Live Ant Farm For Kids

Ants are members of the phylum Arthropod thatwater.
creates colonies that may cover large territories.Once their habitat is ready, you next assignment is
They are known to be the most hardworking animalto collect ants to place inside the habitat. It is not
or insect on our planet. They could teach the childrenreally difficult to do this. You can go to your
a lesson or two about hard work.backyard and get ants from their ant hills or get
There are a lot of initiatives that companies orthem from their nests. You may also create baits like
individuals come up that uses ants as educational aideputting sweet food outside or maybe drop juice or
to children. One of the ideas is the live ant farm forsoda on the soil in your backyard. But the problem
kids. Kids like to explore and exploring the ants whilenow is capturing the Queen of the colony. You may
they are doing their daily activities will be fun at thedo this during summer which is the mating season for
same time a learning experience for kids.ants. She can be easily distinguished because she is
There are a lot of ways of obtaining a live ant farmthe largest in their group.
for kids. You can even make one at home. You mayThe next thing to do is to place you ants inside their
use unused fish tanks or damaged one for as theirnew home. You may use a paper funnel for this. In
habitat. If you don't have a fish tank, you may useorder for the ants to stay still during this operation,
plastic containers, jars or ice cream containers. Useyou may place them inside the refrigerator for
the transparent one if possible so that kids can seearound 5- 10 minutes. This way their mobility is
the ants in action.impaired and you don't have to worry for the ants to
The next step in the process is putting sand insideescape. Securely cover your colony so that these
the tank. This is where the colony of the ants willants will not be able to go out. Open the cover once
reign. You may put plastic trees or any decoration onin 2-3 days just to allow air circulation. Once they are
top of the sand to make it more presentable. Thenin, make sure that they are well fed. You may give
place the ants inside. It is advisable to choose antsthem small amount of fruits, vegetables, pet food or
with darker colors compared to the lighter ones soeven insects that have died. Do it every 2-3 days.
that they can be seen clearly. These ants will makeMake sure to keep this at a minimal amount, this
tunnels in the sand and there is a big possibility that itcould cause mildew formation in the sand which could
will collapse since it is not their natural environment.harm the ants. Make sure to also give water to them.
To avoid this from happening, with the use ofDo this every day and make sure it's not too much.
medicine dropper you may dampen the sand with