the container.

      3 Pierce another hole in the lid, in exactly the same way, next to the first.

      4 Wrap the piece of gauze around the end of the second length of tube and secure with tape. You should be able to freely suck on the non-gauze end of the tube.

      5 Push the second tube, gauze first, in through the second hole you made in the container lid, ensuring there are no gaps around the tube. Again, approximately 15cm of tube should protrude from the lid of the container.

      6 Take your aspirator outside and go insect hunting.

      7 Using an aspirator is simple, but do make sure you help your child remember which tube is the correct tube to suck by marking the suck tube with a piece of tape. You must always suck in through the tube with the gauze covering one end, otherwise you’re likely to get a mouthful of insects!

      8 When you uncover a rock or part the grass to find an interesting-looking insect, take the aspirator down to the ground.

      9 Holding the tube (without the gauze) over the insect, suck through the other tube (with gauze). As long as you’re close enough to the insect, it will be sucked up through the tube into the container and left to rest at the bottom. It will be trapped until you let it out.

      You can collect insects easily, quickly and safely by this method. It’s great fun but quite nerve-wracking, as it takes a little bit of time to get used to the fact that you won’t suck the insects up into your mouth. Together, you can quickly amass a wonderful collection of small insects without harming them, and if your container is clear you can inspect them easily.

      Challenge

      As with the insect trap, it’s worth taking a white bowl or tray outside with you so that viewing your insects is easier once they’ve been collected in the aspirator. We always try to identify the insects we find together and read a little bit about them, in this way slowly developing our knowledge of insects.

      Once you have inspected, photographed, identified and studied the collected insects, make sure you always return them to the place from were they were collected. It’s important to show we don’t have ownership over the life around us, and that includes looking after what we find and returning it to where it belongs.

      I clearly remember the first aspirator that was bought for me as a child. I was incredibly excited – but nervous about using it. I guess I didn’t take enough care, so a couple of times I ended up with beetles and ants in the back of my throat. It gives you a shock, but they are little more than a taste of protein!

      Make string

      Creating something with your own hands is extremely rewarding. Of course, in times past there was no choice but to make everything you needed, but no one can realistically do so now. With this activity it’s not so much about the product you make – let’s be honest, the string you make simply isn’t going to be as good as any you can buy in a shop – but the process of making it from material