Snail racing - yee hah!

Not exactly gardening, but for our half hour in the garden today we decided to do some snail racing!

It didn't start too well - we couldn't find any snails, which I guess is a good thing. Then I found a massive one for me to race, which would have definitely won, had I not left it carelessly in the path of my chubby heavy-booted two year old.

Blood and guts were oozing out. I felt awful, and quickly decided not to seize the opportunity for a fascinating biology lesson. C was already being squeamish about touching the slimy snails.

We then found two little ones. So little, in fact, that the only stickers we had to mark them were actually bigger than the snails.

They didn't exactly get off to a flying start, with one staying tucked up inside, perhaps deterred by the bright pink boots. Thankfully, the green smiley one decided to hedge his bets in search of freshly picked young lettuce leaves. And then the magic happened: the girls came eyeball to tentacled eyeball with one of the most fascinating animals in the garden.

Not a close fought race, but exhilarating nonetheless. The snail slayer then let one slither up her arm...

I realised that I love snails, always have, but I've been giving the children the wrong message. These amazing creatures get lobbed over the fence, with me chanting "Slugs and snails are bad, worms and ladybirds are good." But actually they're all part of the amazing ecosystem that is our little garden.

The race was inspired by 101 Things for kids to do outside, a brilliant book written by the author of my favourite blog, Little Green Fingers. Can't wait to see what's on the next page...