Age
⚙ 3 years and up
Time and Place
⚙ During or after a rainy day
⚙ Any time of year (except in really cold winters)
⚙ Outdoors
Materials
⚙ Magnifying glasses
⚙ Buckets or another type of container
Optional Materials
⚙ Materials for building a worm home
Safety
⚙ Supervise children at all times
⚙ Dress children appropriately for rainy weather
Instructions
Play-based Context
Take a walk on a rainy day while paying close attention to the ground, in order to spot worms. If children are picking worms up to observe them more closely, encourage them to be gentle so worms can continue to ‘work’ in the ground.
A group of preschoolers were playing in the yard on a rainy day. Several children noticed there were worms on the ground. The educators talked to the children about the features they could observe on the worms. The rest of the children joined in making observations.
Questions You May Ask
⚙ What do worms do?
⚙ What do worms eat?
⚙ How do worms move?
⚙ Why do we find worms on rainy days?
⚙ Where do worms live?
Related Children's Books
⚙ An Earthworm's Life by John Himmelman
⚙ Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
⚙ Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
⚙ Worm Weather by Jean Taft
