The power of worms

If you're looking for something new to add to your forest school or outdoor learning area, then consider building a wormery!  They may not sound like the most appealing of structures to have, but they can be absolutely brilliant for teaching about the importance of soil and the processes that happen within it.  If you happen to be on a school site, you can add some of your school's food waste to it as well which helps reduce the amount of food that goes to landfill.  Having a wormery provides a great teaching point and can really help educate children on what happens within soil and how decomposers are some of the most important organisms in the ecosystem.  

You can make a simple wormery that will last for about a week (visit the Wildlife Trusts website to find out more).  All you'll need is a large (1 litre) plastic bottle with the top cut off.  Build up several layers of garden soil, compost and sand, and top with some fallen leaves or old flowers.  Then, hunt down some worms and add them onto the top layer of the wormery.  The'll soon bury down and start decomposing all the decaying matter.  Secure the top with some cling film and an elastic band - don't forget to puncture some holes in the cling film! Wrap the bottle in some card to make it dark for the worms and place it in a cool part of your outdoor space.  Check the layers every so often to see how the worms are doing, and add a little water as necessary to stop it drying out.  Finally, when you have finished with your wormery, release the worms back into the wild so they can continue doing their important work under our feet!

To make it a more permanent structure, buy a wormery which comes with multiple trays and layers for the worms to work their way through. This acts similar to a compost bin but has the added excitement of seeing the worms doing their thing.  How much of the school's food waste can you fit in the wormery?!