Chicks Hatching

A week ago Sunday was the due date for our eggs to begin hatching.

We had 42 eggs in our incubator.

And they started hatching right on schedule.

On Sunday nine chicks hatched.

I was able to watch a couple come out.

Monday morning we arrived to fine fifteen more had hatched during the night.

What an exciting sight.

We moved them into a brooding bin under a heat lamp.

After they dried we took turns holding them.

How wonderful to watch the children be very gentle and caring

and oh so curious.

Fourteen eggs remained in the incubator.

Would they hatch?

Later in the morning, Clea the farmer/teacher that gave us the eggs, visited

and improved the brooding bin making it more comfortable.

A couple more eggs began to hatch but they were having difficulties

so Clea 'zippered' them, which means she helped them hatch.

Throughout the week more families visited and had a chance to visit

and get to know the chicks.

Even our big buddies came in for a visit.

We will take them to the farm soon.

Scooping Rice

A very simple provocation.

Rice, spoons and a variety of little containers.

The children loved it.

It was a bit messy but easily swept up.

It worked for a variety of ages.

Above are pictures of a toddler and a preschooler,

brother and sister.

They used spoons to scoop and shared with their parents.

Or they got right in there digging with their hands.

It was a busy table all the week.

Painting Painted Ladies

This week we painted our own Painted Lady butterflies.

In the centre of the table were butterfly containers.

When you turn it on a fan activated little paper butterflies

to fly around inside.

At first the machine was more interesting but then

the painting resumed.

We used q tips so they could make dots,

or streaks.

When they were dried we added them to our progressive bulletin board.

Our butterflies have emerged from their chrysalis.

Pirate Ship Building for Snack

Pirating at the Beach

Here are some of the activities we did on our day as pirates.

Flip the shells to find two that match.

In the water were toy ocean creatures.

Around the water were pictures that matched most of them.

They could use the nets to catch a creature then

put it on the picture.

One of the favourite activities was finding 20 gold rocks that we had

spread around the beach.

Captain Hook's Ring Toss was a challenge.

And searching for jewels in the rocks.