Ants can be pests! But on the other hand, they are fascinating to watch. Incredibly strong for its size, some ants can move objects that would be relatively equivalent of a single human moving an elephant.

Activity

You and your child can build a formicarium or ant farm similar to the wormery we made some months back. In fact, you can use it for ants, worms or other small burrowing critters.

You Will Need

• A clean, large, wide-mouth glass jar (such as a large peanut butter or pickle jar), plus its lid
• A small bottle (find one with a diameter 2 or 3 inches less than the jar)
• Another jar or cup
• Modeling clay (not play dough)
• Sand
• Ants (!)
• Sugar and small bits of ant food (bread crumbs, bits of cheese, ripe fruit, jam)

Put a ring or collar of modeling clay around the opening of the smaller jar and place it, upside-down, into the larger jar. (Figure 1) The clay should make a seal between the opening of the bottle and the bottom of the jar. Pour in enough sand so that it fills the space around the smaller jar to an inch or so from the bottom.

Mix a slurry of sugar water in the third jar or cup. Find an anthill or a line of ants outside, and pour a little of the sugar water on the ground near it. Fill the cup about a quarter full with sand and mix it thoroughly with the sugar slurry. Put the jar or cup on its side next to the sugar water on the ground. Pretty soon there should be quite a few ants inside. Remove the jar and pour the entire contents--ants, sand and all--into the larger jar. Repeat if you didn't get enough ants the first time.

Fill the large jar halfway with sand and put in a few bits of bread. You should also spray or drop in a few drops of water. Seal the lid (Figure 2). You shouldn't need air holes as long as you open up the top every few days. Keep your ant farm out of direct sunlight. The ants will soon start building a colony!

Drop in a bit of food and water every few days, being careful not to let out any of the ants. (A thin layer of petroleum jelly inside the neck of the large jar should help).

If you intend to keep the ant farm for a long time, you should try to dig out an anthill to find a queen. But remember, ants can sting or bite. (A small number of people can be allergic to ant stings, so take that into consideration.)