Building a Home for Bugs

March 12 found Pre-K back at Lefferts House. After reading Log Hotel, by Anne Schreiber, a picture book about all of the creatures that make their homes in fallen logs (also called "nurse logs"), the children were ready to do their part in creating a sanctuary for bugs at the site of the pollinator garden at Lefferts House. Rafe had laid out a log border that defines the garden and had asked if the children would like to help him complete the border with rocks. The logs and rocks, he explained, would make a good home for bugs and other creatures. Scouring the ground for suitably sized rocks, the children worked together, bringing the rocks to the garden and carefully lining them up to create the border. This prompted some spontaneous counting by one child who was curious to find out how many rocks we had lined up. Turns out there were 67 in that row!

After the work was finished, we headed on to the Zucker Playground where the hunt for bugs continued. The children were particularly tuned in to all of the nooks and crannies where bugs could find a home. The ends of logs proved to be full of possibilities, and one tree in particular was singled out as being an especially good place for bugs, now dubbed, "The Bumpy Tree."

The Bumpy Tree