Our goal is to build six worm towers aka worm hotels. These worm hotels will highlight the benefits of having worms in your yard and/or garden. We hope to encourage the reproduction of worms in the area where we plan to plant our butterfly habitat in order to keep the soil more fertile. The towers will also serve as a way to dispose of food scraps in a environmentally friendly and helpful way.
First we will watch a video about the importance of earthworms in our ecosystem. Then we will fill out and color a worksheet pertaining to worms and some of the smaller children will actually make worm crafts from recycled materials. Next we will take six Pringles and/or Stax containers and put multiple holes in the sides of the containers, the holes will allow worms to come and go freely. Next we will cut the bottoms off of the containers. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ UPDATE 3-11-16 Today we met with the Boys and Girls Club and got a lot done, but not all that we planned to do. We broke the kids up by age starting with the oldest kids first and showed them a video about worms, next we took worms out of the container and let the kids touch and interact with the worms. We then cut 2 liter bottles to make a worm hotel for each age group to feed and tend in their rooms. Next the kids turned Stax containers into worm towers by drilling and punching holes all in the containers sides and bottom. The kids then took the containers and buried them outside, filled them with food and worms and left them until we check on them next visit. Next visit we plan to check on the progress of the worms in the hotels and towers and to make a worm craft for the children to take home with them. We will dig holes to almost completely bury the containers, then we will place the containers with lids intact into the holes and fill the area around the containers up with soil. Next, we will add food scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds and shredded newspaper to the containers. Finally we will add worms and replace the top of the container. The children will wait a few days and check on the containers, noting what they find in the containers. We hope they are going to find eaten up food scraps and maybe even a few baby worms.
