November 2025 Kids’ Corner
from the Gale River Cooperative Preschool

“Snug as a Bug”

Have you jumped in a leaf pile this fall? Have you helped grownups rake the yard? Maybe you’ve seen and heard people using noisy leaf blowers to clear fall leaves off the lawn. This is the time of year when lots of people are busy cleaning up their lawn before winter. 

Many people like their yard to look neat and tidy; free from sticks, fallen leaves, yard clippings, and stems from plants past their flowering season. But did you know that all this “mess” is an important habitat for the beneficial insects that live in and around our yards?

If you’ve been following the Kids Corner for a while, you already know about pollinators. Here’s a quick review from May 2025:

A pollinator is an animal that helps move pollen from one part of a flower to another, either on the same flower, same plant, or different plants. Pollinators play a crucial role in the survival of both plants and humans. About 75% of flowering plants use pollinators to help them reproduce. Without pollinators our food options would be much more limited! About one in every three bites of food you eat comes from plants that rely on pollinators!

Many species of pollinators and beneficial insects such as native bees, butterflies, moths, and ladybugs spend the winter in the messy parts of our gardens. They may huddle together under piles of leaves, lay eggs in hollow logs or under piles of sticks, or spend the winter as larvae in the protection of hollow stems.

There are lots of ways we can help to protect these insects as we get our yards ready for the winter.

We can leave some leaf litter (fallen leaves and bits of leaves) in the yard rather than clearing it all away (maybe one section of the yard can be a “messy” or “natural” corner). We can wait to cut away dried stems and bits of old plants from our gardens until the spring so that insects can have a safe place for the winter. We can also leave some soil exposed without any mulch, decorative stones, or other landscaping on top. 

And…you can make a “Bug Snug!”

A “Bug Snug” is a term people use for an area they set up specifically for beneficial insects. Bug snugs can be piles of leaves and sticks, extra leaves and lawn clippings set up around a tree trunk or hollow log, or small stacks of wood with safe spaces for insects.

A bug house can be as simple or as fancy as you want. Maybe the next time you’re helping a grownup move sticks in the yard you can find a place to make a nice pile that can be a “bug hotel” for the winter!

You can also find three sticks to use as supports, and with grownup’s help, fasten them into a pyramid shape. Then you can stuff the pyramid with sticks, leaves, garden debris, etc. Put the heaviest items on the bottom and the lightest on top like in this picture.

Image from: (https://www.gardenista.com/posts/bug-snug-easy-free-diy-project-garden-omved-gardens/)

Below are a few more examples of “Bug Snugs” or “Bug Hotels” for inspiration.
Maybe before the snow falls you can help some backyard bugs stay snug!