Backyard Fun with Children

Have you  turned over a planter in the yard, or heavy object and found a mass of insects, worms and slugs?  Our experience was that we found over 10 insects and other living/growing things--slugs, beetles, spiders, centipedes, earthworms, larvae, mushrooms, plant sprouts that were white, and so forth.  What a wonderflul opportunity for children to discover and investigate nature.  If you are like me, I needed help with identification and background knowledge.  Children easily supply the questions, but they can be expanded by parents saying, "I wonder why?", or "What do you think?"  I turned to the internet for help in identification. One website that seems good is The Science Spot, Kid Zone at http://sciencespot.net.  If you have other websites, please post them in the 'comment' section. You might take some close-up photos of the insects and then locate resources for help in identification and information.  Often, some of the best experiences for our children are in our own backyard!