Kindergartens and Childcare Centres
Using the Henny Penny Hatching Program
The Henny Penny Hatching program is a bit of a favourite at many childcare centres and kindergartens. Both children and staff members at these venues await our arrival with eager anticipation. The program is suitable for children of all ages and provides endless opportunities for observation and interaction. Parents are often keen to participate in the observations, making the Henny Penny Hatching program a great way to involve parents in your centre and a wonderful experience for parents to share with their children.
The Henny Penny Hatching experience can be fitted into your program at any time of the year; however, both spring time and the Easter period are very popular times for bookings with childcare centres and kindergartens. Other special weeks into which you could incorporate an incubation program include Under 8’s Week and Children’s Book Week.
Traditionally, our delivery staff are swamped by excited children as soon as they arrive at a kindergarten or childcare centre.
The little ones are often as interested in watching the equipment being set up as they are in the actual event of the chicks hatching.
Their excitement increases as they begin to observe the eggs rocking inside the hatcher and to hear little chirps coming from within. The little ‘peck hole’ which appears in the egg next, sometimes followed by a beak, draws great interest, then the children watch with fascination and awe as a tiny chick gradually emerges and kicks itself free from the shell.
Eager eyes observe the chick over the next few hours as it dries out, transforming into a cute little fluff-ball, before being transferred into the brooding pen where it interacts and moves around freely. Staff and children alike enjoy watching the antics of the chicks and a number of relevant activities can be conducted in response to the experience.
To name a few, these include:
- Creating drawings or paintings which feature chickens
- Creating a collage featuring chickens
- Designing an Easter bonnet which features chickens
- Reading short stories about chickens
- Creating a booklet about the chicks hatching
- Singing songs about chickens
- Observing behavioural patterns and the interactions between particular chicks
- Observing the establishment of a pecking order (this can be incorporated into a few lessons on the theme of bullying)
The Henny Penny Hatching Program has been used widely in many kindergartens and childcare centres for several years and we encourage you to book now and let your children join in and enjoy this fabulous experience, which helps to make learning so much fun!
Once you have booked you will be provided with a code, which will allow you access to a range of helpful resources, including a variety of activity sheets for all age groups and instructions to help you with the actual running of the program once it arrives.
