We Eat Bugs.
This week in Home Life, we learned about entomophagy - the practice of eating insects (on purpose). It was a really fascinating lesson, because we have never intentionally eaten a cricket, a grasshopper, an ant, but it is common in several parts of the world. We learned that insects are an inexpensive and healthy protein source and may help to solve problems of world hunger. We also learned that because of all the pesticide usage in the US, the wild insects here are not considered safe to eat. (Figures.)
Daughter really didn't find a lot of 'ew' factor in this lesson. Then again, she eats seaweed so fast that we have to ration it (hey, it's expensive!) and she loves chocolate covered cuttlefish (dried squid). She and Husband also had a discussion about how insect-like shrimp and lobster appear to be, and she is considering the possibility that they might be 'sea insects'.
In the end, you can't have all this discussion of bug-eating without some sort of snack. That would be mean. Here is Daughter's report:
This week I learned about cultures that eat insects. People in different places eat all different things. I don't like eggs, but other people think they are very good. I like some things that my friends think are yucky, but we are still friends.
I have never eaten real bugs in a meal on purpose, but for fun, we made 'creature food' this week for snacks. First, I made Ants on a Log. This is one of my favorites. It is celery with peanut butter, then raisins for ants.
The next day I made a caterpillar. The body was banana segments with peanut butter to hold it together. I used pretzels, raisins, sunflower seeds, and colored rice puffs (Grandma gets me these - they are from Japan) to decorate the caterpillar.
It has real eyes on the front by the antennae, but it has eye spots on its back too, so that it can confuse predators. Lots of insects have eye spots or parts that make them look like leaves or sticks, so they are harder to find and eat. I ate my caterpillar though. It was tasty!
The head is a prune, and the eyes are sunflower seeds.
Time to eat my bug!!
This is a very tasty snack.
Daughter really didn't find a lot of 'ew' factor in this lesson. Then again, she eats seaweed so fast that we have to ration it (hey, it's expensive!) and she loves chocolate covered cuttlefish (dried squid). She and Husband also had a discussion about how insect-like shrimp and lobster appear to be, and she is considering the possibility that they might be 'sea insects'.
In the end, you can't have all this discussion of bug-eating without some sort of snack. That would be mean. Here is Daughter's report:
This week I learned about cultures that eat insects. People in different places eat all different things. I don't like eggs, but other people think they are very good. I like some things that my friends think are yucky, but we are still friends.
I have never eaten real bugs in a meal on purpose, but for fun, we made 'creature food' this week for snacks. First, I made Ants on a Log. This is one of my favorites. It is celery with peanut butter, then raisins for ants.
The next day I made a caterpillar. The body was banana segments with peanut butter to hold it together. I used pretzels, raisins, sunflower seeds, and colored rice puffs (Grandma gets me these - they are from Japan) to decorate the caterpillar.
It has real eyes on the front by the antennae, but it has eye spots on its back too, so that it can confuse predators. Lots of insects have eye spots or parts that make them look like leaves or sticks, so they are harder to find and eat. I ate my caterpillar though. It was tasty!
We had this great idea for a toad that is eating flies. The flies are marshmallows with sunflower seed wings. Peanut butter is good to stick things together and it tastes good. The toad's eyes are marshmallows and the tongue is a bean sprout. Do you think they are cute?
When I was 5, I read and learned all about ladybugs, and I love them. We have a lot of them on our farm. This one is made from an apple and raisins and other things from our cabinet.
The head is a prune, and the eyes are sunflower seeds.
Time to eat my bug!!
This is a very tasty snack.
I had fun this week eating pretend bugs. It was yummy! The end.
We shared this home-learning activity at:
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