Plant & Creature Hunt

Have the children explore the dirt with rakes, hoes, shovels and their hands to find out how many different plants, insects and other creatures they can discover that live in the dirt. Help them keep a special lookout for worms.

Digging in the dirt and mud

Slugs are so fun!

We love worms!

Worm Farms

Place dirt in a glass jar and add worms. Place lettuce, corn or cereal on top of soil. Tape construction paper around the outside of the jar (we used black). Periodically remove the paper temporarily to show the children the tunnels the worms made. Keep soil moist, but not wet.

Inchworm Measuring

Read "Inch by Inch" by Leo Lionni to the children and talk about inchworms and measuring things in inches. Make several different inchworms (inch long pieces) of felt, pipe cleaners, paper, etc. Let the children explore measuring how tall or big things are by inches with the inchworms.
Link to the book online: http://www.amazon.com/Inch-Leo-Lionni/dp/0688132839

Worm Painting

Have children use yarn or plastic worms as their paint brush. Provide paper on paint trays, paint, and smocks. We thought it was fun to use brown paint on green paper.

Worms in Mud

Make chocolate pudding together (see recipe below) and serve with gummy worms.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Cornstarch-Pudding/Detail.aspx

Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Place over medium heat, and stir in milk. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Let cool briefly, and serve warm, or chill in refrigerator until serving.

We hope you have as much fun and enjoy your worms and mud as much as we did! Yummy!

Garden Helping Worms

Go on a field trip to a farm or a garden store. Ask the guide to explain how the part worms play in gardening and farming.

Worm Tunnels

Provide play tunnels and tents for the children to pretend to be worms living underground.

Dirt Rubbings

Place some dirt on art trays and place paper over the top. The children can use crayons to rub over the paper and make imprints of the dirt underneath.

Worms and Dirt Journal Page

Read a book about different kinds of worms then hand out a journal sheet with this question on it: "What would you like about being a worm?" Record the children's responses and let them draw a picture to go along with their response.

Click on the image to view and/or print.

Inching Like Inchworms

Let your children move like inchworms to music (to move like an inchworm they would get on all fours, move their arms first causing their bodies to go low to the ground and then scoot legs forward). It might be helpful to watch a video of an inchworm or observe an inchworm outside.

Sign of Spring

(Sing to the tune- "Muffin Man")

Do you see a sign of spring,
a sign of spring, a sign of spring?
Do you see a sign of spring?
Tell us what you see.

(Pick a child to answer. Repeat the song until all children have a chance to answer at least once.)

Wiggling Worms

Place real worms (you can buy them at a fishing store or find them outside on a rainy day) and dirt in the sensory table for the children to gently explore.

Nylon Worms

Provide nylons (they can be old with holes in them, knee highs or full length) & paper to stuff the nylons, craft pom poms, sequins, buttons, glue, and glue brushes for the children to stuff and decorate their worms with.

Worms and Dirt Lesson Plan

Click on the image to view and/or print.