How to make a mini wormery

1. Fill the bottle with alternating layers of sand, soil and compost. Spray each layer with water so that it is damp.
2. Cut the top quarter off your plastic bottle to make a lid. Make a slit in the side of the lid so that the top can close over the bottom part. Cut the top off the bottles if learners are too young to do this. You can use a sharp pencil to pierce a hole near top of bottle to make cutting easier.
3. Collect some worms from outdoors – encourage learners to look in a compost heap, under stones in damp places, or dig a hole to find them. If learners have learned about habitats and microhabitats, encourage them to apply their prior learning by asking, “Where might we find worms in our grounds?”
4. Add a few worms to the top of the bottle and watch them burrow down. Then add the ‘food’ to the top. Remind learners to wash their hands well after handling worms and compost.
5. Wrap the black cardboard around the bottle to make it dark. Worms do not like light and it will encourage them to burrow around the outside of the bottle so they can be observed.  
6. Place the wormery in a warm place. Remove the cardboard for observation periods and record findings. The layers will disappear as the sand and soil mix together and channels appear where the worms have burrowed.
7. Check that the contents are damp and that there is food available for the worms – do not feed the worms citrus fruits or onions.
8. After one week, release the worms back outdoors.

The downloadable Widgit resources can support learners to create their mini wormery – why not cut up the instructions and ask learners to arrange them in the correct order? 

Reflection

Discuss with learners what they have learned about worms and what they do. Why do they think worms are helpful for nature? How do they help plants grow? (They help keep our soil healthy by breaking down decaying plant material, and creating tunnels that improve soil structure)

See the Activity Guide for a selection of fascinating worm facts to share with learners. 

This activity has been adapted from RHS Campaign for School Gardening