After it rains, which is usually a lot in Singapore, my kids and I have a little activity we like to do – we go on a “Snail Hunt”. Yes you heard me correctly! We get our buckets and go outside and look for snails. Now this might seem like a peculiar activity to some, but for those of us that have little boys, we know that this is just the norm.
You may be wondering, “where the heck are these snails?!” I have never seen any snails!” Well, you can find them crawling on the sidewalk, in the grass and in the bushes – you just need to really search for them. No leaf goes unturned in a “snail hunt”. What is the end result, – very muddy shoes, very happy little boys and a bunch of snail pets to take home!!
Now once you collect the snails, the next step is making sure they make it home in one piece. I usually take custody of the buckets on the walk (or drive home), this way we don’t have any casualties along the way.
The snails hang out in our house for a few hours and become my son’s little pets. We feed them cucumbers and other veggies. We sometimes even give them names. They like to crawl around their buckets. BUT Beware – these snails actually like to climb out of the buckets. When we were snail novices, we once we left the bucket uncovered and unattended, only to find them slithering on our walls. (And if you are wondering, yes they did leave slime marks on our wall).
Before bedtime we let them loose again outside in the bushes in the front of our building. Everytime we pass these bushes my son likes to look for his snail pets; “Fred” and “Nicky” are our favorites.
SuperMommy’s Views: I never thought that I would grow up one day and start playing with snails. Alas things really do change when you become a mom! Happy Hunting. xoxo
