Early last week we went on a worm hunt. It started with reading the book Wonderful Worms. Then the kids drew pictures of worms in tunnels on brown paper while I gathered the supplies for the worm hunt.

1. Large Clean Glass Jar with Holes in the Lid

2. Damp Paper Towel

3. Squirt Bottle with Room Temp Water

4. Black Construction Paper Taped in Circle to Fit over the Jar

Fill the jar in layers with equal parts dirt and worm food (grass clippings, dried leaves, basic compost stuff).

Once full find some worms! There were plenty in our compost heap. You can place the worms on the damp towel if you wish to observe them for awhile before placing them in their new home. The squirt bottle is to keep them damp (but not wet… they can drown).

Once we placed them in the jar we watched them burrow their way down into the soil.

Keep the jar out of the sun and cover with the black paper – otherwise you might not ever see them again. They will stay away from the sunlight. Every so often we place the jar on the table and remove the cover and try to get a peak at their progress. Squirt the dirt every so often just to keep it damp (not too wet). We will be returning them to the compost heap in a few more days.