Hobbies And Interests
Materials
To complete the paper worm trick, you need a few items, most of which will already be at your table in a restaurant. The most important item you need is your straw with its paper wrapper and some water. If you haven't been served water, ask for it. Other liquids will also work, though a stickier liquid, such as soda or juice, can make a bigger mess at your table. Make sure you also have some napkins to clean up after yourself.
Process
The first step in the process is to remove your straw from its wrapper without damaging the wrapper too much. To unwrap the straw, tap the straw lightly on your table until it pokes through the top of the wrapper. Slide the straw carefully out of the wrapper, wrinkling up the wrapper as you go down like an accordion. Lay the accordion-scrunched straw wrapper flat on the table. Place your straw into your water cup or other liquid and cover the end with your finger to trap fluid in the straw. Take the straw out of the liquid and drip a couple of drops onto the straw wrapper.
What Happens
When you drip the water onto the straw wrapper, the paper absorbs the liquid and expands. As the wrapper expands, the wrapper appears to wriggle around similar to the motion of a real worm. The wrinkles in the area on which you dropped the water will slowly straighten out and lengthen your worm. After the straw wrapper dries, you can scrunch up the wrapper again and repeat the process. This process will keep your kids entertained until the food comes.
Why It Works
Paper is made up of many fibers all woven together to create a solid piece of paper. This can easily be seen if you rip a paper napkin or paper towel apart. When the water or other liquid absorbs into the paper, these fibers expand. As they expand, they also move. Even though the fibers are small, when many of them move at the same time, the movement becomes visible to the naked eye. This creates the illusion of your paper straw wrapper turning into a paper worm that really moves.