Laidley Kindergarten Story - Yabbies Don't Like Bath Water

Once upon a time a smelly old man was having a bath.

It was his first bath for a whole year and the bath water was really dirty.

When he was clean, he hopped out of the bath and pulled out the plug.

The bath water went, 'Gurgle, gurgle, gloop, gloop, splurt, plop and ran down the pipe, under the ground and into the creek.'



The ducks paddled over to the bath water but when they smelt it they went, 'Quask, quack, yuck, yuck!' and flew away.

Some fish swam towards the bath water but when they smelt it they went, 'Gloop, gloop, oooh, oooh' and swam away as fast as they could.

The smelly bath water sank down around the rocks where the yabbies were hiding.

'Oooh yuck. Help. Help. We're getting sick.'

The yabbies climbed up on top of the rocks at the side of the creek.

'Help! Help!'

The children at the kindy told their teacher, "We can hear the yabbies crying out 'help, help'. Can we go down to the creek to help them?"

The teacher said, "We'll go down together."

They picked up buckets and nets and ran down to the creek.

"What's wrong yabbies?"

"This smelly bath water is making us sick. Help. Help."

The teacher helped the children pick up the yabbies in their nets and they put them in some clean water in the buckets.

"We're taking you back to our kindy yabbies. We'll look after you."

Back at the kindy they put them in the acquarium and watched them walk around on the bottom.

"Yabbies, what would you like to eat?"

"Lots of water weed please children."

Each day the kindy children would get some water weed from the creek and took it back to the acquarium for the yabbies.

When they were looking well again, the children scooped them into the bucket and took them back to the creek.

"That smelly old bath water is gone yabbies. The creek is nice and clean again."

The yabbies splashed into the water and hid under the rocks again.

On the way back to the kindy the children left a letter in the old man's letter box. It said, 'Please don't empty your smelly old bath water into our creek. The animals don't like it.'

('Yabbies Don't Like Bath Water' was created by Daryll Bellingham and the children from the Laidley Kindergarten on Tuesday 24th May, 2011 as part of the 'Catchy Lockyer Stories - Bush to Beach Under 8's Week Tour'. Thanks to the teachers and  all of the children who had fun creating a brand new story and drawing some great illustrations.)