A Home for Chi-Chi the Worm

Posted: July 1, 2011 | Author: Jena | Filed under: Building, Experimentation, Garden, Imagination, Outside, Small Motor Skill, Water Play, Working Together | 4 Comments »

“We are made of the same 5 basic elements that the earth is made of.”
-Bandana Shiva, activist/farmer/physicist

“Dirt is very much alive, probably has in it all the kingdoms of life.”
-John Todd, biologist/eco-designer

Dirt is the thin outside layer that covers the Earth’s surface. It’s a mixture of many things…dead plants and animals, rocks, air and water.
Dirt is home to many creatures. Insects, worms, chipmunks, mice and animals such as moles live in tunnels and burrow underground.

In our garden, the cucumber has been nibbled by bunnies. I’m afraid the cucumbers have not made it through this ordeal.
On the good side, J and K now have a section of the garden that’s just for their play with mud.

J likes to drag the hose to the garden and water the plants. Now, he waters his mud patch.

~Water + Dirt = Mud: Ooey, Gooey, Wonderful, Messy Mud.

We bring our sand toys down and use his digger with all that mud. J busies himself with digging a deep hole and filling it with water. He covers the back of his digger with mud and then washes it off.

Cousin R and J are riding in our mini motorized gator and the wheels get stuck. As they’re trying to get the wheels unstuck, lots of dirt is moved around. They find a worm and name it Chi Chi Wiggle. They’d like to make Chi Chi a home.

The kids get busy collecting materials: sticks, rocks, pinecones, sap, dirt and water. There is some discussion about how much dirt and water we should use. Too little dirt and too much water would not make the worm very happy.
J: “I’m going to put some of rice so that the worms can be warm and comfortable and so they can nibble on it.”

~Fun Fact: Worms tunnel through dirt by eating it!

J gathers dirt for the worm from his garden patch. In this dirt the kids discover a centipede.
R: “There’s probably more centipedes than we can count.”
This centipede becomes Chi Chi’s cousin and we name him Swiggle Diggle Doo.
J: “Chi Chi is a daddy. He needs a friend. We have to find a Mommy.”
The kids find 2 more worms.
The Mommy’s name is Vanessa Roya Ohio and the baby is Wiggle Jr.

J: “That’s a good home we made.”

***No worms were hurt during the making of their little home.
All worms will be returned to their natural habitat.***

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