Nature Club - Worm Charming Edition

Nature study has always been a big part of our homeschool.  And in my opinion the best way to study nature is to spend time outdoors.  We're very fortunate in that within seconds of walking out our door we can be in the woods surrounded by nature.  But even so, we still participate in a nature club with a couple of other homeschooling families.  Mostly we go to a local county park/campground, but we've also explored fields and vernal pools at the homes of the nature club families.

Of course, I like to keep things simple, so I pick a topic relative to the time of year and then decide on an activity to do.  We like to keep our formal part of nature club to 30 minutes and then let the kids have lots of time to explore the crayfish in the river or play on the playground before having a light snack.

I chose WORMS as our late May topic and we did a really fun activity.

WORM CHARMING or WORM FIDDLING

Basically you need two strong sticks about 15 inches long.  Stick one in the ground about halfway.  Use the other stick to vigorously rub the vertical stick in a back and forth manner as if playing the fiddle.  In time, worms should start to appear at the top of the soil.  We were all amazed this actually worked.  Everyone was a bit skeptical.

Ta Da!  A worm appeared.

After charming enough worms, I gave the kids a paper plate to use as an observation tray and a homemade worksheet.  They placed their worms and a cup of soil on the plate, made observations and then answered the questions.

Once they finished up we gathered for a short discussion, returned the worms to home and headed off to play.  This was a really fun activity, one that older and younger kids alike enjoyed.