Potty Talk

Let's face it.... You don't need the book to know that EVERYONE POOPS.... everyone farts, everyone burps....  and for young children, especially boys ... "poop" is one of the funniest, most giggle producing word you can share with your friends.

So, how do you handle potty talk? I've heard a lot of different perspectives. Some places require that potty talk remain in the room with the potty... other places try to discourage it completely.

Around here, we have another philosophy... WE EMBRACE it! Seriously folks... EVERYONE POOPS. It is a bodily function and when it is such a HUGE interest of the children why not embrace it and use it as a learning opportunity?

Right now, we are raising monarch caterpillars. 

Did you know that their poop is called FRASS??? 

Caterpillars poop A LOT, and they tend to poop on your hand when you hold them. 

Their poop is fairly dry and it will roll right off your hand if you tilt it.  

The children love to observe the caterpillars and have expanded their 

vocabulary to include new terminology when describing their observations.

Have you ever wondered what frass looked like up close? 

We did, so we whipped out the
Zoomy, handheld digital microscope and zoomed right in!

Earthworms, on the other hand are serious pooping machines. 

When you hold them, they tend to wiggle and often poop in your hand too. 

Their poop is not dry, in fact, it is quite wet and runny- almost like diarrhea.  

After all, the worms are working hard to help decompose and regenerate our soil!

Of course, as we were exploring our earthworms, 

one of them pooped in one of our friends hands.

 There were a lot of giggles, but what was simply priceless.... 

was the immediate inquiry...

 "Hmmmn.... Ms. Amy, What is worm poop called?"

Well.... I don't know, let's look that up!

In case you don't know.. worm poop is called vermicast.

Now, just think.... If we didn't allow the children to freely talk about poop, we would have never found out that there are so many different names for poop out there!

The children continue to talk about poop on a daily basis. It does not create as many whispers or as many giggles as it used to,
and we have so many more words to use now!

How do you handle potty talk with your children or in your program?