Why do mushrooms pop up after rain?
Mushrooms pop up after rain because they need lots of water to grow.
Pip’s answer
- Mushrooms pop up after rain because they need lots of water to grow.
- Under the ground lives a hidden mushroom web of tiny threads.
- When rain soaks in, the threads drink it up and push mushrooms out fast. Pop!
- Ooh, some mushrooms can pop up overnight, almost like magic!
Try it together
Can you crouch down small, then pop up like a mushroom?
For grown-ups
A mushroom is the fruiting body of a fungus that mostly lives underground as a network of thread-like hyphae called mycelium. After rain, the mycelium absorbs water and quickly inflates mushrooms to release spores. Many wild mushrooms are poisonous, so look but don't touch or eat.
Ask your child: Why should we never eat mushrooms we find outside?
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