Happy Spring!!!! The weather is finally warming up and joining us in our celebration of spring on the farm. The baby chicks are hatching, the Mama hen’s are happily laying a bountiful supply once more, and our little lambs got their very first shearing.

Since we are just in the midst of our second hatch this season I wanted to share a little bit more about hatching chicks with kids. I wrote a very detailed post about incubating and hatching chicken eggs a few years ago which is full of everything you really need to know (which is really not much!).

This is truly such a straightforward activity to take on – I promise! My first few years hatching chicks with kids we didn’t even live on a farm. I simply borrowed everything I needed from local farmers and returned everything including the new baby chicks when we were done. The magic and pure awesomeness of this activity is a MUST for all children … and adults.

Since I have already shared with you HOW to incubate chicken eggs, and I have already shared one of our hatches with you, today I thought I would share a few learning activities you can incorporate while waiting for those babies to hatch.

Here are 3 fun Math activities while hatching chicks with kids:

1. If you have 10 eggs in the incubator use 10 two-sided counters and have little ones try to figure out how many baby hens (females) might hatch and how many baby roosters (males) might hatch. For example, there could be all 10 hens, there could be 9 hens and 1 rooster, there could be 8 hens and 2 roosters, etc.
2. Since the eggs will be incubating for 21 days, take this opportunity to make a big 21 day calendar and have little ones count down, or count up, to day 21. This is a great time for practising fun math questions like, “How many days are left?” or practising skip counting.
3. The chicken eggs will weigh slightly more every single day. How amazing and mind blowing is that?! Place 21 objects (little cubes, counters, marbles, etc) in one side of a balance to represent a full grown chick. Every day at one piece to the other side of the balance to represent the egg getting heavier and the chick growing. When the balance is level, it is hatch day!

Some fun language activities for hatching chicken eggs with kids:

1. Create a personal ‘Hatch Book’. I love doing this with kids! We choose a few days and write what is happening inside the egg on that day as well as sketch a little picture of what the chick currently looks like inside the egg. I like to use this diagram on The Chicken Whisperer as examples for sketching what is happening inside the egg. The days we use are:
   • Day 1: Incubation begins
   • Day 2: Heart beats
   • Day 6: Beak forms
   • Day 8: Feathers form
   • Day 18: Chicks are formed they just need to get a little bigger
   • Day 21: Hatch Day! For this picture I always take a photo of each student or child holding one of the chicks to include in this great little keepsake book.
2. There are so many great diagrams available to label, or you can sketch your own! Labelling the parts of a chicken, the life cycle of a chicken, or the parts of an egg are all great ways to introduce a diagram to children.

Finally, here are some great art and craft activities to enjoy while the eggs are incubating:

1. This ‘hatching chick‘ by Kids Soup is just about the cutest chicken craft. I plan on using it during my next hatch. I plan on having the children make them and then ‘pip’ their craft eggs when our real eggs are pipping and ‘unzip’ their craft eggs when our real eggs are unzipping. SO FUN!!
2. This craft outlines the life cycle of a chicken and was made by i Heart Crafty Things. I think it is such a great way to help children remember the life cycle steps. 
3. I do love all things clothespins. You could even add 21 clothespins to this cute paper plate chicken craft by Glued to my Crafts and use it as a countdown! I love that it uses torn paper as well – a great way to strengthen those little hands. 

There you have them! Some fun and learning filled activities to do as you are incubating chicken eggs with kids. We are day 7 into our second hatch (this is the first year we have done it twice – goodness my chicken obsession is growing!). We still have oodles of time to get some great chicken learning fun in.

I hope you are having a wonderful day friends and please reach out if I can help you with your chicken hatch!

Thank you so much for reading.

Be sure to check out my partner Oak Meadow. We just love their books and products. The Oak Meadow Circle Time CD is the current soundtrack to my day!