Flyswatter Painting

When I was student teaching I was taught how to teach with insects. We bought crickets at a pet store, carefully marked some of their backs with white out, and let them all loose in a dry aquarium. This was part of an experiment to teach biology students the capture-recapture method of population estimation. I then started using crickets in my own teaching to dissect and teach students Entomology (study of insects). However, outside the classroom I'm not fond of dealing with insects, so my sons will step on or swat any insect that needs to be taken care of. So when I heard about this activity I thought it was perfect.

I drew insects on sheets of white paper. I squirted washable paint onto paper plates. I laid everything out on the deck, and gave each of my sons a flyswatter. I told them to dip the flyswatter in the paint and get those bugs. They enthusiastically started slapping the paint and then slapping the paper, which splattered paint everywhere. They giggled and squealed as they got after those bugs. It was such a fun activity.

They noticed that I had drawn different bugs on the paper too. They identified them as they hit them. I didn't get too in depth with my drawings, so they were only identifying flies, caterpillars (European Corn Borer), lady bugs (Japanese beetles), and crickets. I can't wait to take them in the field and show them the actual bugs. Maybe we will take the flyswatters to the field with us.

My mom started calling me a city slicker because of my aversion to bugs, but I will be sure to teach my sons about them in case a career in Entomology or Agronomy is for them. My daughter too when she is old enough.

Hint: Using a roll of paper would be best instead of pieces of paper.