“Ants on Parade”

It’s time to explore the fascinating world of ants! There are more than 12,000 species of ants in the world. They live on almost every landmass on Earth except Antarctica and a few small islands. Ants live in complex social groups called colonies.  Ants have a four stage life cycle consisting of egg, larva, pupa and adult.  Ants communicate with chemical signals called pheromones.  They use pheromones to lead other ants to food they find and to find their way back to the colony after they are out looking for food.

Tell children they are going to be scientists and study ants! Start by asking children: Have you ever seen an ant? What did it look like? How did you know it was an ant? Where was it? What was it doing? Record children’s observations.

Have a collection of various food items prepared (bread, fruit, meat, grass, cheese, etc…). Explain to children that you are going to do an experiment to see which food items ants prefer. Divide paper plates into fourths with a marker. Allow children to choose four food items they think the ants will prefer. Ask them: What food items do you think the ants will most like to eat? Why do you think so?

Take children outside and go on an ant “hunt”. When you find ants or an anthill, place the plate(s) nearby and then sit back and observe.  It may take a few minutes for the ants to find the food. Encourage the children to make observations about the ants while you wait. What do they look like? How do they move? How many ants are there?  Count the ants as they visit the food areas. Record the number and the food item. This is your data scientists! When you return to the classroom graph your results and discuss what you learned as a class.

To further the activity, create or purchase an ant farm for your classroom.  Keep an ant journal and check on the ants and their activity daily.

For this and other great ideas use Growing Up WILD’s “Ants on Parade”!

Book List

Allsburg, C.V. 2002. Two Bad Ants. Book Wholesalers, Inc.

Ashley, S. 2011. Incredible Ants. Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Ashley, S., Nations, S. 2003. Ants. Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Brenner, B. 1996. Thinking About Ants. Mondo Publishing.

DK Publishing. 2011. Ant Antics. DK Publishing, Inc.

Dorros, A. 1988. Ant Cities. HarperCollins Publishers.

Edwards, P.D. and H. Cole. 1999. The Wacky Wedding: A Book of Alphabet Antics. Hyperion Books for Children.

Green, E. K. 2006. Ants. Bellwether Media.

Grossman, P. and J.D. Dawson. 1997. Very First Things to Know About Ants. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.

Hoose, P. M., and H. Hoose.  1998. Hey, Little Ant. Random House Children’s Books.

Humphries, T. 2004. Are You an Ant? Kingfisher.

Micucci, C. 2006. The Life and Times of the Ant. Houghton Mifflin Company

Moses, A. and T. Dunnington. 1993. If I Were An Ant. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Pinczes, E. 1999. One Hundred Hungry Ants. Houghton Mifflin Company

Stewart, M. 2010. Ants. National Geographic Society.

Vaughan, J. and T. Gibbons. 1997. Ants (The New Creepy Crawly Collection). Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Links

Guide to Common Ants in Iowa

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/iowaantguide.html

Wikipedia: Ants

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ants

Ant Life Cycle Sequencing Cards

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/insects/ant/sequencing/

In A Grasshopper’s World

For this activity you will explore the fascinating world of grasshoppers with young children!

Grasshoppers are insects.  They have six legs, two of which are long and muscular and used for hopping.  Grasshoppers have three main body parts: head, thorax, and abdomen.  They also have two antennae.

Begin by asking children if they have ever seen a grasshopper. Where did you see it? What did it look like?  What was it doing? Record children’s responses and display in the classroom.  Read a story about grasshoppers; try “Are You a Grasshopper?”  by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries.

Now it is time to go on a grasshopper field study! Take children outside to a grassy area to look for and observe grasshoppers.  Have children bring their own notebooks or field/nature journals to draw pictures or make notes in.  Be sure to remind children to be respectful of the grasshoppers. 

Next create a terrarium together that will house several grasshoppers for a week. Use soil and grass (return to field study area to collect or collect while out observing grasshoppers).  Include places for the grasshoppers to climb and hide.  Providing water is not necessary because grasshoppers do not drink water, they get enough water from the food they eat.  Be sure to provide fresh grass or leafy plants, as well as dry food such as grass seed or oatmeal, every day for the grasshoppers to eat.  Allow children to be active participants in setting up the terrarium. Ask: What do the grasshoppers need? Where should we find it? What should we feed the grasshoppers? Also, talk about how most animals drink water but grasshoppers are unique and they get their water from their food.

Once your terrarium is set up return to your grasshopper field study location and using insect nets and bug jars, carefully capture and collect four to six grasshoppers.  Place grasshoppers in the terrarium.

Over the course of a week give children time every day to observe and monitor the grasshoppers. Ask:  What do you want to learn about grasshoppers? How can you find out the answers to your questions? For younger children you may want to have a set observation for each day.  For example, Day One: observe the grasshopper’s bodies. What do you notice? Count the legs and antennae. How can you tell the grasshoppers have wings? Describe their eyes Day Two: observe the movement of the grasshoppers. Describe how the grasshoppers walk. How do they jump? Are they fast? Do they jump high/far?

At the end of the week when the study is over, return the grasshoppers to the location where you collected them.  Use the information you gathered as a class to create your own book about grasshoppers.

For this and other great activities, including grasshopper craft and snack ideas, use Growing Up WILD’s “In A Grasshopper’s World”.

Book List

Alexander, E., and J.U. Kim. 2010. The Grasshopper Hopped!. Random House Children’s Books.

Allen, J., and T. Humphries. 2002. Are You a Grasshopper? Kingfisher.

Archambault, J. 2006. The Leaping Grasshopper. Jitterbug Books.

Ashley, S. 2011. Incredible Grasshoppers. Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Bosca, F. 2006. The Three Grasshoppers. Purple Bear Books, Incorporated.

Coleman, G. and T. Gibbons. 1997. Grasshoppers. Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Giovanni, N. and C. Raschka. 2008. The Grasshopper's Song: An Aesop's Fable Revisited. Candlewick Press.

Heinrichs, A. R. 2002. Grasshoppers (Nature's Friends Series). Coughlan Publishing.

Leahy, C. 1998. Peterson First Guide to the Insects of North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Lobel, A. 1986. Grasshopper on the Road (I Can Read Book Series: Level 2). HarperCollins Publishers .

Loewen, N. 2003. Hungry Hoppers: Grasshoppers in Your Backyard. Coughlan Publishing.

Murray, J. 2010. Grasshoppers. ABDO Publishing Company.

Trueit, T. S. 2009. Grasshoppers. Cavendish, Marshall Corporation.

Trumbauer, L. 2000. The Life Cycle of a Grasshopper. Coughlan Publishing.

Links

Wikipedia: Grasshoppers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper

NWF: Bug Bingo

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Outdoors/Archives/2011/Play-Bug-Bingo.aspx

 

To Be a Tree

Ask children: How many arms do you have? How many “arms” does a tree have? How do you use your arms? How does a tree use it’s “arms”? Do you have skin? Does a tree have “skin”? How is your skin different from a tree’s “skin”? Does your skin do the same thing? Do you have feet? Trees have feet too, we call them roots. What do your feet do? What to tree roots do?

Take children outside and have them find a place on the grass at least an arm’s length away from other children. Read “Grow from a seed” to them found on page 81 of Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood, have them act out what they hear as you read it.  Encourage children to share their experience when you are done.

Take children on a walk to look for and explore tree parts.  Compare tree parts, i.e. some trees have smooth bark while others have rough bark, leaves are different shapes and sizes, some trees are very tall, others are very small. Ask questions and encourage children to share their observations. Try making a class tree journal: http://www.nwf.org/activity-finder/outdoor-activities/tree-journal.aspx

Make tree costumes with paper grocery sacks.  Precut sacks as shown on page 79 of Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood, making holes for arms, head and cutting up the front to make a vest.  Allow children to decorate their vests by gluing leaves to the vest, and/or making leaf rubbings on the vests.  Give children crowns made of leaves and yarn to tuck into their shoes to represent roots, have them act out the parts of trees!

For this and other great ideas use Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood’s “To Be a Tree”!

Book List

Behn, H. and J. Endicott. 1994. Trees. Henry Holt & Company, Inc.

Burnie, D. 2005. Plant. DK Publishing, Inc.

Burns, D. and L. Garrow. 1998. Leaves, Trees and Bark (Take-Along Guide). NorthWord Books for Young Readers.

Canizares, S. and P. Chanko. 1997. Look At This Tree. Scholastic, Inc.

Cassie, B. and M. Burns. 1999. Trees. Scholastic, Inc.

Charman, A. 2003. I Wonder Why Trees Have Leaves and Other Questions about Plants. Houghton Mifflin Company.

DePalma, M.N. 2005. A Grand Old Tree. Scholastic, Inc.

Florian, D. 2010. Poetrees. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

Gackenbach, D. 1996. Mighty Tree. Harcourt Children's Books.

Gaff, J. 2005. I Wonder Why Pine Trees Have Needles and Other Questions about Forests. Roaring Brook Press.

Gibbons, G. 2002. Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Goldish, M. 1990. How Plants Get Food. Steck-Vaughn.

Gove, D. and M. H. Mallory. My Mother Talks to Trees. Peachtree Publishers.

Iverson, D. 1999. My Favorite Tree: Terrific Trees of North America. Dawn Publications.

Lavies, B. 1989. Tree Trunk Traffic. Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Llewellyn, C. 2004. Tree. T&N Children's Publishing.

Miller, D.S. and S. Schuett. 2003. Are Trees Alive? Walker & Company.

Nayer, J. 1994. A Tree Can Be. Scholastic, Inc.

Pascoe, E. and D. Kuhn. 2003. Ecosystem of a Fallen Tree. Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

Peck, J. and V. Petrone. 2005. Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Udry, J.M. and M. Simont. 1987. A Tree is Nice. HarperCollins Publishers.

Van Laan, N. 2000. A Tree for Me. Random House.

Worth, B. 2006. I Can Name 50 Trees Today!: All about Trees. Random House Publishing Group.

Links

NWF: Leaf Prints

http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Be-Out-There/Activities/Cook-and-Craft/Make-Leaf-Prints.aspx

NWF: Tree Journalhttp://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Be-Out-There/Activities/Observe-and-Explore/Make-a-Tree-Journal.aspx

Enchanted Learning: Leaves and Leaf Anatomy

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/plants/leaf/index.shtml

Leaf Print T-shirts

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/decorate-kids-t-shirts5.htm

Fishing Fun!

Begin by asking children if they have ever gone fishing?  Where did they go and what did they do?  What do people use to catch fish?  Where do fish live?  Have they ever eaten fish?  Create a mock fishing lake for children to go fishing in the classroom.  Create paper or cardboard fish.  Cut fish shapes out, allow children to color them, attach Velcro.  Create fishing poles with sticks or doles, attach line and attach Velcro to line to catch the fish with.  Provide other fishing gear for children to become familiar with such as real fishing poles, lures (without hooks), fishing vests, tackles boxes, life jackets and fish measuring rulers.  Allow each child time to go “fishing”. 

Explore the wonderful world of fish as a class.  Set up an aquarium or fish bowl so children can watch how fish move, eat and breathe.  Look at pictures of different fish, read books about fish and if possible visit a local fish hatchery, pet store or aquarium.

Take children on a fishing trip to a local lake or pond.  If possible have a fish fry with fish they caught (have back-up store bought or previously caught fish).  Allow children to taste the fish they caught.   

Have children go “fishing” for their snack!  You will need goldfish crackers, pretzel sticks and dip or spread.  Dip pretzel sticks (fishing pole) into dip or spread (bait) and use it to “catch” the goldfish crackers.  See how many fish you can catch at a time!

For this and other great ideas use Growing Up WILD’s “Fishing Fun!”

Book List

Arnosky, J. 1993. Crinkleroot's Twenty-five Fish Every Child Should Know. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Clements, A. and Yoshi. 1997. Big Al. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Cook, B. 2005. The Little Fish that Got Away. HarperCollins.

Gall, C. 2006. Dear Fish. Little Brown Books for Young Readers.

Gallimard, J. 1998. Fish. Scholastic.

Harris, T. 2000. Pattern Fish. Millbrook Press.

Heinrichs, A.R. 2003. Fish. Coughlan Publishing.

Lionni, L. 1974. Fish is Fish. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Lionni, L. 1973. Swimmy. Random House Children's Books.

Long, E. 1987. Gone Fishing. Houghton Mifflin.

Pfeffer, W. 1996. What's it Like to be a Fish? (Let's Read-and-Find-Out Science 1). Harper Trophy.

Pfister, M. and J.A. James. 1999. Rainbow Fish. North-South Books.

Prosek, J. 2004. A Good Day’s Fishing. Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing.

Quigley, M. 2007. Granddad’s Fishing Buddy. Dial.

Reed-Jones, C. Salmon Stream (Sharing Nature with Children Book).

Sayre, P. 2007. Trout, Trout, Trout: A Fish Chant. Northword Books for Young Readers.

Stockdale, S. 2008. Fabulous Fishes. Peachtree Publishers.

Turnage, S. and J. Stevens. 1984. Trout the Magnificent. Harcourt Children's Books.

Wells, E. 2006. Wishing I was Fishing. Beaver’s Pond Press.

Winner, C. and B. Lehnhausen. 1998. Trout. Lerner Publishing Group.

Wood, A. and B.R. Wood. 2004. Ten Little Fish. Blue Sky Press (AZ).

Yoo, T. 2007. The Little Red Fish. Dial.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Children play a game of hide and seek to learn about important adaptations in many wild animals.

Using animal toys hide two animals, one where it blends in and one where it stands out.  Have children look for them.  Which is easier to find? Why? Introduce the word camouflage and have the children come up with examples.  Show examples of camouflage in nature using pictures or other visual.

Go outside and play hide and seek using the toy animals (one for each child).  Choose a child to be the predator.  The “predator” sits with his or her eyes closed (“sleeping”) in the center of the play space.  The rest of the children are the “prey” and hide their animal “in plain sight” by hiding their animal where it will be camouflaged.  The prey must be able to “see” the predator and not be covered up; they are relying on their camouflage to hide from the predator!  After the prey animals have been hidden “wake” the predator up.  The predator then tries to spot any prey they can from where they are.  Which animals were the easiest to find?  The most difficult? Why?  Encourage children to discuss and make observations.  Repeat the hide and seek game allowing each child a turn to be the predator. 

Also try a version of freeze tag called “Freeze Birds”.  One child is the “hawk” and the other children are the “bluebirds”.  The hawk turns his or her back to the bluebirds and counts to twenty, while the hawk counts the bluebirds fly around together behind the hawk looking for food.  When the hawk is finished counting they yell “Here comes the hawk!” and the bluebirds warn each other by yelling “Freeze birds!”.  The birds freeze and stay still.  The hawk turns around and looks for movement, the first one to move becomes the next hawk!

Create a “surprise terrarium” to share with the children.  Place in a terrarium an animal that is camouflaged to the vegetation in the terrarium (for example a toad that blends into the grass and soil).  Encourage children to observe the terrarium and describe what they see!

Take children on a nature walk to look for camouflaged animals.  Draw pictures of what you see in your nature journals.  Study the animal(s) that you found as a class, read books about it, make a class picture of it or write a class storybook about it.

For more great ideas, including snack and craft ideas, use Growing Up WILD’s “Hiding in Plain Sight”.

Book List

Arnosky, J. 1995. I See Animals Hiding. Scholastic.

Dewey, J. 1994. Can You Find Me? A Book About Animal Camouflage. Scholastic Trade.

Donati, A. 1995. Animal Camouflage: Fun Facts for Curious Kids. Random House Children’s Books.

Donati, A. 2001. I Wonder Why Crocodiles Float Like Logs and Other Neat Facts About Animal Camouflage. Graymont.

Gilpin, D. 2010. 3-D Close Up: Animal Camouflage. Silver Dolphin Books.

Foley, C. 2000. Find the Wild Animal. Children’s Press (CT).

Heller, R. 1994. How to Hide a Crocodile and Other Reptiles. Penguin Group (USA).

Heller, R. 1995. How to Hide a Meadow Frog and Other Amphibians. Penguin Group (USA).

Heller, R. 1992. How to Hide a Butterfly and Other Insects. Penguin Group (USA).

Jenkins, S. 2001. What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You? Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

McDonnell, J. 1997. Animal Camouflage. Child’s World, Inc.

O’Mara, K. 2009. Camouflage: Survival in the Wild. Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

Otto, C. B. 1996. What Color is Camouflage? HarperCollins Publishers.

Peterson, M. C. 2010. Camouflage Clues: A Photo Riddle Book. A+ Books.

Schwartz, D. M., Y. Schy, and D. Kuhn. 2011. Where in the Wild? Camouflaged Creatures Concealed…and Revealed. Random House Children’s Books.

Smith, P. 2006. Animal Hide and Seek. DK Children.

Tildes, P. L. 2000. Animals in Camouflage. Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.  

Weber, B. 2004. Animal Disguises. Kingfisher.

Wood, A. J., and N. Palin. 1996. Hidden Pictures: Find a Feast of Camouflaged Creatures. Lerner Publishing Group.

Bursting Buds

It’s spring!  Tree buds are opening, flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and the days are getting longer.  It’s time to explore the fascinating world of buds and plants with children!

Weather permitting, take children outside for story time and read My Mother Talks to Trees by Doris Gove.  After you have read the story ask the children: Do your parents or other family members ever do anything that surprises them?   Take children on walk to look for buds on trees, and shrubs.  Follow the spirit of the story by walking up to trees and shrubs and talking to them.  Talk about the things that are unusual, beautiful, and remarkable about each.  Questions to ask: Do any of the plants have new leaves or flowers? Do any of them have buds? What do they look like? Describe them (color, texture, size). What do you think the buds will grow into? What do you think they will look like?  

Make plans to periodically return to the plants that have unopened buds over the next few weeks to watch for new growth. While you are outside, look for other signs of spring such as birds, insects and frogs.  Have the children close their eyes and “smell spring” in the air and feel the warmth of the spring sun on their faces.  Questions to ask: What do you smell? What does the sun feel like on your skin? What colors do you notice outside that you haven’t seen all winter?

Collect twigs with buds from plants that have been pruned.  Using plastic knives encourage the children to take the buds apart.  Provide magnifying glasses.  Provide other plants materials, such as twigs from various kinds of trees and shrubs, bulbs, flowers, and seeds, for the children to explore as well. Questions to ask: Do you think any of these things can grow into plants? Flowers? Leaves? What do you think would happen if we planted them in soil? Or put the twigs with buds in water? What do the plant materials smell like?  Feel like? Describe the inside of the buds.

Try putting some of the twigs in water and watch the buds open in the classroom.  Apple, forsythia, maple, oak and pussy willow are good choices.  Change the water frequently and recut the stem ends if needed. Check the buds daily and have the children make observations about what they see.  Questions to ask: How are the buds changing? Do you think they will develop into leaves or flowers? Why? Describe what you see.

For snack time make “sunshine sandwiches”.  Spread cream cheese on English muffins.  Put sunflower seeds in the center and arrange mandarin oranges around the center to form the sun’s rays.  Enjoy!

For more great ideas use Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood’s “Bursting Buds”.

Book List

Baylor, B. 1997. The Other Way to Listen. Aladdin.

Behn, H. and J. Endicott. 1994. Trees. Henry Holt & Company, Inc.

Berger, S., M. Sweet, and P. Chanko. 2001. It’s Spring! (Hello Reader! Series). Scholastic, Inc.

Bernard, R. 2001. A Tree for All Seasons. National Geographic Society.

Blackaby, S., and C. Delage. 2003. Bud and Blossoms. Coughlan Publishing.

Bourgoing, P. 1992. The Tree. Scholastic First Discovery Books.

Burnie, D. 2005. Plant. DK Publishing, Inc.

Burns, D.L. and J.F. McGee. 1996.  Berries, Nuts, and Seeds (Take-Along Guide). T&N Children's Publishing.

Burns, D. and L. Garrow. 1998. Leaves, Trees and Bark (Take-Along Guide). NorthWord Books for Young Readers.

Canizares, S. and P. Chanko. 1997. Look At This Tree. Scholastic, Inc.

Charman, A. 2003. I Wonder Why Trees Have Leaves and Other Questions about Plants. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Davis, R.F. 2006. Flowers and Showers: A Spring Counting Book. Capstone Press.

Dixon, M. 1998. Plants around Us. Smart Apple Media.

Downden, A.O. 1984. From Flower to Fruit. Thomas Y. Crowell Co.

Eckroat, L. W. 2009. The Life of Bud. Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC.

Evans, L. 1999. Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Florian, D. 2006. Handsprings. HarperCollins Publishers.

Fontes, J.K. 2002. Signs of Spring. Mondo Publishing.

Fowler, A. 1991. How do you Know it's Spring? Scholastic Library Publishing.

Gerard, V.J. 2002. Spring: Signs of the Season around North America. Capstone Press.

Gibbons, G. 2002. Tell Me Tree: All About Trees for Kids. Little, Brown Young Readers.

Gibbons, G. 1984. The Season of Arnold’s Apple Tree. Voyager Books.

Glaser, L., R. E. Glaser, and S. Swan. 2002. It’s Spring!. Lerner Publishing Group.

Gove, D. and M. H. Mallory. My Mother Talks to Trees. Peachtree Publishers.

Hewitt, S. 1999. Plants and Flowers. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Johnston, T. 2005. The Whole Green World. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Lyon, G. 1996. ABCedar: an Alphabet of Trees. Scholastic Inc..

Orie, S. De Coteau. 1996. Did You Hear Wind Sing Your Name? Walker & Company.

Orme, H. 2003. Why Do Plants Grow in Spring? Gareth Stevens Audio.

Posada, M. 2004. Robins: Songbirds of Spring. Lerner Publishing Group.

Raczka, B. 2007. Spring Things. Albert Whitman.

Roca, N., R. M. Curto. 2004. Spring. Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.

Royston, A. 2001. Plants, Flowers, Fruits and Seeds. Heinemann.

Saunders-Smith, G. 1997. From Bud to Blossom. Coughlan Publishing.

Schwartz, D. M., and D. Kuhn. 1998. Plant Blossoms. Creative Teaching Press, Inc.

Worth, B. 2006. I Can Name 50 Trees Today!: All about Trees. Random House Publishing Group.

Wiggling Worms!

Explore the fascinating world of worms! “Earthworm” is a general term used to describe many different species of worms that live in the soil.  While they do not have an obvious head or tail you can identify the head by which way the worm crawls.  And did you know that worms absorb oxygen through their skin?  Explore the world of worms with young children with this activity!

For this activity dig worms from your backyard or schoolyard to bring into class.  If you are unable to find worms on your own purchase them from a local bait shop.  (Note: Worms that are purchased must not be released into the local environment.  Non-native worms can disrupt the local ecosystem.) 

Place the worms in a container and cover with soil. Show children the container of soil that contains the worms (the worms will likely be hiding in the soil) and ask them what animal might eat this soil for lunch? After they have guessed dig into the soil so that they can see the worms.  Next put a damp paper towel in front of each child and place a worm on each paper towel.  Allow the children a chance to observe and touch the worms (remind them to use gentle touches).  Give them a chance to share their observations.  Questions to ask: How does the worm move? What color is it? What does its skin feel like? What does its skin look like? How does the worm move?

Take children outside to look for worms.  Bring small shovels or old spoons and allow the children to help dig.  Ask them where they think worms might live.  Dig there.  Try several places.  Questions to ask: Do you think worms prefer wet or dry soil? Why? Do you think they prefer shade or sun? Why? How deep in the soil do you think worms live?

For snack time make “worms and dirt”: crush chocolate sandwich cookies and mix with chocolate pudding or low fat chocolate yogurt.  Spoon into small cups  Serve each with a few gummy worms. Yum!

For more information and for craft ideas use Growing Up WILD’s “Wiggling Worms” activity!

Book List

Bailey, J. 2006. Worm. Heinemann.

Bial, R. 2001. A Handful of Dirt. Walker & Company.

Bourgeois, P. 1990. The Amazing Dirt Book. Kids Can Press, Limited.

Bourgeois, P., M. Newbigging, and K. Vanderlinden. 2008. The Dirt on Dirt. Kids Can Press, Limited.

Brendler, C., and A. Hoyt. 2009. Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer. Farrar, Strau and Giroux.

Bryant-Mole, K. 1996. Soil. Steck-Vaughn.

Coleman, G. and T. Gibbons. 1997. Worms. Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Cronin, D. 2003. Diary of a Worm. Harpercollins Childrens Books. 

De Bourgoing, P. and G. Jeunesse. 1995. Under the Ground. Scholastic, Inc.

Fredericks, A. D., and J. DiRubbio. 2001. Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs and other Ughs. Dawn Publications.

French, V., and J. Ahlberg. 2010. Yucky Worms. Candlewick Press.

Glaser, L. 1994. Wonderful Worms. Lerner Publishing Group.

Heinrichs, A. 2004. Worms. Coughlan Publishing.

Holmes, K.J. 1998. Earthworms. Coughlan Publishing.

Loewen, N., and R. Peterson. 2005. Garden Wigglers: Earthworms in Your Backyard. Coughlan Publishing.

Oxlade, C. 2002. Soil. Heinemann Library.

Pfeffer, W. 2003. Wiggling Worms at Work. HarperCollins Publishers.

Richardson, A.D. 2001. Soil. Capstone Press.

Woodman, N. 2007. Dirt. National Geographic Society.