Chicks Hatch at Etz Chaim 2017

It has been very exciting at Etz Chaim seeing our new family hatch. The children in Key Stage One have enjoyed learning about the life cycle of animals and this hatching experience has supported their learning in this IPC topic.

Even though the hatcher was located in Key Stage One for the two weeks, all the children and staff at Etz Chaim have had  the opportunity to pop into Key Stage One and experience the eggs hatching.

The Nursery children have loved seeing the chicks hatch and grow. They visited them in Year 2 while they were still eggs and then again when they started to hatch.  The chicks came to visit us in Nursery and all the children got the chance to stroke the chicks and ask questions about them. They were all interested in the different colours of the chicks and where their mummies and daddies were!

In Reception the children loved observing the chicks as they hatched and grew.  They also went on to read the book 'The Ugly Ducking.'

Year 1 loved having the chickens in the classroom, they were able to have the chickens out where the whole class were able to see them, the children were able to pat them and have a good look at them. They also wrote a diary about the chicks, they were able to detail different facts they had learnt over the 2 weeks that the chicks were at Etz Chaim! 

Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed having the chicks in their classroom for 2 weeks. They were able to witness the chicks hatch, grow and develop feathers. The spent lots of time observing the chicks and even had a chance to hold them. The children produced fantastic diaries in the role of a chick. The children used their imaginations, thought about how the chicks would be feeling and produced wonderful pieces of writing.

Year 3 loved observing the chicks.  They did some writing in role! The children imagined that they were a chick about to hatch, and their experience.

Year 4 thoroughly enjoyed the experience of looking at the chicks as they developed and they wrote descriptions of what they saw at each stage.

Year 5 enjoyed visiting the chicks in the Year 2 classroom and playing with them.

Here are some quotes from the children:

They don't want to poo on the tray so there's paper.

They have got so big.

I like stroking them.

I wrote letters to the mother hen to tell her what was going on with the chicks

I saw the eggs hatch, one had a black line on the top.

I like them because they're so fluffy and because they're so light and dark.

I like stroking with my finger, I like the girl one.

I like them because they're so cute.

I like them cos they got wings to fly.

I love them because they're happy.

I like chicks because they poo in the newspaper.

I saw the chicks trying to hatch

I saw the chicks learning to walk

They came out of the shells they pocked it with their beaks