How to Garden With Kids & Learn About Lady Bugs

Coccinellidae, or ladybugs, are small pest-eating red beetles with black spots. Farmers and gardeners alike love ladybugs for their voracious appetites. Instead of eating the leaves of plants as many insects do, ladybugs instead feast on leaf-eating insects, thus saving many valuable crops that would otherwise be destroyed. Choose a sunny afternoon to teach your child about ladybugs and perfect her gardening skills. Not only will you remove those pesky aphids from your petunias, but you will also spend time bonding with your child and teaching her reverence for all life. A well-known quote by Congressman Bradley Miller (D-NC) says it all: "Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar." It could just as well be a ladybug.

Book about ladybugs
Gardening tools

Instructions

- 1
  Talk to your child about ladybugs before you begin to garden. Read a book about ladybugs or show your child online pictures of ladybugs so he understands what he's looking for when you go outside. If your child is squeamish around bugs, remind her that ladybugs are not toxic, do not bite and will not harm her.
- 2
  Give your child his own gardening tools to use outside. You can buy kid-friendly shovels, gloves and watering pitchers or simply provide your child with household items to use in the garden, such as a spoon or a small pitcher.
- 3
  Allow your child to help you pluck weeds from the garden or plant new seeds. Demonstrate how to properly pull a weed or how deep to plant a new seed so she knows what to do. Remind her to look for ladybugs while you garden.
- 4
  Show your child a ladybug. Explain to your child that ladybugs are useful to farmers and gardeners alike because they frequently eat plant-eating insects. Allow your child to hold and touch the ladybug if he would like to.
- 5
  Water your plants with your child. Show your child how to dampen the soil around each plant without causing a large amount of water to puddle. Explain that, like all living things, plants need water to grow and flourish. Watch for ladybugs while you pour the water. Point out any ladybugs that drink water droplets from a leaf.

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