The Camping Club

Insects Everywhere

PROJECT: Exploring the hidden life of forest insects
GOAL: To understand that insects live in all the different layers of the forest, and to learn where and how to find them
AGES: 5 and up

MATERIALS
Magnifying glass
Piece of white fabric
Resealable plastic bag
Jar and funnel
White coffee filter
High-intensity lamp

I have never known a child to see a fallen tree without wanting to climb up on it and use it as a balance beam, a tightrope or a pirate's plank. This is a pleasure that can't be rushed. When we were out in the woods, I sat with a friend as our girls clambered along the trunk of a big, dead tree. When at last they were ready to move on, we rolled aside one piece of the tree that had broken off. The kids loved watching insects and other creatures scramble for cover, and they loved playing Sherlock Holmes with a magnifying glass, speculating about which creatures had made the different holes they found in the wood.

WHAT'S BELOW?
When you roll over a rotting log, you are likely to see an assortment of slow-moving pill bugs, sow bugs, slugs, snails and earthworms; and faster-moving daddy longlegs, millipedes, centipedes, crickets and click beetles. If you are lucky, you might spot bright-colored newts and salamanders as well. Your log also may host tiny seedlings, mosses and lichens, mushrooms and other fungi. The kids should be able to tell from the amount of plant and animal life whether the tree died only recently or a long time ago. Generally, the more life the log supports, the longer it has been in decay. Point out that the log encompasses the entire cycle of life: The dead tree provides food and a home for creatures and plants that, in turn, help it to decompose into soil from which new trees will grow.

When you are done with your investigation, be sure to roll the log back where you found it. After all, as the kids said, how would you like it if some giant came along, tipped your house over on its side and left it like that?

WHAT'S OVERHEAD?
Now that your kids are thinking about the life under every dead tree, ask them what animals exist in the topmost branches of live trees. Chances are they will list squirrels, chipmunks, birds and, possibly, opossums and raccoons. The following activity demonstrates that insects, too, like to make their homes in the forest canopy.

Spread a piece of white fabric on the ground (or hold it in the air) beneath a low-hanging branch. With a stick, give the branch a short, sharp rap. Be careful not to brush against the branch first, and don't try shaking it with your hand: You've got to startle the insects from their perches. (Gentler motions feel like wind, and insects are good at hanging on tight.) Your kids will be surprised at the number and variety of crawling, flying insects that come tumbling down. Be sure that when you have finished examining them, you let the insects go without harming them.

WHAT'S IN BETWEEN?
There is one more way to roust forest insects from their hiding places--this time from among the leaves and debris that make up the litter layer on the forest's floor.

During your forest excursion, loosely fill a resealable bag with leaf litter, leaving the bag slightly open for air. At home, your kids can set up a device known as a berlese funnel to coax the insects from the litter. Place an open coffee filter in the bottom of a widemouthed jar and set a plastic funnel into the top. Pack the funnel with the leaf litter and place a high-intensity lamp directly over the funnel, with the bulb close to the leaves. As the lamp heats up, the insects will evacuate their hiding spots, dropping down through the funnel and into the cooler climate below. The filter paper in the bottom of the jar will help you to see the tiny creatures. When you are done, let the insects go outdoors.

HOME SWEET HOME
You can find traces of insect life (and sometimes the insect itself) by examining a gall, which forms when a larval insect invades a plant and uses the plant material to create a home. Insects make galls on the stems and leaves of weeds, bushes, cultivated plants and trees, especially North American oak trees. If you see a strange swelling, bulge or bubble on a stem or leaf, look closely: If there is a hole in the bubble, you will know the insect inside already has grown up and climbed out.

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Stay Fit with your Kids

Playing with your kids will keep you both fit!

My teenage kids often admonish me to "get a life," but like countless mothers who juggle the demands of children, work, home, husband, parents, community service, etc., etc., I know this is much easier said than done.
That's why I laughed out loud when I read what a recent study revealed:

"Parenthood resulted in reduced leisure-time physical activities in women."

Stop the presses!

This conclusion seems so obvious it's natural to wonder why it took a 10-year study of more than 3,000 young adult men and women to reach it. As my children would say, "Well, duh!"

Even the report's lead author acknowledges what she calls "the duh factor" in her findings. "Half the population reading this, the females, will say 'Did we really need a study to establish this?'" admits Kathryn Schmitz, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist who presented her research at a meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA).

"But in order for there to be any change, we have to get the realities down on paper."

By: Carol Krucoff

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Backyard Camp-out

You don't have to haul out the suitcases load up the car worry about traffic or answer the infamous inquiry "Are we there yet?" This vacation begins the moment you reach your own backyard.

Pick a night when the whole family can take a break from the usual routine. Turn the answering machine on and declare the house off-limits. Then pitch a tent in your yard or drape a tarp over a clothesline for shelter and pile sleeping bags or blankets inside. You can even build a safe campfire in a portable grill or hibachi for roasting marshmallows (see More than S'mores for campfire tips and 16 recipes).

When everyone's had his fill strike up a round of campfire songs or storytelling. And don't forget to help your kids search the sky for the Big Dipper Little Bear and other favorite constellations.

Although stargazing is best on dark moonless nights you might consider camping out under a full moon-- when nature's own night-light can take some of the spookiness out of the enterprise.

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Cricket Concert

Move over, Rover. This six-footed pet is absolutely free and fabulously entertaining. With a little determination, you can catch yourself a field cricket and listen to the most famous sound of summertime. In fact, crickets are often kept as pets in Asian countries because their chirping is considered soothing and because they are great burglar alarms. Once a cricket gets used to family members, he'll keep chirping and only stop when a stranger enters. Here's how to keep your temporary houseguest happy.

WHAT ARE THEY?
Field crickets, or Acheta assimilis, are insects that live all over North America. They are brown or black and up to 1 1/4 inches long.

HOW DO I CATCH ONE?
Crickets hide under dead plants, rocks, garbage cans and leaves. To catch one, take a jar to a pile of leaves (or wherever you think your new pet might be hiding). Flip over the leaves until you hit the damp part and spot a cricket. Quickly and gently set the jar down over the cricket and slide a piece of cardboard beneath the mouth of the jar to trap the cricket inside. Cover the jar with a piece of mesh or cheesecloth (something ventilated) and secure it with a rubber band.

DO I HAVE A BOY OR A GIRL?
Female crickets have a long egg-laying "tail" called an ovipositor between their cerci. If you're looking for a musical pet, make sure you get a male (like the one shown). They're the only ones that sing.

WHAT'S HE SINGING?
Sorry, we don't know, but one message you can get from his song is the temperature. Crickets chirp faster in warmer temperatures, so count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 40. This will give the approximate temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.

HOW DO I MAKE HIM COMFORTABLE?
In China, crickets are kept in elaborate bamboo houses, but your pet will be just as happy in a ventilated jar or box. Spread sand on the bottom and include a rock or egg carton cup for him to hide under. Add twigs and leaves for aesthetic value and keep him in a cool, shady place.

WHAT WILL HE EAT?
Try small pieces of potato, carrot, apple, lettuce, Cheerios, or a piece of dry dog food soaked in water. Although crickets will get all the water they need from the fruits and vegetables, it's still a good idea to leave a damp cotton ball in the cricket house for extra moisture.

DOES HE NEED A FRIEND?
Probably not. If you put two male crickets together, they get very territorial.The original cricket will chirp loudly, then kick the other one in the face, wrestle him, or even kill him. If you add a female instead, the male will chirp more softly and rock back and forth looking desperate . . . and often the female will just back up and kick the male in the face!

HOW LONG CAN I KEEP HIM?
We recommend that these singing superstars be allowed to move on to their next gig within a day or two.

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Leafy T-Shirts

MATERIALS
Newspaper
Pressed leaves
Fabric paints (three or four colors will do: greens/browns for camouflage; reds/golds/oranges for autumn; lavenders/pinks/blues for fantasy)
Paper plate or piece of cardboard for a "palette"
Paintbrushes
Container of water
Prewashed white or light-colored T-shirt
Small craft sponges (not kitchen sponges)
Damp washcloths or rags (one per child)

Marie Killian, curator of education at the North Museum of Natural History and Science in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, devised this T-shirt project for her Tremendous Trees program. A blissful follow-up activity for a day in the woods, it grabs kids' imaginations and comes out looking great. I tried this with a group of girls and boys, and loved listening to their conversations as they worked. They went from dreaming up a game of hide-and-seek to strategizing a girls-against-boys game of war to imagining themselves disguised as chameleons and stick insects.

COLLECTING LEAVES
On your forest foray, collect an assortment of leaves of different sizes and shapes. Fresh green leaves work best for this project, but for the sake of the forest, be sure not to pick too many from any one tree. You also might supplement a few forest finds with leaves from your own backyard. At home, lay the leaves out, flat and not overlapping, between layers of newspaper. Set the stack where it won't be disturbed and place a pile of books on top of it. Let it sit for about a week, until the leaves are pressed flat.

SETTING UP
Cover your work area with newspaper, and set out the leaves, paints, palette, brushes, water, sponges and T-shirt. Fold newspaper inside the body and sleeves of the shirt to keep paint from seeping through to the back. Lay the shirt down on the table and smooth out any wrinkles.

MAKING TEST PRINTS
Before printing onto the T-shirt, try some test prints on a piece of newspaper. Choose a leaf and find its veined side. Wet a paintbrush and squeeze most of the water out of it. Pick a color and paint the sponge with it. The sponge should be coated with paint but should not be gloppy. Put the brush back in the container of water.

Dab the painted sponge on the veined side of the leaf, including the stem. Do not rub back and forth with the sponge, but press down repeatedly on the leaf until it is fully painted. Turn the leaf over, painted side down, onto the newspaper and gently press down with your fingers, taking care to get as clear a print of the stem as possible. Advise the kids to try to keep their fingers paint-free, and, when printing the stem, to keep fingers on the stem only. Pick the leaf up by the stem and check your print. For the next print, add more paint if needed, or go lighter. If the print isn't clear, press down more firmly or take care not to move the leaf while printing.

PRINTING YOUR T-SHIRT
Once you like the way the practice prints are coming out, go ahead with your T-shirt. Arrange your prints in a pattern or cover the shirt, overlapping prints in contrasting colors if you like. As you work, be careful to keep your hands wiped clean to avoid fingerprints. You can use the same leaf several times, so long as you keep printing with the same color. To keep colors from getting muddy, use only one color per sponge and rinse brushes before using them to apply a new color.

If you want to print both the back and front of your shirt, wait to let the painted side dry completely before flipping it over. When you are done, leave the newspaper inside the shirt until the paint is dry. Clean brushes and sponges in warm, soapy water. These T-shirts can be machine washed, but only after the paint has been heat set according to the manufacturer's directions.

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Forest Glossary

SOIL LAYER
The soil layer is the foundation of the forest, supporting and providing moisture and nutrients to plant and tree roots. It consists of decomposed plant matter and inorganic material, such as rocks, minerals and clay.

LITTER LAYER
The litter layer is the floor of the forest, where decaying plant matter and fungi undergo the transformation into soil. Bacteria, insects and worms in the litter help break down the plant matter.

FIELD LAYER
The field layer is the first layer of growth on the forest floor--a soft carpet of mosses, ferns, wildflowers, grasses and other low plants. It is a habitat for many insects, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

UNDERSTORY
The understory is made up of bushes, shrubs, woody plants and young trees reaching up to the forest canopy; it provides a habitat for birds and insects.

CANOPY
The canopy is the highest layer of the forest--the intertwined branches of mature trees that shade and protect lower forest layers and provide a habitat for insects, birds and small mammals.

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Adopt a Tree

Kids love blindfold games, and this one is no exception. In an area of the woods with a fair number of trees and not too much underbrush, blindfold your child and spin her around.

Taking a circuitous route, walk her to a tree and place her in front of it. Encourage her to feel the texture and irregularities of its bark and to rub her cheek against it. Invite her to smell the tree and to walk slowly around it, feeling with an outstretched hand for trees or plants growing close by.

If there are special features of the tree that she is missing, guide her toward them. Be sure she wraps her arms as far around the trunk as she can to get an idea of its size. When she is done exploring, lead her away from the tree by a roundabout path and remove the blindfold.

Then, challenge her to find "her" tree. After a few false starts, my daughters each zeroed in on their trees and repeated all the touching, smelling and hugging as they verified that they had found their arboreal friends.

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Pack for a Picnic

It's almost noon on a gorgeous blue-sky day. "Let's have a picnic," you say to your children. But by the time you've made the sandwiches, rounded up paper plates and dragged out an old blanket, the clouds have blown in and the kids have lost interest. Enter the picnic kit: prepacked and ready to go whenever you are.

1. Fill one compartment of a sectioned basket or canvas bag with a waterproof tablecloth (which doubles as seating on damp ground), plastic utensils, paper or plastic cups and plates, a sharp knife, a bottle opener, some dish towels (to wipe up spills), and a trash bag.

2. Stock another compartment with nonperishable foods: granola bars, dried fruit, peanut butter and juice boxes.

3. Add a zip-top bag with sunscreen, insect repellent, Band-Aids and wet wipes.

4. Slip in some fun stuff: a single-use camera, bottles of bubble mix, shovels and scoops, a magnifying glass and bug collecting jar, some colored pencils and sketch pads, and a book or two.

Keep the whole shebang handy. When the weather beckons, toss in some sandwiches and fruit--and you're off.

Thumbprint Garden T-Shirt

These personalized T-shirts -- the girls can put their own signature flower on one another's tees -- will be the hit of any party.

For a step-by-step video demonstration of this craft, click here. CRAFT MATERIALS:
T-shirts
Cardboard
Fabric paints
Paper plates
Green fabric marker (we used FabricMate from Yasutomo, available at fabric stores)

Time needed: About 2 to 3 Hours
1. Set up your decorating station by first cutting a piece of cardboard to fit snugly inside each shirt, separating the front and the back layers. Line up the shirts on your worktable and squirt small puddles of fabric paint onto paper plates.

2. For each shirt, have the girls each dip a pinky finger into a puddle of paint and press it onto the T-shirt for a flower center.

3. Next, have them each dip a thumb into a different color of paint and press it onto the shirt around the pinky print to make petals

4. Use a fabric marker to paint stems and leaves.

5. Finally, have each guest use the fabric marker to write her name under her thumbprint flower on each shirt.

6. Leave the cardboard inside the shirts while they dry and refer to the fabric paint bottle for washing instructions.

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Hang a Hideout

Call it what you want--a tent, a hideout, a permanent-press playhouse--but this breezy, easy-to-make clothesline fort offers kids ample shade and privacy for tea parties, secret clubs or just whiling away long afternoons. The construction of the tent is fairly free-form, with its design depending on the length of your clothesline, the size of your yard and how many sheets you want to use.

To make our tent, we strung three clotheslines between a tree and a tall fence (one clothesline runs higher to form the peaked ridgepole of the roof). Then we hung several sheets to form the walls and roof, clipping them in place with clothespins. If your kids like, furnish the tent with kid-size chairs and an old rug--or, as we did, just stick with the original decor by Mother Nature.

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Homemade Lanterns

Luminarias, or candle lanterns, can lend an extra glow to a stargazing party, an outdoor storytelling session or a night hike. To create a classic luminaria, nest a candle in a small brown paper bag, half filled with sand. For a stained-glass effect, glue colored tissue paper over cutouts in the bag. Or make the luminaria pictured here by saving your soda can and following the four steps below.

MATERIALS
1 empty soda can
Marker
Craft knife
Pencil
Votive candle
Small screw-in hook
20-inch wooden dowel
Thin wire for hanging

1. Draw two lines around the can, the first 1 inch down from the top of the can and the second 1 inch up from the bottom of the can. Using the craft knife (an adult's job), make straight cuts between the top and bottom lines 1/2 to 3/4 inches apart.

2. Once you've cut all the way around the can, make a cut across the bottom of two adjacent strips to create an opening for the candle. Wearing gloves, carefully pull the two strips away from the can. Next, use the pencil to bend out the remaining strips, while slightly pressing the top of the can so it has a squatty, Chinese lantern-like shape.

3. Pass the candle through the opening and use a drop of melted wax to attach it to the bottom of the can. Next, bend the two cut strips and tuck them into place inside the can.

4. Screw the hook into one end of the wooden dowel. To hang, loop a length of wire between the hook and the circular opening on the soda can tab.

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Backyard Mural

Take artistic ventures outdoors and transform an old white sheet into a monumental canvas.

Craft Materials

Old Bedsheet
Tempera Paints
Paint Brushes
Sponges
Squirt Bottles

Time Needed: Under 1 Hour

1. Start by soaking an old sheet in water and then hanging it on a clothesline or draping it over a fence.

2. Get out various tempera paints and applicators -- sponges, paintbrushes, squirt bottles -- and go at it, creating pictures, tic-tac-toe grids, or just colorful designs. You can also mute and mix colors with a water-filled spray bottle.

3. Whenever you don't like what you see, simply hose down the canvas and start over. For art on a smaller scale, try the same techniques with a pillowcase or an old T-shirt

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