Wonders Just Under the Dirt

Children can learn much from creatures of the soil. (By Mitch Aunger -- Istockphoto)

Do children still make mud pies? Or have the drama and mystery of sci-fi stories and space shuttle launches turned their gaze permanently skyward? Any of them can name the planets in the solar system, but how many know what magnificent and invisible worlds lie beneath the surface of the soil? It's there that the most numerous of the Earth's creatures are to be found, many of them as alien to us as the hypothetical residents of remote galaxies that so engage our imaginations.

Earth's soil is the source of life, not just something we remove from our children's clothes when we do laundry. It's where their education should begin. The holidays present us the perfect opportunity to lure them back to earth with simple tools, equipment and activities that will aid in their terrestrial discoveries.

Prowl through a yard with a small child and you'll soon see how curious he or she is about the natural world. Kids are fascinated with what lives in the dirt. Start by just seeing what you can find on the surface -- worms, bugs, spiders, ants and all. Brush away dead leaves (using gloves if there's any chance of dead poison ivy) and see if any creatures lurk beneath them. Turn over a rock and see if that is a hiding place. It usually is. Then turn over a shovelful or two of earth, preferably in the garden where the soil is loose, fertile and full of life. Some things will wiggle forth right away; others you can find by sifting. This time of year most soil-dwellers have prepared for winter, so it's a great month to investigate how they hibernate -- as hard little pupae, inside fuzzy cocoons or as tiny eggs. Often these signs of sleeping life, which children love, are curled up inside a leaf on the ground. Show a child how even after a leaf has withered and fallen, a new bud has formed at the end of the twig, to become a new leaf in spring.

Gardening is a wonderful way to get kids acquainted with and grounded in the natural world, but frustrating at times if you're a busy gardener yourself. Your agenda and that of a 3-year-old rarely coincide.

My sister Anne, who works with young children, taught me how to garden with preschoolers. "Give them a spot where anything goes, with no risk of disturbing things," she says. "As grown-ups, we're attached to outcomes, but they're not ready for that. For them it's all process." This means offering bean seeds or potatoes to plant without worrying whether they're dug up again two minutes later. Provide a little watering can and let them dig a hole and fill it with water. Hand them weeds you've just pulled that they can replant in their little corner. They should have little toy tools that fit their hands. Like all play, this is practice for life.

When they're a bit older and can enjoy planting a seed that eventually turns into a plant, their plot can become more of a real garden. It's still best to set it apart as their own domain, edged with stones or as a raised bed boxed in with pieces of wood. When children "help" you in your own garden, be sure the paths are generously sized and clearly defined. (Anne always tells them "Bed soft, path hard.") This makes the distinction between path and bed easy to learn. Start little gardeners off with big seeds such as peas, beans, sunflowers and nasturtiums. Small seeds in pelleted form will make planting them easier, too.

A set of small gardening tools is the perfect Christmas gift for beginners. Present them with a windowsill garden, complete with pots, potting soil, a long plastic tray and seeds they can sow in winter, such as radishes, cress or baby lettuce. An older child who shows an interest might have fun with a soil test kit. And how about an ant farm? These aren't expensive, and kids love them. Or a magnifying glass and a book about soil creatures. A more advanced enthusiast would enjoy a stereo dissecting microscope -- one with two eyepieces that enable you to examine three-dimensional objects, not just those pressed onto slides. Another gift for a curious gardener, young or old, would be "Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web" by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. It's as much about what people still have to learn about the garden's soil as it is about what we know now.

In Fritz-Martin Engel's book "Creatures of the Earth's Crust," published in 1961 and still available on used book sites on the Internet, he describes the many species of microscopic, bacteria-munching rotifers, also called "wheel animals," each with a unique set of jaws: "On closer study, each variation turns out to be a biological prototype of a tool for seizing, holding, cutting, pricking, or grinding. We meet forms which might serve as patterns for hammer and anvil, awl, knife, shears, file, pincers, and dozens of other such tools." So much for human invention. The more we begin to learn about the earth's invisible gardeners, the more it's clear that we're all still in kindergarten.