A Quarter “Quail”

See! the size of a quarter!

23 days of pure anticipation…for our quail babies to hatch! I was utterly head over heels for these little guys and so were all the kiddos! on May 1st we set 24 quail eggs donated by our local 4H. Hatch Day was Thursday…it came…we waited…saw pipping…went home

Came to school Thursday morning and all but 6 had hatched!! We got to experience 2 hatch before 8am! It is absolutely amazing!

 

They chicks are so small we have to cover the metal with napkins so their little feetsies won’t get stuck!

Do you hatch chicks? This was my fist year with quail. We did chickens last year. Loved them, but will request these little guys again next year! So clean, so absolutely presh! They have already been whicked away to our local park to repopulate the population there. They are in a special cage for the next 6 weeks, then they run free! It’s funny to go out and run and see quail waltzing around!

 

here’s 6 in my teammies hands and me trying to hold all 20!

 

Sweet sorrow…having to say goodbye. Yes, there were some tears

 

I had ordered postcards from Vistaprint to serve as birth announcements to deliver to all the other classes.

Each student also got a Proud Chickie Parent sticker to wear!

This program is specifically for our 2nd grade to study a full life cycle. We also use mealworms, painted ladies, and will add crickets next year!

If you are interested in hatching, contact your local university or 4H. Our 4-H teams up with NC State University. Many have programs {and for free} for young students to learn about embryology.

Happy Hatching!

Rachel

So long for the summer

Hi fellow educational animal lovers!  I had to share what has been going on with Mr. Weasley at the end of the year.  One of my sweeties was afraid he would get lonely, so he brought him a little play pal.  Several other students have followed his lead and have brought stuffed animals too.   We keep them all on the top of his cage so they can watch over him (See top picture:)).  The bottom picture is of Mr. Weasley and his favorite new friend.  I thought this was just too sweet not to share!  Do you do anything to help your students say good-bye to your class pet?

Butterflies in Preschool

My two granddaughters are in preschool and of course, everything is new and exciting to them. They came home one day with egg carton caterpillars. I know most of us have made one of these in our lifetime, but to these two little girls, they were the best craft ever!

They told me that Mrs. Madison was raising flutterbies (butterflies) in their classroom, and soon they would hatch. Anticipation and excitement reigned until the day they came out of school telling everyone that one of the butterflies had hatched. However, much to their chagrin, Mrs. Madison was going to let it go. They just couldn't understand why or how their teacher could do that!

But, here is the good part! The girls made a cocoon out of a toilet paper cylinder by covering it with white cotton balls. Then the made a butterfly out of tissue paper and a small plastic bag tie. They put the butterfly inside the cocoon and then pretended to have the butterfly hatch! This was done over and over and over until the cocoon was no more. Luckily, I was able to get pictures before both were literally destroyed!

 Now, what does all of this have to do with Critters in the Classroom?  Well, based on a blog, Flapjack Products, there are numerous ways to use recycled products to make items.  Discover how to take old discarded materials and make them into new, useful, inexpensive products or tools for your classroom in a resource called Trash to Treasure.  It features clever ideas, fun and engaging mini-lessons as well as cute and easy to construct crafts all made from recycled or common, everyday items. And by reusing items, you are helping to reduce the amount that goes into landfills and possibly save the habitats of animals!

You can download a free eight page version of Trash to Treasure by clicking here.