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Product Number: 198-199
How Much: £14.99
Where can I buy one: Amazon.co.uk

After chomping my way through the Bug Eating Party game a while ago I felt a small sense of guilt for consuming so many little critters. So to repent from my sins it was only fair that I accepted the task of reviewing the Bug Hunting Kit so that I may be able to observe our insect friends in their native environment, or in my case my back garden.


As this was the first time we allowed our new kittens out in to the back garden we had a nice tag team to help us find bugs to observe. Inside the kit you find all manner of useful capturing tools, the best of which is a pooter which comprises of a pot and two rubber pipes. Using this you pop one pipe on top of a bug and suck in air through the other, the bug is then swept up the pipe and kept inside a glass jar for your observation.

After this you can then move the bug in to an assortment of pots including some made of plastic, one with a magnifying glass on top and even a few that have been made from cardboard tubes and sticky tape (yes, just like something from Blue Peter!). This home made ethos is possibly in part due to the involvement of Nick Baker whom you may know from a number of BBC Nature Shows (or the micky takes of said shows on Harry Hills TV Burp).


Using the kit Marie managed to catch a spider and a small insect which was far better than the fly I attempted to capture miserably. Once you’ve caught your prey you can then use a measuring square to determine their size, or a separate magnifying glass to inspect them close up. The kit also comes with gloves to protect your hands, tweezers and a spoon to move bugs around, a bag to keep everything together and a notepad to record your findings.

In addition Nick Baker has also taken the time to rubber stamp an Animal Tracking Kit, which isn’t quite as much fun to play with in your back garden (unless you want to track your own pets) and therefore no doubt requires a trip to the country to be really enjoyed. Much like the bug kit you get a bag, gloves, notepad, magnifying glass and tweezers. In terms of tracking there’s some plaster of paris to mould animal footprints and bottles for collecting hair or errr... droppings.


All in all the kits represent a nice way to kill a couple of hours, especially if you’ve got kids and you fancy an excuse to explore the great outdoors. So grab a pooter and a magnifying glass and go and take a look, you never know what you’ll find!