Fun facts about worms!
One of the joys of having a mud kitchen to play with is our children get out into the garden to explore all the wonderful and exciting hidden creatures. Our favourite was always worms. What words spring to mind when you say ‘worms’ to kids? It’s usually some type of scream or something like ‘yucky’. Why do kids and some adults have such a strange reaction to what is an incredible creature? At the moment in our household we have a bit of a fascination for spiders; we keep finding them everywhere and they certainly elicit the same if not worse response. That might be because we know ‘some’ spiders can kill us. Thankfully I don’t think we have any killer worms hidden! Love them or loathe them, worms are all around us and are here to stay.
One of the main reasons we created our mud kitchens with a wormery built into the back was to try and get kids excited and engaged with the world around them. Nothing beats digging on a cold morning for worms in the back garden, a fabulous outdoor activity! Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could inspire more kids to become the new David Attenborough. It’s becoming more apparent that we need to encourage our children to learn about this incredible world, from animals, geography, climate to the rain-forests etc and how everything fits and works together. Maybe worms can be the start for one young explorer!
So here we go… some wormy fun facts! (Gathered from all over the internet).

- Worms do not have eyes
- Worms cannot hear
- They breathe through their skin
- There are 26 different types of worm in the UK
- 3000 different types of earthworms exist in the world. Can you name them all!!
- Worms are really hard to kill. If you chop one in half, the top part with the head will live on (yuck and amazing at the same time)
- Worms have 5 hearts, obviously they are in love a lot!
- Check out the meaning of the word hermaphrodites!
- Worms have no teeth, but they do have a mouth!
- They generally only live between 3 and 4 years, though some do reach the grand old age of 10! That’s rather sad!
- Worms usually eat decaying plant material and gardeners love them!
- Earthworms tunnel through the ground which helps plant roots breathe and grow more easily!
Does anyone eat worms?
The answer is a resounding yes. Apparently worms are high in proteins, iron, calcium and amino acids. They might well be found on the plates of the Ye’kuanan people found in South Venezuela or the Maori people of New Zealand or in certain parts of China. Some even consider worms as a wriggling super-food! The main worms eaten are the agave, sago and meal worms, also sometimes you might find one at the bottom of a drink called Mezcal popular in Mexico!
How to eat a worm!
After much research, (well a little) I think the conclusion seems to be that there are generally a few accepted ways of eating/ cooking worms . The favoured options seem to be boiling, roasting or frying them before you chop them up and put them into a sauce or soups. Roasting them seems to make them sound quite appealing, a dash of garlic, your favourite spices and you have an edible treat!
Some Wormy names to get your teeth into!
- Eisenia fetida
- Dendrobaena venta
- Lumbricus rubellus
- Lumbricus terrestris
In Conclusion
Worms are amazing creature and gardeners love them. For a bit of fun we will also discuss in other posts different insects and creatures that are eaten from around the world. Locust anyone? or what about a deep fried spider?