I decided to take the day off of school. We had a dumpster delivered to our house so we would finally get the basement and garage cleaned out. I gathered the kids, gave them assignments, and began to clean up the yard. When I lifted up an old dog bowl that was left outside I saw this thing hiding underneath. I was a bit taken back and being a city girl I get grossed out by nature at times. I love nature…just not when it moves and emits an ooze of something or other from its body. I immediately took a picture with Instagram and asked what the beast could possibly be called. Then it moved and I could tell it was a slug. Yes, I felt silly. But this large clump of oozing something of other caught me off guard. The kids were thrilled with the find and school commenced.
I immediately looked up “tiger slug” on my iPhone and read off the information while the kids watched it move. They were very curious as to what slugs ate and what type of habitat they enjoyed because they wanted to keep it as a pet. At least the two younger girls wanted it as a pet. Each child even decided to “pet” the slug. The comment I heard from my son was “it feels like a mushy banana.” My son decided that keeping it would not be best for the slug and they would find a suitable habitat for it somewhere in the yard.
The talk about slugs led to more discussions on bugs and the outdoors. We talked about other bugs and such that enjoy the same habitat as a slug. For the little girls we discussed the “s” sound, the spelling of the word, and rhyming the word.
It just goes to show you that everyday is an opportunity to learn.