Ant farm for toddlers?

[azmomtoone]

I'm thinking of ordering this for my son: http://www.amazon.com/Fascinations-F...1446648&sr=8-4


Looks neat....he loves bugs, and now that it's too cold outside for the ants he's always asking where they went. "Where ants go?" he says.

But it shows recommended ages 8 & up. I know that at 3 he wouldn't get as much of the "science lesson" part of it but I think he'd enjoy watching them. Anyone else had an ant farm for their toddlers? Any problems with them? I think as long as we make sure he's not eating the gel, that the age recommendation shouldn't matter so much?

[leighi123]

I got one for ds for christmas AND my mom got him one, so he is going to end up with 2!

I think you will have to set it up, and make sure that it is kept in an appropriate location (my ds has a fish already and knows not to touch the tank, he is very good about it so Im just going to put the ants next to that and establish the same 'look with your eyes, not your hands' rule)

You can still explain that the ants dig tunnels, and what they are doing, and they will be fun to watch!

[JessieBird]

I don't have enough experience to be able to directly answer but I'd say that if he is asking where the ants go, then he'll love to see them in the farm. I think those gel farms are the coolest things ever! They are my go-to birthday gift for 5-10 year olds. This is the one that I have bought a few times already: http://www.discoverthis.com/gel-ant-farm.html

There's a catch though - you have to order the ants separately (the kit will come with contact info) and the company that I have bought from won't ship in the winter because the ants could die. So you might want to check into that first - it would be a bit of a let down as a Christmas present if you had to wait four months to get it started.

[mommariffic]

DD would love that, because she too loves bugs.

I tend to ignore age limits on certain things. Yes they may not get the scientific aspect, but just watching the bugs and asking questions can be a blast. So I say get it!

[*Aimee*]

We had one and my son (three also) loved it! The only thing you need to be careful of is if they knock it over or pick it up it could collapse their tunnels and that is not good. So we had a strict no touching rule after grandma killed all our ants. We had a gel one that glowed blue in the dark.

It was fascinating and we loved it!