Homemade Insectarium

If you're new to my blog, you need to know something about my oldest daughter, Tempe.

She loves bugs. And dirt. And playing with bugs and dirt.

So when she found a praying mantis on our fall nature walk a few days ago, she just had to bring him home with us. I had an empty plastic sandwich bag, so I poked a few holes in it and we carefully carried him home with us.

After dinner, I got to work on a more permanent home for him: a homemade insectarium.

Our house has no screens in the windows. Instead, they are all in our shed. Waiting to be patched. With the window screen patching kit my dad bought for us when we moved in. Three years ago.

But Dad, if I actually fix my window screens, how will I make a homemade insectarium??

I cut a piece of worn screen large enough to wrap around the top of a shoebox and then duct-taped it into place. Then I cut three sides of a square in the top for a door to the insectarium. I lined the edges with more duct tape to stop them from fraying. Finally, I punched holes along the top of the door and used twist-ties to secure it shut so that "Prayee" can't get out and go roamin' at night.

As for Prayee, he's doing ok. So far he's eaten a dragonfly and a grasshopper which we caught in our yard (per the internet's advice) but he seems listless. I don't think he's going to make it much longer. We're hoping we can keep him alive until Tuesday so Tempe can take him to show-and-tell!