So today I learnt what a cockchafer is. The kids showed me. In fact, they asked me to help them find more. It was fun.
Okay, I'll explain. A cockchafer is a type of large beetle that is found in Europe. The Hungarian word for them is cserebogár, and they are more commonly known in English as May bugs. From what I understand, they start off as little eggs which are laid around June/July, then they hatch into grubs which live underground for up to five years before pupating and finally emerging as adult beetles in Spring.
At the moment, there are cockchafers everywhere, and the kids are really enjoying finding them and adopting them as pets during their outside breaks. All good. The kids have fun and the bugs get some respite from all the attention when the kids go inside. Today, however, the Grade 2s took things to the next level and started bringing their little friends inside the classroom. I was okay with this so long as the kids weren't playing with them during their lessons, but Ili wasn't such a fan and so the cockchafers had to go. After school today I brought lots of plastic bottles filled with the kids' cockchafers home and Daniel helped me release them into our garden. Hopefully they have enough sense not to make their way back to the schoolyard again.
The emergence of the cockchafers over the last few days has coincided nicely with my decision to teach the Grade 1s the names of lots of insects. Unfortunately, now they're obsessed with collecting various spiders and ants and bugs and bringing them up to me. I'm not exactly the best with creepy crawlies so this has really been testing my nerves!
Anyway, here are some of the awesome insect-themed art projects that the kids have completed recently.
- Amanda
Snails are not insects!
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