Insect Safari day camp has kids buzzing
Sarah Sandin, center, Washington County Parks and Recreation program coordinator, gives last-minute instructions to 22 students participating in a four-day camp called “Insect Safari,” before the students ventured into Mingo Creek looking under rocks for a variety of creatures.
Jude Fossum, 9, a son of Michele and Mark Fossum of Pittsburgh, gets a close look at a crayfish caught moments before in Mingo Creek in Mingo Creek County Park Wednesday.
Josiah Silveira, 6, a son of Joanna and Christian Silveira of Canonsburg, trades in butterfly nets used to catch cicadas for small fish nets to catch crayfish and other creatures at Mingo Creek County Park Wednesday.
Sarah Sandin, center, recreation program coordinator for Washington County Parks and Recreation, leads 22 youngsters 6 to 10 years old to the Shelter 5 area of Mingo Creek County Park on an ‘Insect Safari” Wednesday.
Youngsters crowd around to see what creatures were caught in the net in Mingo Creek Wednesday during the “Insect Safari” day camp at Mingo Creek County Park.
Cassidy Brenneman, 8, a daughter of Jennifer and David Brenneman of Whitehall, leaves no stone unturned as she searches for creatures beneath the rocks in Mingo Creek.
Bugs may be creepy to some adults, but for the children attending Washington County’s summer day camp at Mingo Creek County Park this week, they are the source of fun adventures.
Twenty-two kids are attending the Insect Safari day camp that continues through today. The camp is open to children ages 6 to 10, who spend the days learning about and interacting with insects.
Sarah Sandin and Dan Royall are the Washington County parks program coordinators, who lead the Insect Safari as well as the other summer camps offered by the county, which include Pioneer Day Living, Reptiles and Amphibians and Wilderness Survival.
“It’s an opportunity for the kids to just get out in the outdoors. For this camp specifically, it’s a lot of insects,” Sandin said. “We did a whole morning on cicadas, we do creek activities, we go up in the woods and learn about invertebrates, leaf litter critters, stuff like that.”
Some of these activities include the use of aspirators, where the children can suck up insects in the woods and later identify them. Wednesday’s creek activity involved searching the water for macroinvertebrates like crayfish or mayflies. Each child had a partner and each pair had a container to collect the critters they found. After each team identified the insects and said which was their favorite, they were safely returned to the water.
Connor Brenneman, 10, is attending Insect Safari for the first time this year, though in past years he has attended Pioneer Living and Reptiles and Amphibians.
Connor said he likes the camp because “It helps you learn a lot about nature and the environment. I’m interested in nature and I like the fact that animals come in all different types and breeds and they have different habitats.”
“We just want the kids to have fun when they come here. We want them to take home something, learn something, for them to be excited to go into the creek and find more of these invertebrates, go up into the woods behind their house and find more of these insects.” Sandin said. “We want them to be able to take the outdoors home and be able to provide other children with the same things they learned at camp.”
When school’s out, many parents look for fun ways to keep their children busy over what can seem like the endless days of summer. Washington County park summer day camps are a popular option.
Because of demand, preregistration for all camps began April 1, and each child can sign up for two camps. There is a waiting list for those who were unable to register before the camps reached capacity.