Tree Cookie Tuesdays focus on bugs

Tree Cookie Tuesdays are the perfect opportunity to introduce your favorite elementary-age kid, or kids, to the fascinating world of beetles, spiders and ants.

Presented by the Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society, Tree Cookie Tuesdays kick off on July 11, from 9 a.m. to noon in the North Idaho Native Plant Arboretum on South Ella Avenue. There will be additional sessions — same time and place — on July 18 and July 25.

To participate, simply come to the Arboretum shed in Lakeview Park any time between 9 a.m. and noon and pick up that day's clue. Each Tuesday there will be a new mystery to solve by finding the answer in the informational posters along the Arboretum's paved path. The first week focuses on beetles. On July 18, spiders will take center stage and on July 25, ants will be under the spyglass.

Mystery sleuths can bring the results of their search to the Arboretum shed for a real cookie and another fun activity.

The final Tree Cookie Tuesday for this year, July 25th, will include a special Story Time in the Arboretum. At 9:30 a.m. our Bonner County Library will present a visiting puppet who will narrate a story about each of our creeping, crawling creatures: beetles, spiders and ants.

Last year's Tree Cookie Tuesdays focused on pollinating insects. This close-up look at insects helps develop understanding of how ecosystems work and how the lives of plants and insects are integral to each other, and to humans as well.