Batteries Included:No Shipping Weight (lbs):1.8 Dimensions (in):7.9 x 11.8 x 2.8
MPN:LW101 EAN:5026175001005 ASIN:B00008OS3A
Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Features:
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Allows children to see inside the amazing world of ants
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Children are encouraged to find the Ants themselves, however they can also be ordered from Interplay
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Spare parts can be ordered so product can be used again and again
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Promotes the development in National Curriculum Science
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Life Processes and Living Things Key Stages One and Two through the use of Teachers Notes
Customer Reviews: understanding ants - fun and educational!July 21, 2010 Mrs. C. Snell(England) My son is fascinated by all creatures and Ant World means he can study them without ants loose in the house! Some people have criticized keeping ants as cruel but the ants are contained,safe from predators and well fed.A good item, well made, and can possibly be extended in the future.
My ants died!May 18, 2010 Ms. H. Jackson(United Kingdom) I ordered this for my nursery setting, went on an ant hunt, got 7 ants, left them over the weekend and then they were dead!
Is it because I didnt leave them water or food? I dont know .... but tommorow we will be out on another ant hunt and this time we will be leaving some food in the attached container.
It is a bit tricky to catch the ants in the provided tub, as they crawl out whilst your trying to put others in. Also found you had to put the attached container higher than the ant farm for the ants to crawl down the tube to get to the farm. The kids love it, I am just hoping my next lot of ants will survive!
Ant WorldMay 9, 2010 Mirt Nayrb(Dorset) Excellent fun. Purchased for my 6 year old. We both enjoyed trying to catch enough ants (harder than you think!) We ended up leaving the magnifying box outside for a few days so the ants would get used to it. Then added some fruit and caught between 10-15 ants which seemed just enough. Fascinating watching how they behave and the tunnels they make. My daughter enjoys seeing what they have been up to each day (as do I). Hours of fun especially for those who like bugs.
Ants are tricky bugs to containApril 29, 2010 Nats I bought this for my daughter for Xmas and we have just strated getting ants around so we captured a few and put them in. The ants dug tunnels pretty quickly and seemed to be ok for a few days. But little did we realise that the two slots that you use to fill the enclosure with sand are perfect places for the ants to escape. After a few days the ants had tunneled straight over to one of these slots (they are pretty intelligent obviously) and quite a few managed to escape in my daughters room much to the amusement of her but to the horror of my wife. Still I have since covered over the two slots with electricians tape and the ants wont escape again. But we wont be putting this back into her room after this it will stay in the conservatory.
It is an amazing educational house to see what ants do every day. Certainly they tunnel very well if the soil is kept a little moist you an see it very well.
By the way the ants are not uncomfortable they just cannot reproduce as there is no queen. But they dont die if you feed them regularly and keep the soil watered a little. And you catch them by cathing them in a bowl and tipping them in the top. Its pretty easy when you get the hang of it. We just found an apple tree in the garden that they like to go up to get the aphids and caught them off that.
Definitely recommended but I would certainly recommend taping up the holes if you get this before you put the ants in.
Artificial environmentApril 22, 2010 SD(UK) 0 out of 4 found this review helpful
After reading some other reviews on ant farms it made me think and reflect on how I perceive such 'toys'. I am keen to encourage my little one in his great interest in bugs and wildlife and was contemplating something like this. I didn't stop to think how life might be for the poor creatures in it! Which amazes me as I am against caged animals of all kinds (except in animal welfare centres such as those used for caring for injured animals or breeding endangered animals in a way that respects their natural habitat and instincts). I know I am in the minority when it comes to caged animals as so many people have caged pets of some kind (birds, hamsters, rabbits) but to me it seems like giving them a life long prison sentence keeping them locked up in a confined space. I have to confess I know too little about the normal behaviours and requirements of creatures like fish and stick insects to fairly comment on keeping them. However, to me, having now thought about it, ant farms of this genre are a gimick as they do not teach children the true nature of the animals they're seeing because the environment and situation is too artificial. For example the ants do not need to go and forage as they would in real life. They have food on tap and that is not a healthy environment as they are left with nothing to do and surplus food so how can they possibly replicate normal behaviour. And as someone else mentioned there is no queen which is again unnatural and means they all die off quickly. This means that there is minimal educational value and it's really just a display case to see what ants do in an unnatural environment. In addition to that it doesn't teach children to respect the animals around them and their environment. I have already purchased a bug box with net and magnifying glass and I will be sticking with that. I will instead teach my little boy to observe creatures within their own environment and he can use the magnifying glass and/or bug box to observe creatures more closely then release them to observe their behaviour in their natural habitat (the bug box is useful for quick moving creatures such as grasshoppers, house spiders, etc.). And for the record I'm not some bigtime animal lover, just someone who respects life in all it's forms!
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