alt Hacker NewsBorn and raised in Northern China (2hrs drive from Beijing), my parents bought me crickets & taught me how to catch grasshoppers when I was in early school age. They have short lifespans, so they are quite affordable and low-maintenance pets for families who aren't yet sure about (or can't yet afford to) keep pets that lives for years (cats, dogs, ...). Plus, they teach young children lessons on caring, feeding, life and death, just as well as the latter. I like it.
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I grew up in the South Eastern US, and bug and lizard cages were common educational toys.
I used to catch grasshoppers, lizards, fireflies, and "June bugs" (Popillia japonica).
One summer, there was a particularly bad outbreak of June bugs and if you shook a Japanese maple tree, the entire tree would empty of thousands of them in a dense cloud.
Childhood summers were fun.
I had a chinese friend who was apparently really into fighting them, which seems a bit of a fringe sport…