QUICK START IDEAS

• Play the classic  “Inch Worm” song for your children from the movie “Hans Christian Anderson”
• Make play worms with 3-4 inch pieces of thick brown yarn.
• Dig up an earth worm to observe.
• Go to your library to find books about worms and what they do.
• Encourage your child to try crawling like worms.
• Eat worm food for snack.  (Pieces of lettuce and apples).
• Touch a worm.  How does it feel?
• Let your child observe a worm using a magnifying glass.

WORM  ART

“WORM“ PAINTINGS
Let your children try one or more of these ideas.

• Dip cooked spaghetti strands into paint and wiggle them across the paper like worms.
• Make “worm tracks” with pieces of yarn or string dipped into paint.
• Make “worm tracks” in a finger painting.

PLAY DOUGH WORMS

• Make some play dough and mix in dry brown tempera paint.
• Give your child pieces of the dough to roll into snake-like worms.
• If you wish, let the children arrange their worms on Easter grass placed or glued on paper plates.

MEASURING YARN WORMS

• You can make some nice fussy worms by cutting thick brown yarn into sections.
• Cut each section a different length.
• Mix up the worms and let your children take turns sorting out the worms by length.
• Have your children look for the smallest worm and set it on a flat surface.
• Then have them look for the next smallest and so on.
• Five worms of different lengths would be good for preschoolers.

WIGGLY WORMS

• Give your children small 5” pieces of large brown fuzzy yarn.
• Using the yarn “worms” have your children act out the following rhyme.
   

WIGGLE WORMS

Wiggle your worms up, then wiggle them down.
Wiggle your worms around and around.

Wiggle them high, wiggle them low.
Wiggle them fast, wiggle them slow.

Wiggle them over, the tops of your toes.
Wiggle them under the tip of your nose.

Wiggle them up your arm to the top
Wiggle them down to your fingers and stop.

Wiggle your worm ‘cross the top of your head,
Then put your worm back in his own little bed.   (Place in box as teacher pass one around)
                                                        Jean Warren

WORM  LANGUAGE

WIGGLE WORM P0EM
I have a pet, named Wiggles,
Who lives at home with me.
I keep him in this little cup
For all my friends to see.

Where, oh, where is Wiggles?
Oh, where can Wiggles be?
Come out now, little wiggles
So all my friends can see.

He is a little timid.
I must be very firm.
Come out now, little wiggles.
Come out my Wiggle Worm!
                                    Jean Warren

Give each child a small paper cup and help them poke a hole into the bottom big enough for their pointer finger to fit through.  Provide Easter grass for the children to place into their cups.
Have each child stick his finger up through the hole in the bottom of his cup and wiggle his finger like a worm.
Extended Activity:  Have worms talk to each other.  Ask the children’s worms questions, that the children can answer.

WORM BOOKS 

• Go to your local library and look for children’s books about worms.
• Check out Richard Scarry’s “Lowley Worm and “Wiggle Worms” from Ladybird Books.
   

PET WORMS

• Give each of your children a small paper cup with a finger hole in the bottom.
• Cut up some Easter grass into small pieces and let your children fill the bottom of their cups with the grass.
• Show your children how to stick their index finger up through the bottom of their cup and pretend there is a worm sticking out of their cup.
• Encourage your children to use their cups to tell stories about their pet worm who lives in their cup.

Extension:  Let children decorate the outside of their cups with flower stickers before putting the grass inside.

 
WORM PUPPET STAGE
Here is a simple idea for making a finger puppet stage.

• Take a plain paper plate and fold it in half.
• Cut the plate through the middle over to within 1 inch of the side.
• Open the plate up and you should have an opening across the middle of your plate.
• Now let your children place some glue on the bottom half of their plate.
• Now have them press on some Easter grass over the glue.
• Have children hold up their puppet stage and poke their “worm” finger out from behind.
• Have children use their stages to create mini plays about their pet worm.

Variation:  Instead of using Easter grass, you could just let each child color their stage with green crayon on the bottom for grass and blue crayon on the top for sky.
 

APPLE WORM PUPPET

• Cut out an apple shape from a 4” x 4” piece of red cardboard.
• Next, cut out a small finger hole somewhere on the apple.
• Have children hold up their apple and stick their finger through the hole, as you recite the following rhyme.

I FOUND AN APPLE

I found an apple lying on the ground.
I was excited at what I had found.
I picked up the apple ready for a bite.
When out popped a worm!
My what a fright!

Sorry little worm, I really didn’t know,
That this was your apple.  I’ll put it down and go!
                                                                Jean Warren

WORM DISCOVERIES

OBSERVING WORMS

• Go on a worm hunt with your child.
• Dig in loose soil, look under rocks around your home or school.
• Next, set out two or three worms for your children to observe.
• Call their attention to how the worms move.
• Have your children experiment to see what the worms like to eat.
• Return worms to their natural habitat when your observations are done.
   

HOW WORMS HELP US

• Explain to your children how when the worms dig through the dirt, they keep the soil loose so that plant roots can grow easily.
• Worms also fertilize the soil and providing food for the plants.

WORM SNACKS

GUMMY WORM SNACKS

• Frost a muffin or cupcake and sprinkle on chocolate wafer crumbs for soil.  Top with a gummy worm.
• Or – Place three chocolate cookies in a small zip-lock bag.  Let your children use a rolling pin (or other heavy object) to smash the cookies into small pieces.  Now let your children place four gummy worms into their (cookie dirt).  Let children eat their worms and dirt for a snack.

WORM SONGS

WIGGLE, WIGGLE
Tune:  “Frere Jacques”

Wiggle, wiggle,
Wiggle, wiggle
Little worm,
Little worm,
Crawling on the ground,
Wiggling all around,
Squirm, squirm, squirm,
Squirm, squirm, squirm.
                                Elizabeth Scofield
 

DID YOU EVER SEE AN EARTHWORM?
Tune:  “Did You Ever See A Lassie”

Did you ever see an earthworm,
An earth worm, an earthworm,
Did you ever see an earthworm
Wiggle around?

He wiggles up this way,
Then wiggles down that way,
Did you ever see an earthworm
Wiggle around?
                                Jean Warren
Have your children wiggle across the floor as you sing this song.

 
DID YOU EVER SEE A WORM
Tune:  “Did You ever See A Lassie”

Did you ever see a worm, a worm, a worm
Did you ever see a worm, loosen the soil?
He digs, first one way.
Then digs, another way.
Did you ever see a worm, loosen the soil?

Farmers love worms, love worms, love worms,
Farmers love worms, who loosen the soil.
It makes his job easier,
To plant all his seeds.
Farmers love worms, who loosen the soil.
                                                Jean Warren
 

I’m A Little Earth Worm
Tune:  “I’m A Little Teapot”

I’m a Little Earth Worm
Crawling around.
I like to dig,
Deep in the ground.

And when I crawl up,
Back out of the ground.
I always have to check
If any birds are around!
                                Jean Warren

 
I LOVE WORMS
Tune:  “Three Blind Mice”

I love worms,
I love worms,
See how they squirm.
See how they squirm.
I love to see them wiggle around.
I love to see them dig in the ground.
I love that they don’t make a sound.
I love worms!
                                Jean Warren
 

NINE LITTLE WORMS
Tune:  “Ten Little Indians”

One little, two little, three little worms,
Four little, five little, six little worms,
Seven little, eight little, nine little worms
Digging in the dirt.
                                                By David Warren
                                                Adapted Traditional