Worm Farming for Homeschooling? What made us think of trying it?

We have started a fun science project for the summer. We’ve made a worm farm!

What made us think of a worm farm? Last year I was searching for ant farms and accidentally came across a cute kit for worm farms so I told myself I was going to look into it this year. After doing some research I realized the small kits that are made to hold maybe 10 worms cost more than a regular small worm farm. Yes, then more research on types of worms and worms that can withstand the colder weather since we live in Iowa. I will also show the steps on how to start a worm farm in one of my next post.

It took months of research and I’m finding that our local libraries don’t have much information on worms other than some childrens books. So the internet has been my main source. I’ve also purchased a few books about worm farming.

I learned how to make a worm farm I’m using rubber storage containers. I will have a 3-tier system worm farm once our new worms have time to settle into their new environment. The bottom container holds compost tea. the next container on top of that will hold the worm castings (poop) or compost. The top container will hold the scraps and food we’ll have the worms compost. Right now it’s only 2-tier because we just purchased the worms. I’ll admit, the girls weren’t excited at first but now that we are reading about what the worms eat they are excited to feed the worms and check on them several times throughout the day.

What education can a homeschooling child get out of this? For the very young child, it may be enough to let the child get the feel of the dirt, and watching the worms wiggle. An older child can learn to count, to recognize various bugs that live with the earthworms, how they live together and about reproduction. A still older child can learn about ecology, soil depletion, and the value of composting. In addition, if you choose to make your hobby into a business, you can add a whole new range of skills to the curriculum.

I’ll post more information on our project throughout the year.