So this may have been the most unique field trip that I have taken children to in 15 1/2  years of teaching.  But, I must say thank you to Mr. Milford for so warmly welcoming Wee Friends into his service station and thank you to the children for always keeping the work we do fresh and exciting. 

We started our worm adventure by meeting Mr. Milford and singing him our “Hello Song” where each child’s name is incorporated into the song. 

Mr. Milford had prepared a table with an assortment of worms for us to explore:  night crawlers (earth worms), red worms (really tiny ones), wax worms (white ones) and red wigglers.  The red wigglers were the most popular and exciting worms to observe and hold.  True to their names, they wiggled.  A lot. 

Mr. Milford then brought out…ok…I really can’t make this stuff up…”crappie minnows”.  I just had to Google this term when we got back to WF and I found out that, “crappie minnows at a bait store describe minnows that are small enough to use on crappie while bass minnows would be too large.”  Soooo, if your children come home talking about the crappie minnows they saw, they are being technical not disparaging

When the children heard that there was a big tank full of crappie minnows, they asked to see them.  We went to the back of the station and visited the minnow tank.  The children gathered around the big tank and learned a few facts about the minnows: they are used as bait for fishing and they like cold water (Mr. Milford puts frozen milk jugs in the water to keep it cool).  The kids discovered on their own that they are tricky to catch with a net!

The last thing Mr. Milford shared with us was the crickets that he sells as bait.  Stephen was the first one to hold the cricket and his reaction was priceless! The photo below doesn’t come close to capturing the mixture of horror and excitement that he had simultaneously as the cricket raced over his hand. Ha!

Mr. Milford’s Bait Shop was a fabulous place to visit to learn more in our worm study.  I can’t thank Mr. Milford enough for his time and his past donations of worms and today’s donation of crappie minnows.

During our small group time after lunch, we asked, “What was your favorite part of our field trip to Mr. Milfords?” Some of the children shared their opinions on the message board…

For breakfast we had cheerios and banana.  For lunch we had pizza on whole wheat, peas and watermelon.  No WeeSprouts since we were out of the classroom all morning.  Although, while outside after our field trip a few of the children WeeSprouted by picking and eating kale straight from the garden.  They were quite insistent that I see their green tongues