This activity can be done as a live presentation with verbal clues given to the audience, or as a self-service activity station using a quiz board or picture and/or clue cards with flipup answer panels.  Here are some sample clues:

We hop in the grass, so we're called........... (Answer: grasshoppers)

She's not your sister or your mother, but she's married to your father's brother. (Answer: "ant")

I have a brother for a dragon and I'm a "lady" who likes to fly near streams. (Answer: damselfly)

People disagree in calling me a beetle, bug, or bird, but they all call me a lady. (Answer: ladybird beetle or ladybug)

My cousin is a bumbler, and she's busy too, but she won't make honey for you. (Answer: honey bee)

I'm happy and sing with all my might, especially on a warm summer night. (Answer: katydid)

I don't like butter and I'm not really a fly. (Answer: butterfly)

Our mining trails show up in leaves like shiners, we mine in leaves so we're called............. (Answer: leafminers)

You might think he's religious because of his attitude of prayer, but don't be fooled by this hungry fellow, insects beware! (Answer: praying mantis)

We'll bite you too if you wish, but deer and horses are our main dish (Answer: horse or deer fly)

I am the best dressed insect I am told, with wings of green and eyes of gold. (Answer: lacewing)

I can cause crop damage beyond belief, I'm a homopterous insects that hops from leaf to leaf. (Answer: leafhopper)

We fly at night and you might not like our hum, and if you're unprotected we're really bothersome. You don't like us, but we think you're sweet; we suck your blood and think it's a treat. (Answer: mosquito)

Our house has many shapes like bubbles, cones and balls, a style of house we call................ (Answer: galls)

Some of us are good and some of us are bad, but that doesn't make any of us sad; to protect ourselves we make a big stink, and that's really clever don't you think? (Answer: stink bugs)

I'm a very long insect from aft to fore, and I eat tree leaves - pass me some more! (Answer: walkingstick)

On cold winter nights I sing by the chimney and hope for a visit from my great cousin Jiminy. (Answer: cricket)

[TOWER MENU]     [MAIN MENU]

This educational resource was prepared by the Young Entomologists Society, 6907 West Grand River Ave., Lansing MI 48906-9131, phone/fax 517-886-0630, e-mail YESbugs@aol.com.  Support minibeast youth education - join Y.E.S. today!