Live minibeasts make a great addition to any classroom or home and are easy to maintain. This is a great way to bring nature into the classroom. You can use these animals to teach about adaptations, life cycles and habitats.
Spiny Leaf Insect 
Katydid 
Case Moth eathing 
Australian Leaf Insects 
Burrowing cockroach
I recently went to a Sydney childcare centre to update their stick insect enclosure. It was a wonderful centre that had a focus on nature play. They had adapted an old reptile tank for their stick insects and wanted to have a variety of species to enrich the experience for the students. We looked at the size of the tank to determine what combination of species would suit.
I had an audience of 4 year olds while I was cleaning the tank and getting ready to put the in new animals. I then presented 2 short sessions for the kids on minibeasts and they help me add the animals into their new home.
These are some species that are fun and easy to look after.
- Spiny Leaf Insects
- Children’s Stick Insects
- Goliath Stick Insects
- Crown Stick Insects
- Australia Leaf Insects
- Giant Burrowing Cockroaches
- Garden Snails
- Silk Worms
Some species will happily live in the same enclosure given the correct conditions. Make sure you always keep predators like praying mantis and spiders in separate enclosures.
If you are in Sydney let me know if you are interested in setting up Minibeast in the classroom.
