One afternoon, a group of 5 year olds and I discovered an abundance of worms in the puddles outside from the recent rain storms. Upon further investigation, the children realized that the puddles were very deep, and they became concerned that the worms would drown. One child observed, “Worms need some water to live, but not water that is too deep for them.” Working together, the children moved the worms from the deep puddles onto damp places on the pavement or muddy bits of lawn. Half-way through the endeavor, a child remarked, “I bet the robins will love these worms! They’ll be a nice, juicy lunch for them!” The other children nodded excitedly in agreement. Curious, I raised a question to the group: If they wanted to save the worms from drowning, why was it okay for the robins to eat the worms? A child replied, “Because drowning isn’t the way that they’re supposed to die. They’re supposed to get eaten by robins.” Later on that afternoon, we continued the conversation of what different creatures are “good for”. The children recognized that worms are good for robins to eat, but that worms also help with decomposition. They discussed how some insects help pollinate plants, but that spiders are good for catching insects so we don't have too many. "You know, we have to have both" a child said, thinking hard. "Sometimes things live and sometimes things die and sometimes we should rescue the worms and sometimes we shouldn't." The group nodded, solemnly. “People,” said one, “people are good for loving.”
