This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Orkin Ecologist. All opinions are 100% mine.
My youngest son, Luke, loves bugs. If it creeps and crawls, he wants to catch it, study it, and make it his pet. We’ve often said that he’ll grow up to be a famous ecologist or entomologist.
We’ve had our fair share of bug houses but with Halloween approaching, I thought it would be fun to make a spooky haunted bug house! Not only is this a fun way to capture an insect, but it’s an easy way to watch and study the little creature too. I love projects that make education fun.
Luke was totally excited to get started on this project but before we began, we spent some time on The Orkin Ecologist site, studying different facts about insects and dreaming up fun ways to watch them and learn about them. Luke and I both love this site! It’s filled with amazing photos and piles of intriguing facts. Luke loved reading about the World’s Scariest and Deadliest Insects and although we mapped out where they live, I’ve tried to discourage him from actually capturing any of the mentioned insects {smile}.
Once we had done a little inspirational studying, we were all set to make our haunted bug house and do some backyard studying of our own.
To make the bug house, we bought a plastic container from the dollar store …
… and added a black vinyl door …
… and crooked, creepy looking windows to the outside of the container. We wanted it to look a bit like a dilapidated old house, the kind that would definitely have cockroaches crawling through it.
Using a craft knife, I cut a circle from the center of the lid, spray painted the lid black, and glued on a piece of window screen. This will provide our creepy creatures with a way to breathe.
Some black netting {also found at the dollar store} gave the house a spooky look and we also added a second level to the haunted bug house.
We cut a piece of cardboard, painted it black, draped it in netting, and added it to our house.
The second story has a ramp so bugs can climb up and perch in the haunted loft.
Luke has been on the hunt for the first creepy crawly creature that will take up residence in our haunted bug house.
Meanwhile, we’ve been spending lots of time on The Orkin Ecologist site, learning more about the insects around us and gaining a new appreciation for the creepy crawlies. The site is an amazing educational resource and a new favorite for our family.
What a cute project Randi! And a Learning experience too. He looks like he had a great time creating! 😉
This is such a cute and creative project, Randi!
What a clever idea! I bet your son loves it too!
What a cute bug house! Your little guy must love it!
That was the best click-on-a-link experience EVER. My son (almost 5) had me read him a book today about giant bugs, and one of the bugs was the goliath bird-eating tarantula.We’ve been talking about that spider ALLLLLL day long…whether or not it could fight a giant African scorpion, whether or not it could kill a frog…you get the idea. I was showing Jack your bughouse and clicked on the link and the featured “bug” was the goliath bird-eating tarantula. We had lots of fun reading about it and checking out the pictures (OMG…11-inch legspan…NO THANK YOU).
That’s so cool, Carrie! Luke loves that site. The pictures are fantastic and there’s lots of really neat information. So glad you guys enjoyed it!
I’m sure you’re little guy absolutely loved putting this together! Boys and bugs go hand in hand 🙂
Such a fun idea! Clever Mom!
My boys would love this!!!!
What a cute project and my boys would love the Orkin Ecologist. In fact, I think we might explore the site for science today. Thanks for the great share!