With grasses, pine cones and pieces of bamboo, children got a hands-on approach to learning about the importance of bees in Central Oregon during a free program Saturday hosted by the High Desert Museum.

The program, Habitat Heroes, gave a dozen families the chance to build their own bee habitats to improve life for the insects at home or in their neighborhood.

Habitat Heroes was part of the museum’s Discover Nature Days, a free collaboration between Children’s Forest — an organization with a mission to provide a network of outdoor places and programs to help children connect with nature — and the museum. It’s offered to families with children 6 to 12.

“It’s not just for the kids; it’s a way to bring families together,” said Erica Pelley, the museum’s associate curator and program host. “People see a lot of great ideas about projects, but it can be intimidating to make the time to gather all your materials. If we are able to provide the materials and that structure, it allows them to come in and do the fun part together.”

Pelley, 34, opened the program Saturday with a presentation about habitats and ecosystems before the kids — with a lot of assistance from their parents — got to start building their bee boxes. Families filled paper bags with pine cones and bark from the museum grounds, and construction began soon afterward.

The finished bee habitats featured a wood box filled with various plants and sticks that will allow native bees a safe place to live.

Sam, 6, and Clare McPherson, 8, showed off their twisted branches and wood pieces that had been home to insects before. Their dad, Jeremy McPherson, signed up the family for the Discover Nature Days as a way to learn more about their new environment after moving to Bend from Portland, he said.

“We moved here in August, and this is just a great way for them to have a better understanding of habitats here compared to what was around them before,” he said.

The presentation focused on how best to support a healthy insect habitat and the importance of insects in an ecosystem, even though not everyone may enjoy their presence.

“I know bugs are important, but they’re gross,” said 10-year-old Addy Goodrich, as she held a handful of grass.

Addy and her brother Griffin, 5, were busy stuffing their boxes and playing with long stems of grass with their mother, Adrianne Goodrich. The trio arrived at Saturday’s program with no expectations and left happy with the experience, Goodrich said.

“I think this is a great program,” she said. “I like to get my kids out and to learn about nature. They get a lot of this at school, but even I learned something today.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7829, acolosky@bendbulletin.com