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We used to keep stick insects when we were kids, but we’d have traded those dreary twig-impersonating phasmids in a flash for one of these. The Ant’s Room educates children in the ways of the insect kingdom by letting a whole load of arthropods loose in a tub of fluorescent goo. Prepare said gloop by mixing the enclosed sachets with water and nuking everything in the microwave, then head to the park to rustle up a few ants. Once deposited in their new home, the insects should take between one and three weeks to turn it into a totally psychedelic colony of their own. Science lessons at school were never this fun… or trippy.
Ant’s Room, 1,575 yen. Available from toy stores and Amazon Japan.
© Metropolis magazine
10 Comments
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Maria
I have an alternative, cheaper idea: get a big jar, fill it with sand, and dig up a couple of worms. Worm farms are COOL!
That said, ant farms would be cool too - but where's the food? In the gunk? How long does the gunk last?
Altria
This ant farm is gangsta.
Do you need to get a queen? What do the little dudes do for entertainment all day with nowhere to go?
cleo
When my kids were little we had an ant farm. What the little dudes did for entertainment all day was dig little tunnels all over the place, that other little dudes would then come and fill in.....An awful lot of wasted labour, but great fun to watch.
terebiko
What cleo is describing sounds like a lot of the old LDP construction projects. LOL. I am always amazed at how much Japan loves insects. Growing up in the US, I didn't love or hate insects, but I couldn't imagine having insects as pets. Ant farms I had seen, and thought they were pretty cool, but raising beetles, no thanks. I'd rather have a dog. My wife once asked me several years ago about what I thought about Jean Henri Fabre, and I had to admit I didn't know who he was. She was shocked, me being a foreigner and all. I think every kid in Japan knows who Fabre is.
TanakaTaro
By "raising" beetles, do you mean catching and leaving them in a plastic box outside the house to die? Seems to be what most of my neighbours kids do....
terebiko
Yeah, I know what you mean...
DeepAir65
my son was given one of these 18 months ago in Japan so why is it a new product?
Secondly it did not work - the ants did not dig so he was very disappointed
Cicada
If you want to watch ants, just go outside and sit down somewhere. They are all over the place. Watch them carrying leaves and other insects. It doesn't cost anything at all.
XXXXX
who's we
franz75
Hoooo! Put the ants after the microwave... now I understand why it didn't work...