got worms?

Yesterday the kids and I took a trip to our local library. We got there at the tail end of a special program called "Wormapalooza!", which was being run by a friend of mine. We were too late for the worm races or wormy crafts, but there were some live earthworms leftover to bring home. So now Daniel and Anya each have a small styrofoam cup with some dirt and a couple of worms apiece. I tried to convince them that the worms would be happiest in their natural environment (i.e. the garden) but they would rather keep them as pets. (Aside: am I depriving my kids of some essential part of childhood by not allowing them to have any pets? Is that why they have become so attached to these worms?)

This morning I was kind of afraid the worms would die, so I fed them a few scraps that would have otherwise gone into the compost pile outside. I suppose I've become somewhat attached to the idea of pet worms myself. Hey, if it doesn't work out, I can always dump them in the yard, where they are probably better off anyway.

How does one keep worms long term? I've heard of worm composting in containers, but the only person I've spoken to at any length about it had the misfortune of feeding his worms old brussels sprouts and the resulting odor was so putrid they thought they had a gas leak and called the utility company's emergency line before they figured out it was just worm gas. I do not want this to happen to us.

Any tips out there?