How to Build a Bug Hotel

Looking for something fun to do with the children this weekend? Why not build your very own bug hotel?

There are few things more exciting for little explorers than discovering that the garden is absolutely buzzing with tiny creatures. Lift a stone and you might find a woodlouse. Peek beneath a leaf and there could be a beetle. Look closely at a patch of grass and suddenly you’ll discover a whole miniature world that was there all along.

And what better way to celebrate Insect Week, held from 19th–25th June, than by giving some of those tiny garden visitors a place to stay? Building a bug hotel is an easy, inexpensive and wonderfully rewarding outdoor project for the whole family. You don't need specialist equipment or a trip to the garden centre. A few recycled boxes, some natural materials and a little imagination are all you need to get started. Best of all, children get to become wildlife detectives, architects and hotel managers all at once!

What is a bug hotel?

A bug hotel is simply a little shelter designed to provide a safe place for insects and other minibeasts to hide, rest and explore.

In the wild, insects find all sorts of wonderful hiding places — underneath logs, inside hollow stems, beneath piles of leaves and amongst bark and stones. A bug hotel recreates some of these cosy nooks and crannies in your own garden.

It doesn't need to be grand. In fact, the smaller and simpler your first bug hotel, the better!

Once you've built it, the real adventure begins. Who knows who might move in?

You will need:

Gather your materials before heading outside:

• A selection of tissue boxes
• Paints, glue, stickers and labels for decorating
• Natural materials such as small sticks, leaves, damp bark and pine cones
• A pencil
• Playdough
• White or see-through plastic tubs or plant pots
• Magnifying glasses

Don't worry if you don't have everything on the list. Bug hotels are wonderfully adaptable, and part of the fun is seeing what you can find outdoors.

Step 1: Go on a mini-beast hunt

Before building your hotel, it's time to go exploring! Give each child a magnifying glass and head outside. Search beneath rocks, stones, logs and leaves, taking care not to disturb anything unnecessarily. Look carefully. You might discover ants marching along a path, spiders tucked into corners, beetles hiding beneath bark or woodlice scurrying away when you lift a stone. Encourage children to observe rather than simply collect. How many different minibeasts can they find? What colours are they? How many legs do they have? Where did they find them hiding? And remember to carefully put rocks, logs and leaves back where you found them once you've finished looking.

Step 2: Make some bug doors

Now it's time to turn your tissue boxes into tiny bug accommodation. Using a pencil and some playdough, place a small ball of playdough on the inside of the box, against one of the sides. Use the pencil to make two or three small holes through the box. These are your bug doors! Explain to your little builders that the holes give their tiny guests a way to get inside — and, importantly, a way to get back out again. You could make different-sized entrances for different creatures, turning your box into a miniature hotel with rooms, corridors and secret entrances.

Step 3: Who would you like to invite?

Every good hotel needs a guest list! Ask the children to think about which minibeasts they would like to invite to their new home. They could make little signs or labels for:

• Beetles
• Ladybirds
• Woodlice
• Spiders
• Earwigs
• Bees
• Butterflies
• Caterpillars

They can decorate the labels with pictures of each creature and perhaps give their hotel a wonderfully imaginative name. The Bugingham Palace? The Beetle Inn? The Creepy-Crawly Castle? Let their imaginations run wild!

Step 4: Get decorating

Now for the messy bit. Paint your boxes, add stickers, create signs and decorate your bug hotel however you like. It doesn't need to be perfect — a little wonkiness is all part of the charm. Then comes the really important part: filling the hotel. Collect natural materials such as sticks, pine cones, leaves and pieces of damp bark. Arrange them inside the boxes to create lots of different spaces for your tiny guests to explore. Think about creating lots of nooks, crannies, tunnels and hiding places. Different minibeasts like different environments, so the more variety you can provide, the more interesting your hotel becomes.

Step 5: Open the doors!

Find a suitable spot outside and place your bug hotel on the ground. It might take some time for your first guests to arrive, so don't be disappointed if you don't see anything immediately. Leave your hotel somewhere sheltered and keep checking back. When your children spot an insect, they can observe it carefully with their magnifying glasses. What does it look like up close? How does it move? Where does it go? Is it alone, or are there other minibeasts nearby? Just remember that these are wild creatures, not pets. If you temporarily move a minibeast to have a closer look, handle it very gently and return it to exactly where you found it afterwards.

Become a bug hotel manager

Once your bug hotel is open, the adventure doesn't have to stop. Why not make a little bug-hotel diary? Children could record which creatures they find, draw pictures of their guests and keep track of how many different species visit.