Today in Piney Ridge, Lilly, Otto, and Dougie found an injured Marbled Murlett named Missy and decided to help take her to the ocean to reunite with her family.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• Where do mushrooms like to grow?
  • In shady and moist places like forest floors or even in meadows and lawns with healthy soil
• Which type of poisonous mushroom does the shrimp russula look like?
  • Toadstool (Specifically Fly agaric)
• Which famous mushroom is modeled after a fly agaric toadstool?
  • The super mushroom from Super Mario
• Where do you think Missy lives?
  • On the ocean
• Why was Missy a long way from home?
  • She was with her family looking for a place to nest.

For an activity, let’s make spore prints! Grab a basket or container of some kind and go outside to a nearby meadow or woods and go mushroom hunting. Look for a variety of different ones. Carefully pick the mushroom by making sure the cap stays intact. Once you have found a few different ones, head back home. Once you’re home, carefully remove the stem of the mushroom from the cap and then grab different colors of construction paper. Place the cap of the mushroom down on a piece of construction paper, stem side down, and carefully cover the cap with a glass bowl and leave it alone for 12 to 24 hours. After the time has passed remove the bowl and the cap and you will see how the spores dropped from the cap and left a beautiful print on the paper. MAKE SURE TO DISCARD EVERY PIECE OF MUSHROOM AND DO NOT EAT ANY OF IT IF YOU ARE NOT 1000% WHAT KIND IT IS.