Chickens!!

We have had an extremely special delivery at Kindy this week - CHICKENS!!!!  We were all very excited to be able to see real live baby chicks hatch from their eggs.  The Living Egg company  supplied us with an incubator, brooder and 10 eggs, that were ready to hatch any day.  On Tuesday we were able to watch as five of our new chicks pecked their way out of their eggs. Over night on Wednesday, four more hatched, leaving one more for us to watch on Wednesday.  There was much excitement around Kindy, as they slowly pecked, wiggled and made their way out.  Once the chicks had dried, we were able to move them to the brooder.  There is a heated light in there that ensures the chicks can keep warm as they are effectively newborns.. 
This fun experience enables the children to be able to have a front row seat to the cycle of life.  First hand experiences offer rich learning for our tamariki, and form concrete understanding and knowledge that they can take with them into other areas of their lives.  Patience, empathy, the science of biology, routine, caring for another life and turn taking are just some of the areas that children learn about when they interact with animals.  The chicks will stay at Kindy with us for the next few weeks, so there will be multiple opportunities for the children to interact and really affirm their learning in this area in a rich and meaningful way.