Spiny Leaf Stick Insects

This wasn't a planned post ... but it turns out it's necessary! I'm not spending a huge amount of brain time on this which is new to me! I usually take  a couple of weeks to write, edit and publish a post to a point where I'm happy with it ... I'm churning this out in a couple of hours in between house work and other business.

I made a post on a Facebook group I help admin, giving away about 10+ pairs of babies to new homes. We're running an Emporium and I've been wanting to find homes for my extra babies but I've not necessarily wanted to drive across Sydney or have people come to my house! So giving them away at the Emporium seemed like the most convenient option. So I thought I'd throw together a page to support the insects and their new homes. It was easier to do it here than it was on the business website.

Spiny Leaf Stick Insects are awesome. They make amazing sustainable companion animals for early learning services or for children in the home. They are so easy to care for. They also allow you to view a life cycle over the course of a year and you're not slaughtering orphan baby chickens in the process (yes, I have a strong political view on this).

It's hard to tell from this photo, but its female ...

Large plastic aquarium with my nymphs - note the jar covered in foil. This is our nursery tank.  Do you know how hard it is to move 20 odd babies over from old branches to new branches? Yeah, it's not easy!

It's a boy ... 

The work enclosure which I bring home for the weekends so I can care for the bigger bubs .. They love their water spray ... and my cat is plotting hunting adventures ... No. Just, no.

Female having a meal ... I've graduated them from callistemon (bottle brush) to bigger gum leaves.

What you will need:

• A suitable enclosure/habitat.
• A spray bottle for water only
• Fresh supply of gum (eucalyptus) leaves
• A jar  to support the gum branches to last longer (up to a week). When the nymphs are young,  you will need to cover the jar with aluminium foil and poke the branches through to prevent any accidental drowning. 
• Paper towel, newspaper or something for the substrate of the habitiat

Enclosures/Habitats

There are all sorts you can use. While they are young, I use a plastic aquarium which is about $25. They provide cats with endless entertainment as well - so that's a bonus. 

This is like the one we have at work:

Kellyville Pets 

Its fabulous. I am actually thinking about buying one for home! Because yes, I may need my own insects for home ... don't ask. And it will save me transporting a full enclosure to and from. I can just grab the ones we have and then put them with my own.  I know I have a problem.

Links with information:
Australian Museum:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/care-of-stick-insects

Creature Features
http://www.abc.net.au/creaturefeatures/facts/spinyleafinsect.htm 

Australian Insect Farm Life Cycle:
http://www.insectfarm.com.au/newsletters/Life-Cycle-3-Spiny-Leaf-Stick-Insect.pdf

Wikipedia: Extatosoma tiaratum, because life is not complete without Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extatosoma_tiaratum

Bugs ED
http://www.bugsed.com/fact_sheets/spiny_leaf_insect.html 

Care Sheet:
http://shop.minibeastwildlife.com.au/content/Minibeast%20Wildlife%20Care%20Guide%20-%20Extatosoma%20tiaratum.pdf 


I've included a few videos ... I've never seen one hatch, despite having a hundred or so eggs ... One of my team did with one of our students and that would have been the most wonderful thing to behold! So here's a video which I showed to my children at work - the babies just kept popping up without most of us (bar one) seeing the process! I've included videos of one of the males on my hand - he has a smoother body and he also has wings. The female has a spikier body and she has the tiniest wings that don't function. They can be tricky to tell apart when they're young and you're not used to them.

Videos:

A hatching spiny leaf insect nymph:

One of my young male spiny leaf stick insects:

One of my young female spiny leaf stick insects:

And this awesome video of the insects up close ... if the insects gross you out, then this close up video will make you die... so be warned and don't die!!!!

Ok, I think that will do us...

I hope this is all useful!

© Teacher's Ink. 2016

(your friendly local bug dealer)

Just Some Thoughts On Sustainability

(succulents planted in re-purposed tin cans - make sure you punch drainage holes in the bottom ... actually succulents are great to grow because they grow from leaves or cuttings and pups quite easily! And they're hardy and easy to care for!)

Ok, this is my take on sustainability. It gets bandied about in the early childhood sector these days quite a bit. But really, what does it mean and what should be do about it.

Well. I don’t think it means throwing out your plastic toys and replacing them with toys made from natural materials. It’s not about buying toys labelled as “eco” or “sustainable” from toy catalogues. Just because its labelled sustainable, doesn’t make it so!

What is sustainability? According to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH):

"There is no simple definition of 'sustainability'. It can be an idea, a property of living systems, a manufacturing method or a way of life. In fact, there may be as many definitions of sustainability as there are people trying to define it.

However, most definitions include:

■l iving within the limits of what the environment can provide

■ understanding the many interconnections between economy, society and the environment

■ the equal distribution of resources and opportunities."

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainability/index.htm

So, with that in mind, I’ve come up with a random list off the top of my head ...

So what are some ideas for being sustainable? Some of them you might already be doing, but just articulate it a bit better in your QIP, with the children, and to the team!

·         Use recycled paper for drawings: get families to donate paper that’s been used once, to re-use again at your service one more time!

·         Use recycled gift wrap for collage – encourage families, staff, community members to donate wrapping paper from festivities or special occasions! Perfect for collage.

·         Use old children’s books, that aren’t good enough to read any more – run through a shredder and use them in collage. Or cut them up into bits – make sure that the children just don’t use their scissors on books that are still good! That’s why the shredder is great.

·         Use old magazines for collage – images that aren’t entirely appropriate for the children – such as advertisements that might have a bit too much leg or cleavage – are also amazing through a shredder.

·         Recycle all used paper.

·         Recycle in EVERY area of the centre – from the children’s rooms to the staff room and kitchen! If you proclaim that you’re sustainable and you don’t get your team to recycle in the staff room, well, that just looks lazy and superficial.

·         Avoid products with excess packaging.

·         If you’re a service where the children bring their own food – ban excess packaging in lunches and snacks. Encourage parents to have small re-usable containers. You can buy BPA free plastics from Kmart which are uber affordable!

·         Use food boxes in your home corner as resources (I did a post on this!).

·         Use old food that is out of date, in plastic (yeah I know, not sustainable perse BUT safe for children of all ages to use).

·         Use recycled furniture from the Salvos, St. Vinnies and other opportunity shops.

·         Get families to donate old clothes for dress-ups or buy them from the op-shops.

·         Grow vegetables!

·         Grow veggies in raised garden beds (search for No-dig-gardens)

·         Grow veggies and herbs in containers! Recycled containers even! I’ve used old water troughs, plastic tubs, buckets, pots from the side of the road ...

·         Compost your scraps

·         Have a worm farm

·         If you have dogs or cats at home you can get special composts for their faeces – which keeps the waste local and out of the tip!

·         Use low energy light globes.

·         Use fans rather than air-conditioning.

·         Keep your aircon at 24-27°C for summer cooling and 18-20°C for winter warming. It will save electricity and money and for every degree above or below you are using up to 10% more energy.

·         Have plants inside! They’re great for air quality!

·         Grow plants in your outdoor spaces! Make sure you’re not growing any that might be toxic to children!

·         Get some chickens. They’re great for working the vegetable beds when they’re finished for the season before you add more veggies.

·         Buy local where you can.

·         Re-use items such as glass jars for paint pots! Other trays and containers for playdough, home corner, water play, sand play, mud play etc. Then when its served its purpose, recycle it!

I’m going to step up on the official Teacher’s Ink. Soapbox. I figure if we are going to be sustainable, we might as well go that extra step and become cruelty free as well. You know those industrial chemicals that organizations and companies often buy in bulk to clean their services? By something sustainable AND cruelty free! It’s good for the environment, it’s good for us, it’s good for the children! You can even talk about it ... you know palm oil? They destroy thousands of acres of rainforest to plant palms for oil and Orangutans are killed in the process – not to mention they don’t have a home at the end of it anyway. So, if you discussed these matters with the children, you’d touch on so many different elements of the EYLF – well all of the outcomes could be covered. Now, I’m not suggesting that you do this lightly and I’m not suggesting that you show children images of tortured animals – but certainly teach them to be EDUCATED CONSUMERS who make informed choices! In fact, incorporate that into your food purchasing – boycott palm oil altogether!

Other Teacher's Ink. posts you might be interested in on this topic:

http://teachers-ink.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Re-use%20Re-cycle%20Re-purpose

 

Ok. That’s enough! I need to sleep.

© Teacher’s Ink. 2013

 

DeHording & Possible Projects!

Today was about gardening and housework and laundry. I have managed to donate a big bag of clothes and a small wooden table to the Salvos (Sustainable Me!), purchase weed-matting and mulch for the garden (More Sustainable Me!), purchase some storage tubs (Not Sustainable Me!).

I'm planning to attack my clump of was supposed to be useful stuff ... you know paper and books and resources and stuff ... I'm down-sizing even more! Massive amounts are going to be donated to a service that can use it!

I'm going to move a lot of my teaching things into the shed as I'm not using them and they are just taking up space ...

HOWEVER that means [cue ominous music] that I must clean out the shed!!!! Nooooo! Its not that bad ... but it doesnt have a weather proof floor, so when it rains, it can get damp or even a bit flooded ... So things are up on pavers and shelves etc ... I'm not 100% sure how things will survive in there, but the bags of shredded paper seem to be fine!

Tomorrow, I hope to be organised enough to take a bag of old towels, a cat bed, and bags of shredded paper to the animal shelter (Ethical Sustainable Me!) ... I have them ready, I just have to make the drive!

Today was more about preparation rather than execution. Tomorrow I'm going to start executing the plan as my brother will be coming over next week and he can help me shift some small furniture! See, backcare even in the home!

I also have a couple of projects I've thought of that I want to work on ... and I'll fit them in during the week too ...

I have found so many useful links and the like and I want to share them! There really is so much helpful things out there ... its just a matter of finding them, or finding the time to find them!

I'm typing this with the Teacher's Ink Quality Control Officer sitting in front of the screen ... he's making a statement about my work ... In other words: 1) feed him and 2) go get ready to go out!

Any spelling errors, I blame TIQCO!

I hope everyone is having a slendid weekend and I shall return! Projects underway, and room organised!

Sustainable Resources from the Op Shop!

What you see here, is $11 worth of wooden bowls from The Salvation Army op shop. I love op-shops. I love op-shop shopping. I seriously do! Aside from rehoming items that would otherwise be trash and supporting organizations that support others in need ... I love the style, the originality, the funkiness of what you can find! Even the table underneath the bowls was op-shop fodder! It was $40 from St Vincents and in reasonable pristine condition (until one of my exes put something stupid on it and made a great big gounge - which annoys the stuffing out of me (depsite using a wood crayon!)).

I am using these bowls in my photo shoots and I have used others at my last job to display items like insect and animal figurines as well as natural embellishments: seed pods, leaves, twigs, stones etc.

I now have a box full of wooden bowls - some from garage sales, most from St. Vinnies or Salvos - most of which were between $1-5 each ... In this photo, the large bowl was $5, the double was $3 and the others were all $1 ... and this was one trip to one store.

They also have lots of baskets available in all shapes and sizes, but I'm not buying them! I'm running out of room at home to store these things!

Why are we displaying items in plastic containers when we can use, re-use, recycle items that are so rich and warm in colour, and support a more sustainable life? They just look lovely!!!

PLUS as a bonus, you can link your provisions to sustainable practices which ties in to the NQS and the EYLF ... See? See what I did there?

Op-Shop Wooden bowls = NQSEYLF friendly!

In fact op-shop anything is good for us and our world and our practice!

So there you have it!

Peace Out!

© Teacher’s Ink. 2012

Repurposing: Art Tray

 

 

I'm a BIG fan of recycling and repurposing and re-using if you havent already picked up on that notion ...

The tray is from my uncle. He won it at a tournament a great many moons ago. It's an engraved trophy. The tin cans, well, you all know where they came from and I've posted about making cans safe before in my post:  Sustainable Recycled Repurposed Home Corner Resources. The materials are simply what you might have at an art table or possibly even in a writing or drawing area. This was so simple and easy to put together. You could also have materials for a playdough table. Hmmm that gives my my next idea!

If you don't have the materials to "recycle" you can easily buy metal trays from any number of discount stores if you want to head down this specific path. Weekend market stalls where they sell homewares have them in many different sizes. I've also seen them many times at opportunity shops (Salvation Army or St. Vincents or Anglicare Op shops).  Or if you want a wooden look -  wooden trays are readily available from Ikea or Kmart or any other number of stores.

 

 

© Teacher’s Ink. 2012 All Rights Reserved

Sustainable Recycled Repurposed Home Corner Resources

We all know the buzz buzz buzz about being sustainable and environmental in the EYLF and the NQS ... Well, I know I've mentioned this before, but I thought I would do a whole post on it! I've been slowly saving up some more cans ... and I have a few more that are still at work!

1) Collect your cans! Try and have a variety, that is colourful, has a balance of image and text.

2)  Wash your cans out... be careful as most of the lift top lids leave a sharp edge.

3) Have your "smooth edge" can opener ready - remove the inner lip of the can and discard.

4) Run your finger carefully along the inner edge and make sure its smooth - again, be careful!

5) Re-attach your label if you removed it from can (I did this as I didnt eat all that food in one go - and I used pet food tins which I use daily as the base). You can do this with sticky tape. Just make sure it lines up evenly.

6) Cut a piece of clear contact adhesive slightly longer than your can so that it sits on the bottom of the can and over laps the top.

7) Remove the cover of the contact adhesive and carefully smooth over the label of the can.

8) When the can is fully covered, make a few small cuts at the top over lapping adhesive cover and then fold them into the can and smooth them out. This gives extra protection from the rim (which should be smooth anyway!). If you are particular about the safety of these cans, use some silver duct/gaffa tape to line the top of the can.

9) Ta! Da! You now have some unique, made by yourself, economical, resourceful, creative, recycled resources that can be used to support children's creative and imaginative play!

10) Sit back and watch the magic ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(c) Teacher's Ink. 2012 All Rights Reserved

The Caterpillar and The Spider

Today my gardening colleague and I took a few of our 'left over' children into our car-parking area (its fully gated and locked with only our two cars - don't panic!).
 
We were pruning our Geraniums and our African Daisy and our Hibiscus and whatever else we happened to have ...
 

We found a teeny tiny caterpillar!

 

 

And we also found a St. Andrew's Cross Spider but the photo wasnt the best and then my colleague accidentally pruned where the web was! We will go back and look to see if she builds again.

 

My student said to me "We found two natures" ... and we did ... the caterpillar and the spider.

 

I love, LOVE, gardening with children. I love helping to connect them with nature and life. And this afternoon was truly special. Watching Miss Five and her sister Miss Two using scissors to prune - snip at leaves in helping us ... discovering little creatures, admiring the flowers, learning about their names Echivera, African Daisy, Geranium etc ...

 

 
I loved watching Miss Two concentrate so much on snipping the leaves. While it wasn't the best outcome for the hibiscus - I was pruning it anyway! - she concentrated so hard! She was so proud of herself as she asked me to look at her work! She was developing her fine motor skills, her concentration, her hand eye coordination ... she was learning to care for plants and "give them a haircut" so that they will grow stronger, greener, healthier ...
 

 

I loved watching Miss Five pick flowers for Miss Apprehensive who didn't want to garden, but loved sitting on the safe sidelines where she could collect and guard the flower collection. She could pick the African Daisies off the plants we'd pulled up ... Miss Five was supporting Miss Apprehensive's choice to sit to the side. Miss Five was showing she has strong empathy for her younger peers, a skill she's developed as a big sister and a member of a strong cultural family.

 

 

Where to next? Well, I'm thinking we'll bring a few out in small groups to do some observational drawings of the plants we have. I'm also pondering letting them use our camera to take some photos. As we only have one camera for now - we have to guard it well!
 
We don't have many plants in our playground - but we do have a garden area which we have started working on. We are adding organic matter to the soil to prepare it for planting - its just too dry and won't hold moisture. We've got grand plans!
 
We are going to use some of the Geranium cuttings to grow new plants which the children can take home themselves and care for should they choose. This way we can share with the children how we can grow some plants from cuttings, some from leaves, some from seeds etc.
 
I'm going to strongly encourage the staff to take the children to our garden area more often ... It's been sadly neglected and once our line is fixed, we can hang out our laundry, start our compost, develop more garden beds etc ...
 
All on our journey to being more sustainable! I would love to see this be a daily occurrence!
 

 
This my friends is the EYLF in action ... it's relationships, it's community, it's purposeful activity, its learning through doing, spontaneous actions, caring for nature, plants, animals, creatures ... its part of being a team with adults and children ...

I had such a good afternoon. I just feel at peace with myself and the world, and I wonder if the children are at home feeling the same glow? They certainly seemed to have a glow about them as we worked.
 

© Teacher’s Ink. 2012  All Rights Reserved

 
 

Creative & Innovative Resource Design!

Home Corner BLING!

I like creating things for work. I really like being innovative and creative. Something that I have done for years and years – is make stuffed food boxes. I stuff them with shredded paper and then tape them securely shut. You can then use adhesive contact to wrap them in. This way they last even longer and are less likely to be opened by curious fingers and minds. I often stuff them =with= the children because this way – they know what’s inside and are less likely to investigate.

I have also made food bottles for years ... I have found at Kmart – a set of 3 small twist top jars which are BPA free plastic for $2 ... so a bargain I think! I’ve filled them with some food items (labelled on the bottom with the date) and then glued them closed with my small hot glue gun (put the glue around the inside of the lid and a little up the thread – then carefully twist on – wait til they dry and presto! Real food items! I am still toying with creating name labels with the bottles. I might, but then again, I might not!

Also I have been making food cans ... this is a =new= idea of mine! I had made them years ago using papier-mâché cans – but it was toooooooo much work ... I’m  lazy and need ease and convenience these days ... buy a smooth edge can-opener ($5 from Coles) which cuts the lid off a can but leaves a, yes you guessed it, smooth edge! Run your finger along it carefully to make sure it is smooth! Then I just put on a food label – then contact the label and then fold the overlap into the inside of the can just for extra protection. I leave the cans open - why not? They can then use them to feed people (I had a little not quite 2 year old feed me some cat food the other day, YUM!). Or they can fill them with spare parts (like bottle lids etc).

Some of these items are either “free” or easily affordable. They are made using items that might otherwise make it into the rubbish/recycle cycle with only one use under their belt ... this way, you can re-use and re-purpose items, then when they have lived out their second life with you, you can then recycle them! (minus the plastic of course).

The food bottles will quite possibly last for YEARS ... I have had some last for 10 years before I left them at a job ... It was time to start new. And I’m really impressed with the Kmart jars. Perfect size for little hands. And they really aid in imagination, are real items that they might be able to relate to – and it helps them connect food with food in different states of being (i.e. dried rice, dried beans, etc).

Also, something that we need to all consider - especially in light of the NQS - and their emphasis on sustainability and environmental awareness and the environment - this is the perfect thing for your service to do! If you do it with the children - you are also empowering them, discussing it with them, and helping them to be capable and competent contributors to their own learning space and materials.

So that is my newest sharing with you ... Go forth and create and innovate! AND feel free to share your ideas!

T.ink.

© Teacher’s Ink. 2012    All rights reserved.