Ingredients:

• Worms (You can find worms in your backyard or neighborhood parks, purchase from a local gardening store or order composting worms online)
• Large plastic drink bottles, plastic containers, or small aquarium
• Dirt (garden soil, sand, shredded newspaper)
• Plastic gloves
• Water
• Food scraps

Recipe for Playful Learning!

This easy activity is great for teaching kids all about recycling and taking care of the environment. The earthworm is a good example of how something small and seemingly insignificant can have a big role to play when it comes to protecting our natural environment and helping it thrive.

When worms tunnel through the earth they help plant-roots get greater access to water and air. Worms are fantastic recyclers that can convert food scraps (that would normally be thrown away) into nutrient-filled, organic waste to use as a good fertilizer to feed your garden.

Worm farms can be any size you want if the wriggly creatures have a good amount of space to move around.

TIP: Make sure your play space is clear from anything you wouldn’t want to get dirty! Creating a worm farm from scratch can be a messy process and that might mean muddy hands so working outside might be best!

STEP 1: Choose a transparent container with a lid or cover to prevent escape, add air holes at the top and tiny drainage holes at the bottom.

STEP 2: Line the container with garden soil, sand and or shredded newspaper. Fill the container about 2/3 of the way and make sure to keep it a bit damp.

STEP 3: Wearing plastic gloves, carefully, one by one, have your child add the worms into their new “home".

STEP 4: Once you have made your worm “home” you’ll want to add some small food scraps into the container and add more only when you notice it’s eaten.

Worms do their best work in the dark! Sunlight may dry out their skin and make it difficult for them to breathe. To be kind to your worms make sure their containers are covered with a towel or dark opaque paper to keep the light out. Track their progress daily to see how fast they work!

Skills to Practice: Sustainability, Earth Science, Cognitive thinking, Creative thinking, Sensory thinking