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Getting Outdoors with Pollinators
Butterfly & Moth Scavenger Hunt
Two scavenger hunts, one for young and one for more advanced learners.
Two bingo cards, one easy and another challenge card. Cross them off throughout the spring, summer and fall!
Build your own Nature Kit!
Bring scavenger hunts, bingo cards and Field Guides with you on your adventures to find pollinators and more! You can build your own kit to help your family collect insects and document their findings along the way.
Notebook and pen or pencil
Specimen collection box or small jar
Hand-held magnifying lens
Tweezers
Piece of paper
Bonus – There are a few macro lens camera phone attachments on the market and can help your young learner document and identify what they find using our Field Guides and apps like iNaturalist.
Beginner's tips on collecting and observing insects:
Collection and observation tools, like specimen boxes or magnifying lenses, can help you get a closeup view of the insects you discover. The following are beginners tips on collecting and observing insects. Over time you can learn what species are safe to touch and then handle them safely.
Do's
Insects are very sensitive to our touch and many are fragile, especially butterflies and moths. Try to observe them with other senses that are not touch. For visual observation, you can use a magnifying lens – that is if they stay still!
If you find a bee or wasp nest, only observe from 20-feet away. They’re really good about protecting the babies that are growing inside!
Beetles are great insects to collect. You can use a sheet of paper to gently scoop them up and gently place them in the collection box to view closer. Some beetles can fly, but they’re just trying to fly away if they do, not harm you.
If you use tweezers, only use them to collect deceased insects.
Insects can get sick too. Clean out your collection box between uses. Again, do not put deceased insects in the collection box.
Don'ts
Never touch an insect unless you know it is safe to touch. There is only one spider in the Chicago Wilderness region that is poisonous, but some insects sting or bite when they are scared and some caterpillars and beetles can irritate the skin.
Do not collect bees or wasps. Not all sting, but some do when they are scared and trying to protect themselves or their nests. Observing bees by watching or listening to them collect pollen on flowers can be a great way to observe them.
If you are collecting and observing in a park or preserve, do not take any insect out of that location. Release it back in its own home. This is good practice no matter where you find the insect, but our public lands have laws about removing plants and animals from the landscape.
Do not put deceased insects in the collection box, use tweezers and/or the magnifying lens instead.
Crafts, Storytime & More
Illinois Butterfly Watercolor Craft
This activity has learners make their own butterfly based on one of three of Illinois’ native species.
Make your own monarch butterfly caterpillar puppet. Includes challenges to make all four stages of the monarch butterfly life cycle and put on a play.
Sprinkle native seed around your garden or grow outside in a pot. We recommend plants that generally grow easily, like black-eyed Susan and purple coneflower.
This list includes 26 of some of our teams' favorite fiction and non-fiction books featuring pollinators.
"The Legend of the Parakata" Coloring Book - English
This story explores the Mexican legend of the butterfly, or parakata in the Purépecha language.
"La Leyenda de las Parakata" Libro de Colorear - Español
Esta historia explora la leyenda mexicana de la mariposa, o parakata en la lengua purépecha.
A BUZZZZZING BIRTHDAY!
Celebrate your little one's birthday with these pollinator activities
Start the party off with a story about our amazing pollinators.
Make butterfly masks using cupcake liners for wings and pipe cleaners for antenna.
Play caterpillar tag. Starting with the birthday child as the butterfly, they can tag others to make them pollinators as well. Print out leaves of milkweed as "safe spots".
Feast on butterfly cupcakes and "nectar" punch.
Send home each buzzing bee with a goody bag of "garden sprinkle", "The Legend of the Parakata" coloring book, Field Museum nature kits and more.
FIND PLACES NEARBY TO EXPLORE WITH YOUR FAMILY:
Natural Areas List | Chicago Park District
Forest Preserves Map | Forest Preserves of Cook County
Your Preserves | Lake County Forest Preserves, Illinois
Parks List | Lake County Parks & Rec, Indiana
Illinois State Parks by Region | Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Interactive Map | Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Find a Park | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
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