Maybe a silly question but thought I'd ask...

[hippychickmommy]

My twins were helping J dig in our yard yesterday and they came across a worm. Well this got them super excited, and they both insisted on taking turns holding it. They even named it Wormy. They wanted to keep "him" because they are convinced that they love their little Wormy and that he's so cute.

Now I know the thing is not going to live forever, but I put it in one of their little bug houses with a bunch of wet soil and grass. That way they could look in on Wormy.

This morning they went to check on it outside and freaked out because they said it looks dead. :( I touched it and it seemed nearly lifeless. Uh oh.

I told them that maybe it was sleeping. ;) My question is, can the kids keep a worm in a container or bug house for any length of time or is it a lost cause? I was planning on letting it out anyway and telling them it had escaped, but I know they'll just go searching for a replacement. I figure if there's no hope, I'll just have to tell them that they can't keep the worms they find captive.

Funny, never thought I'd be searching for ways to help save a worm. :D

[earthmother]

I would think maybe an ant farm container would work. Or you could make a worm bed with plexiglass sides and boards placed over the top... (then you could have hundreds of them;) Handling them does nothing for their well being. They dry out too easy and hands are too warm.

[hippiehillbilly]

make them one of these

Cheap and Easy Worm Bin! (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwhatcom.wsu.edu%2Fag%2Fcompost%2F Easywormbin.htm&ei=uAP7SZbHFMOltge15-m9BA&usg=AFQjCNEu4Yqqyy6Z25j7XJDg8jy2Py1lEQ)


they can live on your kitchen scraps and make awesome fertilizer for your plants.

when you get a whole mess of them,turn them loose in your flower or veggie beds or sell them for bait.

dont worry about what it says about how many to start with,a few is enough,just go easy on the kitchen scraps till their numbers grow.

you will know by how quickly the scraps disappear..

we have three worm bins now,so if you have any questions feel free to ask..

[hippychickmommy]

Hey! Awesome! Thanks for the info! I know the kids would love making a worm bin like that!

[rambleON]

instead of teaching them a mentality of capture and contain you should express to them that they should wonder at nature...

let me develop this statement for a bit;

instead of focusing wonder of animals confined to a house you should make the yard/world/ecosystem a living laboratory for them. it can stimulate their concept of the world and what's in it naturally and holistically. they can spot birds, bugs, worms and even mammals for identification...this will give them a very insightful concept of the world at large...outside of the classical 'fish tank' view.