Whoo-hoo, we have Spiny Leaf insects in our room. They are all female. They are strange insects who eat gum leaves. When they feel threatened, they sway just like a leaf. They are hoping a predator doesn’t see them!
We can hold them but we must be very gentle with them. We don’t want to hurt them!
What fascinating creatures! I hope you enjoy learning about them!
These photos are great. I wanted to ask you guys a few questions about the stick insects…Did they move much when you were holding them? Were they tickly on your hands? Have you given them names?
The stick insects tend to sway when you hold them and sometimes they hold their front legs up to make themselves look bigger. Our insects are all female and they can’t fly. They have very small wings. The male is much smaller and he can fly. They do tickle a bit! They have tiny little hooks so that they can grab onto the leaves but they don’t hurt you. They don’t have names yet.
From Mrs. K.
Ewwww, they look scary but I’m sure they are quite friendly. You were very brave to hold them!
I like looking at the spiny leaf insects in our room. Im glad they are females and cant fly, because they wont be able to get out like our fish did. That was very sad.
When you come to school tomorrow Tara there will be new leaf insects! We have got 9 young ones to take care of for a while. Some are male and some are female. I wonder if we will be able to tell the difference? Iv’e also got the new hopping mice.
From Mrs. K
I liked looking at the photo’s and reading about the 29 great things about our classroom.
I think the stick insect was really tickly on my hand when I held it.
I love looking at the blog with my Mum every day.
Wow what a cool blog! What a great way to learn!!I am very impressed!
Hello Mrs K’s Class,
I am a kindy assistant at Aldgate and my class would love to have a class pet. Can you please tell me where you got your leafy stick insects from?
I love your pictures of the insects. I also think your blog page is a great idea. Well done guys!
Do you think that leafy stick insects would be good pets for kindy children to look after and observe?
Hi. Spiny leaf insects would be perfect for kindy children to have. They only eat gum leaves and you can hold them if you are gentle. They tickle when they are on your hand. Our insects hatched from eggs that we had, but you can buy them from pet stores. We bought some from the pet store on O’halloran Hill. The females are the big insects. We hope you get some Spiny leaf insects too!
From Mrs. K and Room 4 at Craigburn P.S.
Hi Room 4,
We are a Year 4/5 class from Elizabeth North Primary School. We would like to have some spiny leaf insects in our classroom too. We have written persuasive texts to our assistant principal as to why we should be allowed to keep a class pet.
Did you breed your insects to get the eggs? What equipment will we need to look afer them? How long did the eggs take to hatch?
We would love to swap pictures and photos of our insects with you when we get them.
Looking forward to hearing back from you
From Room 25.