Mushrooms Galore!!

Our yard has turned into a mushroom breeding ground!! On my way to the mailbox, I couldn't help but notice the hundreds of mushrooms that have popped up all over the place. I quickly hurried back, grabbed the camera and told the girls to "Come see!" After warning them not to touch and to just look, we had lots of fun looking at the many mushrooms.




This mushroom on the left, we imagined to be the home of Mr. Mouse. It looks like a little doorway and we made up stories about who lived there. Tomorrow, I will encourage the girls to draw a story about it, since we didn't have time to do that today.

There were really many varieties of mushrooms all over and I took the opportunity to explain to the girls how mushrooms grow, that some are poisonous and others are safe to eat.


The big fella here was HUGE! It was the size of a basketball and I really had to plead with the girls not to step on it. They thought it would be strong enough to support their weight! I found a smaller mushroom and pulled it up so the girls could see the bottom of it and there was a tiny caterpillar on the underside of it, covered in mushroom spores. There was my perfect example/proof of bugs needing the mushrooms to eat and then the girls understood not to destroy any
mushrooms.

These two red ones remind me of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original one) and when everyone gets to go inside that magical room and eat the grass, flowers and mushrooms. Remember that one scene where they scoop out some sort of cream from the white spot on the mushroom? I always liked that movie!

We had lots of fun and on the next trip to the library, I'll look for a book on mushrooms!