Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Works for Me Wednesday - Earthworm Farms


Lately the weather has been beautiful and we've been out in nature more. My girls, being the kind of kids who like to dig in the dirt and play with sticks, discovered the amazing world of the earthworm.

I had planned on buying this earthworm farm kit so they could enjoy the whole earthworm experience. But, paying $29.95 for the kit + $9.95 for the worms and whatever they charge for shipping seemed a bit much to spend on something they are already seeing in our front yard.

Then I came across this article on a DIY earthworm farm. We bought a huge jar at Wal-mart for $4.99 and came home and set up the coolest little earthworm farm.

The article mentions buying soil and sand to start the farm, but I found that we could find all the dirt we needed in the yard and added to it some veggie scraps left over from making dinner. The worms were pretty easy to find and once we added them to the jar and poked holes in the top so they could "breathe" the farm was completely done.

They love seeing the worm tunnels, checking on the worms, and feeding/watering them. It's a great little no maintenance "pet" that teaches science and nature lessons to the kids. Plus, they feel super proud to have built it themselves. And I feel proud that I saved $30 going the DIY route.

Anyways, that's what worked for me this week. Visit Shannon's Dryer to see what's working for all the other mommy bloggers out there...

4 comments:

Jack's Mommy said...

I remember doing this (making homemade worm farms in jars) all the time when i was a little girl...i was a very hands on little thing and stayed outside in our backyard digging in the dirt til dark (and after if mom let me). I also use to make ant farms (my favorite!)...have you tried those yet?? watching the ants make the tunnels are something every kid should see.. :) if you haven't done that yet, the same principle is involved - just scoop up dirt from an ant mound in an old (clean) mayonaise jar (or large pickle jar), grease the lid of the jar (mom used vasoline on mine), put a top on with small holes and feed with bits of bread or little food scraps! :) i use to keep my farms for months on end!

Unknown said...

You can do something like that too with dessert rats.
Ofcourse you need an aquarium or something like that, but it's so much fun!

You can find out what works for me ::here::
Have a wonderful day!

Anonymous said...

Oh great idea!!

Melanie said...

My son would love that--we'll be trying it soon!