oh no they dont need light elf, exactly the opposite, they like dark conditions, they must be kept somewhere cool over the summer, I dont know what cold temps they can tolerate as it barely reaches frost where I am. worms like moist, dark, cool conditions with ventilation. I keep my worm bin under a tree in a very shady part of the garden, but an outside bin might not be possible in your zone.

maybe you could explain to your kids just what makes these guys good, get them involved and they will get over their fear of the creepy crawlies :)

Here is a great site to introduce kids to the world of worms. Not bad a bad site for learning the basics of worm care either. My son loves this site and the worms.

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/neighborhood/index.html (link also below)

I keep mine in the basement and they seem to be doing quite well.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Come live with me

I keep my bin right in my kitchen under a built in desk. (Lots of others keep them right under the kitchen sink.) It's not a very big bin, so it sits under there very inconspicuously next to my dog food bin. There is no unpleasent odor in a healthy bin, so nobody would ever know it's a box filled with garbage and worms if I wasn't so excited to show them! ;o)

OH, PLEASE introduce your kids to wonderful worm composting! It's fun and it's one great way to teach kids about the environment and recycling!

In addition to books there are some websites for kids too. I'm sure there are more, but here are three.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/wormcomp.htm

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/worms.htm

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Vermi/

I keep my bins on the north side of the house all year 'round. It gets into the low hundreds occasionally in the summer, and we had quite a few nights of frost this winter. Everyone survived.

Kids are natural scientists, so maybe in time they will get curious about what you are doing. If nothing else, you are setting a wonderful example for them by participating in a great hobby.

I've never had a problem with "traveling." I wonder if this takes place when the bin is too wet. I very rarely add water to the bin; the liquid from the kitchen scraps seems adequate.

Have fun.

the kids are actually into it. we found a bunch in the garden and one of the boys gathered about 50 so I created a bin according to the directions I read on the threads---do you think they'll make it??? the kids threw in a lot of soil in with the worms so they seem to still me living in their holes? so far they haven't touched the food???

Worms you find in the garden will not survive in a bin. They will die. Put them back in the garden and let them do their job.

You can only use compost worms in a bin. You don't need to add soil (dirt) to a worm bin, they live in bedding which is made up of several different types of material.

If you take the time to read through the forum you will find out a lot of these things for yourself.

Marshall

Marshall is right, all worms are not the same and the ones in your garden are a different type than the ones you need for a worm compost bin. Garden worms live down in the soil, compost worms live at the surface just under the rotting materials they eat. You need Eisenia fetida also known as "red worms" or "red wigglers" for composting. There are lots of websites that you can order them from if you can't buy them locally. Search for Eisenia fetida, red wigglers, vermicomposting, or worm bin, etc. and you'll find quite a few sites that will sell and ship the worms to you. Read up on vermicomposting before the worms come so you and the kids can get off to a great start. It's fun!

We kept our worm bin in the kitchen.....yep, under a counter on the floor....never stinky, no escapee's or any type of worm type drama!!! Once you get bin friendly worms and a worm friendly habitat ( newspaper, leaf mold etc,) they will be fine. You can pick where you want to keep them!!! I finally gave in and moved mine outside to my Earth Machine....they are still alive and seem to be breeding, so I'm breathing easy...but I felt guilty for some time....still trying to manipulate my way into having my indoor worm farm again!!!

What I loved most about keeping them inside, in our living space, was showing people how food waste could be disposed of with worms and never got stinky like trash.....I LOVE my wormies....!!!!