In my early childhood I lived in Oklahoma with hot and humid summers. When I was eight, we moved to Idaho, and while I consider Idaho home to this day, one thing I missed about Oklahoma was the fireflies (often called lightening bugs). The way they lifted above the grassy fields and lit up the sky at dusk entranced me in those early years. Then, because it simply isn't humid in Idaho, I thought I would never see them on a regular basis again. I was wrong, when I moved to Pennsylvania as an adult, to my delight, I found fireflies again! Now my husband and I enjoy sharing their ethereal beauty with our children.
Here are some of the great books we read to learn more about fireflies.
A young girl recalls a remarkable moment-how she waited patiently through a long, hot afternoon for night to fall so she and her family could make a journey to the top of a hill to see an amazing sight: a multitude of blinking, winking, twinkling fireflies lighting up a nearby mountain
Here are some fascinating videos about fireflies:
fireflies in Utan http://www.youtube.com/watch?
synchronized fireflies http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Our youngest loves walking around the neighborhood with his little glowing friends using his bug house from Imagine Childhood.
For a craft, we made paper bell jars, cut out the center, and put packing tape on both sides of the open space (laminating paper would have been even better). To make the fireflies, the boys drew little firefly bodies and using glow-in-the-dark paint painted little wings on with a q-tip. The boys hung their pictures from their bunk beds so they could see the litte fireflies glow at night.
It's not very impressive in the daylight, but
offers a subtle glow of light as little ones
drift off to dreamland.
Next week.... bees!
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