Critter Updates...

Despite massive interest on the part of 50-ish children under the age of six, the Robin is still sitting on her eggs. We (kids and grown-ups alike) are working on balancing our desire to spend all of our outdoor time just peeking through the window with our desire to be careful to not scare the mama Robin away. So far, the Frogs are showing remarkable restraint, and the Mama Robin seems to appreciate it!
Steph (the Polliwog Room teacher) borrowed our camera last Wednesday and used the zoom to get this picture while the Mama Robin was away;
FOUR little eggs where there were only three the day before!!! Go Mama Robin!!!
according to the Internet, it takes 12-14 days for Robin's eggs to hatch. Lets keep our fingers crossed that everyone can hold out until then!!!
In other news, our silkworms are eating and growing like crazy! they have at least doubled in size since last week;

(Apologies for the poor image quality. Our camera broke so were relying on my cell phone for the time being...)

We are still going through a LOT of Mulberry leaves, so bring 'em right on in if you have 'em!!!

We Totally Planned This...

Since all of the Frogs are now officially "Pre-school" aged, we have been occasionally heading over to the "big" playground during to try out their bigger, fancier climbing structure and swings. Last Friday, we were over there, playing in the playhouse when we noticed this;
If you look closely, you'll notice that the mud is still wet!

On Monday, we were back on the toddler playground peeking over the fence, when we noticed that someone had cordoned off the pre-school playhouse. When we asked Ashley, the Possum teacher, what was up, she said "go look through the window..."

We did, and this is what we found;

...Notice anything? No? Take a closer look;

Clearly, this is no ordinary Robin. How else can you explain it's uncanny ability to lay her eggs just as we were wrapping up our curriculum exploration of oviparous animals?

Very Hungry Caterpillars!!!

They hatched!!! Well, that was fast! Only 11 days from egg to caterpillar! Now we get to see how long it takes for our silkworms to turn into moths...
Does anybody have a mulberry tree in their yard that they would be willing to share? These little guys only eat mulberry leaves, and it's becoming clear that they want LOTS of them!!!

The Next Big Thing...

...is actually quite little.

Last Monday, Hannah (One of the Possum Room teachers) gave us a Ziploc bag full of what appeared to be dirty paper towels. upon closer examination, we could see that the paper towels were covered with tiny grey spots. "They're silkworm eggs!" Hannah told us. "Just cut out a piece of paper towel with a lot of little dots, stick them in a petri dish on top of a damp towel and cover them with an upside down bowl. They should hatch right around when you think they probably aren't going to hatch anymore!"

OK, Done!


They've been incubating since last Monday. The batch of eggs in the Possum Room started hatching this morning. We'll see if ours follow suit...

Monthly Mural: April- Eggs and Chicks

Whoops! With all of the excitement over the chicks, I almost forgot to post about the April installment of out monthly mural project! Fortunately, We remembered to add to the mural before April wrapped up...

Can you tell what this is?

Here's a hint...

This month, we took our inspiration from our chicken hatching project and decided to paint with "eggs" and "chicks"!

(While it was a tiny bit tempting to dip the actual chick's feet in the paint and let them contribute, we figured this could set a bad precedent for family pets...)

It's looking very full!

Adios, Pollitos!!!

Our little chicks aren't so little anymore;

One day old...

Three days old...

Six days old...

Time to go!!!

They're still adorable, but also...aromatic. They are also getting quite large. We moved them to a larger brood box last Friday, but they are already outgrowing that. Their wing and tail feathers are starting to fill out, and you can see them trying to stretch those wings and test their abilities (not unlike the children in the Frog room!) Clearly, these little chickies need a bigger home. That is why we sent them along to their new home at Francine's Farm this morning. In parting, here is a video that I took last Friday while the kids were dancing along with Elena, our awesome Spanish teacher. After singing "Camina, Camina ", Elana and the Frogs sang a lullaby to the baby chickies; 'Los Pollitos Dicen'

Adios, baby chickies! We will miss you (but not your smell)!