Get Ready for the Cicadas of 2004

This year’s visit from the Brood X cicadas is a terrific opportunity to acquaint children with a natural science phenomenon and learn more about insects. Exploring information about cicadas and the seventeen year pattern of their behavior, and observing them during the six week period of their emergence can be fun and interesting. For some children, learning more about the insects before they arrive mid-May may help to calm their fears. Insects can be scary to young children and the sight of a swarm of cicadas can be fairly frightening. So, learning about cicadas with the family will help them prepare for an unusual event that they will experience, and likely hear other children talking about.

Helping children learn more about cicadas

The internet is a great source of information about cicadas. Some sites also feature web pages created by children, easy fact sheets and fun activities.

There's a lot of fun to be learned at the Cicada Hunt at Salt the Sandbox. . This site features children doing a cicada hunt, and learning about them. There are some very good pictures and has fun activities, including puzzles and games. Photos of actual children looking at cicadas may help young children see themselves as explorers of the insects.

At the College of Mount Saint Joseph site children can learn how to fold an origami cicada or color a picture of a cicada in the 'teaching resources' section. This site also includes answers to a list of 'frequently asked questions' which can make for quick learning about nymphs, broods and what cicadas taste like.

Avoid highly technical sites that contain information beyond a child’s understanding or interest. There are many attractive and fun science sites that are interesting to children and keep their attention. The local or school library may have books about cicadas, or insects in general. At the Salt the Sandbox site, there's a nice list of books for children and older children and adults.

Activities exploroing cicadas can be interesting. The University of Maryland, Dept. of Entomology has a fact sheet that includes questions to ask on a nature walk and further investigations. A field trip to a natural museum to explore an insect exhibit may provide a close up view of a cicada. Seeing an actual cicada helps children get an idea of what to expect with Brood X in 2004. The University of Michigan website features sound recordings of male and female cicadas that children might find intersting to listen to.

Helping the child who may be fearful of insects

The fear of insects is not unusual for young children, and school age children. Children may have been stung by a bee and remember the pain and want to avoid that from happening, and may transfer their fear to other bugs, especially flying insects like cicadas. As with any fear, parents can help most by talking with children about their fears, allowing children to express their feelings without judgment by the parent that the fear is wrong or misplaced.

But education is a great preventive strategy to help children from escalating any fear. Together parents can help the child who is already a bit afraid of bugs to learn more about the cicada and why they are in such numbers this year. With their children, parents can talk about cicadas concerning safety to humans (e.g, they can't sting, they don't carry disease) and why they make such a loud racket.

Children may have heard that cicadas are like grasshoppers, which isn't true. If children are familiar with the movie, "A Bug's Life," they may remember the character of Aphie, the aphid who was a pet of the Queen. Cicadas are like Aphie, not like Hopper, the evil grasshopper in the movie. It may help children who are a bit fearful to associate this year's cicadas with a familiar, safe and cute character (though the real cicada may not appear to be very cute to them.)

During the actual exposure to the cicadas, fearful children might need special reassurance from parents and others around them. They may see swarms flying in the air, or covering lawns and be apprehensive about impact of the sheer magnitude of the swarm. Parents can talk openly and honestly about the cicadas being a temporary inconvenience, but nothing to fear, show them how to avoid being hit by the cicadas and what to do if a cicada lands on them. Children can be invited to talk about, write, or draw pictures about what scares them. This can stimulate a conversation about the child's reaction and parents can answer questions, so the child feels s/he has a safe person from whom to get information, and a person who will keep her/him safe. Certainly professional attention should be sought for those children who have extreme reactions to insects, or to the cicada occurrence specifically.

Parents need to stay calm themselves when encountering the cicadas, as their fears can be transferred to their children. Children learn how to handle emotions from their interactions with adults. If they see or hear an adult anxious and fearful about the cicadas, they may begin to think that there is something to be fearful about themselves. Some children, especially younger children, will be more vulnerable to suggestion than others. For their own sake and that of their children, adults should try to deal with their fears separately, or ask another adult to coach and talk to children about the insects.

In all of their efforts, parents need to connect with others in the child's life, particularly if they suspect that the child will be fearful about the cicadas. School teachers, child care providers, siblings, grandparents and others can share in making the cicadas a fascinating rather than fearful phenomenon. Children benefit most when the multiple influences in their daily lives offer consistent, supportive messages. In talking with other adults, parents may share resources that teachers and others can use with other children.

Internet Sites to Explore

In addition to the sites mentioned above, find more information on helping children deal with fears about insects at:

Fear of Spiders and Creepy Crawlies, Colorado State University

Some Childhood Fears May Blossom with Warmer Weather, North Dakota State University

To engage children in exploring insects, try: Yucky Kids from Discovery Communications.