activities with mushrooms? spore prints?

[**guest**]

dd and i just came back from a walk in the rain, and picked up some mushrooms. i think they are technically edible, but since they grew on someone's lawn, they are likely to have pesticides and what not.

i found this site: http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/...ooms/mushroom/ and at the bottom it tells you how to make a spores print. which i am excited about.

anyone has done anything like this? any other things we can make with mushrooms?

p.s. something cute -- the main page of the site with mushrooms http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/ is called mdc online -- missouri departmetn of conservation

[aran]

Spore prints can come out very cool. Ideas if you want to go mushrooming again later: shrooms save best if you wrap them individually in wax paper (I roll them and twist the ends of the paper) and refrigerate immediately when you get home. Also, be really careful about eating them... some of the choicest are almost identical to some of the most poisonous. The thing I've done with mushrooms (might be good for older kids) is use a field guide with a dichtomous key (like: "if it is white underneath turn to page 21, if not turn to page 60..." etc.) to identify them (and determine if they're edible). It can be a fun excuse to explore the woods, and is best done the day after it rains. My most interesting find was bright orange and yellow shelf mushrooms that I breaded and fried and they were indiscernible from chicken (I tricked : a non-mushroom eater into eating them, and he had no idea!).

[Queen Gwen]

Vivid memory of doing spore prints about 3 years ago: I had a wicked good time, my kids thought the whole thing was geeky beyond belief. I guess as long as SOMEONE likes the project it's a success, right? :LOL

[**guest**]

we did the spore prints! i am glad i read the full description and put some mushrooms on the darker paper, as the spores were white. neat! ada looked at it, but it was me who was really excited :LOL so yes, it was a success! :LOL

i wonder if i can preserve the paper somehow? podge over it? we got really neat patterns.

thanks for the mushrooming tips. who knows, we might as well go mushrooming.

[Queen Gwen]

I put clear Contact paper over ours.

[**guest**]

thanks!