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Free Snails and Worms Activities, Rhymes, Printables, and Snails and Worms Book Suggestions

Snail Science Lesson

What you need:
Clear food container lid
Snail
Sharp knife
1/4 tbsp flour

Types of snails
There are snails with shells and those without. Snails live on land or in freshwater. They belong to a group of animals with a soft body called molluscs (mollusks). A snail is most active at night and on cloudy days. Snails do not like hot and dry conditions. They like it moist or humid and not too bright.

Hand out a clear container lid and a snail to each child.

Can snails see and smell?
The snail has two pairs of tentacles on its head. The tentacles are very important to the snail. The snail's eyes are on the tip of the longer tentacle, or at the base of the tentacle for water species. The shorter pair is used for smelling and feeling its way around.

How do snails move?
Ask children if they have ever watched a snail moving slowly across the ground and wondered how it was able to move since no "legs" were showing. Explain that the whole bottom part of a snail's body is really a "foot." This foot is flat and smooth and contains muscles which the snail uses to glide along the ground. To help it move more easily, this foot has tiny glands which give out a slimy fluid, so the snail really glides over the surface with a wave-like movement.

Hold up the lid with the snail on top and watch from below how the snail is moving the foot's muscle to move.

The snail's foot
Explain to children that the foot of the snail is very tough, and together with the slime, protects the snail from sharp objects. It is so tough that a snail can crawl along the edge of the sharpest knife without getting hurt. Show the knife to the children and place a snail close to the sharp edge. Watch the snail move over the sharp knife without getting hurt.

Snails are strong
A small snail may weigh less than 15 grams, but it can pull a weight behind it that weighs more than 450 grams.

What do snails eat?
Most snails eat plants of various kinds. The snail has a tongue that is like a file, with hundreds of tiny teeth. It uses this to cut and shred its food.
Mix a pinch of flour with a drop of water and add to the top of the clear lid. Watch from underneath how the snail is eating the flour mixture.

The snail's shell
The snail that lives in a shell has a body that fits right into the coil of the shell, and it has strong muscles that enable it to pull its body entirely into the shell when there is danger. As an added protection when the body is in the shell, a horny disc at the end closes the opening tightly.

Extension:
Make a snail home for children to observe the snails.

Free Owl Printables and Owl Coloring Pages

Make a Snail Home

What you need: Produce plastic container (strawberry container) Gravel Soil Rocks Grass Sticks or bark Leaf Snail food: fresh green leaves, vegetable pieces, small plants with roots Crushed limestone and flour mixture (for snail calcium) Distilled water Spray bottles Dark paper

What you do: To prepare the snail home, layer the bottom of the other aquarium with gravel. Place two inches or more of moist soil on top of the gravel. Place food for the snails on top of the soil and add rocks, sticks, and grass to give the home a natural look. Sprinkle a bit of the crushed limestone and flour mixture in container as well. Add a leaf for shade. Keep the container covered with a piece of dark paper when not being used by children for observation. Add snails to the temporary homes. Place the container on a table in a cool area of the room where children can sit and observe the activities of the snails. Include pencils, magnifying glasses, and spray bottles filled with distilled water. Encourage children to record daily observations of the snails in science journals with words and drawings. Keep the soil in the container moist with the spray bottles. Show children how to mist the soil so that it becomes damp but not waterlogged. Release the animals back into the wild when the unit is complete.

Snail and Worm Printables, Coloring Pages, and Resources

Snail and Slug Writing	Snail and Slug Facts	Worm Tacing	Earthworm Facts

Worms Activities

Wiggle Worm Obstacle Course

Clear an area of the room and create an obstacle course of pillows, boxes, cones, and/or other objects. Let children take turns completing the course by wiggling on their bellies around and between the objects.

back)

Worm Finger Rhyme

Hello, Mr. Worm!
Original Author Unknown

I lifted a stone and saw a worm, (Place hand over opposite pointer finger and "lift.")
I watched him wiggle and squiggle and squirm. (Wiggle index finger.)
Hello, Mr. Worm! How are you today? (Talk to index finger.)
But the worm just silently wiggled away. (Wiggle index finger away.)

Snail and Worm Books

The Biggest House in the World	Are You a Snail? (Backyard Books)	Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails: Patterns & Shapes . . . Naturally	Diary of a Worm	The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an Even Smaller Ant)
Let's Look at Snails (Lightning Bolt Books: Animal Close-Ups)	The Snail's Spell (Picture Puffins)	Tiny Snail	Wiggle and Waggle	Yucky Worms: Read and Wonder