Little Peeps - Chicken Embryology

Hatching chicks in the classroom can be an effective way to increase student engagement, investigate how organisms change and develop over time, and study embryology, life cycles, heredity, and animal needs. Below are some resources to assist with this experience and how to best integrate embryology themes into your Kindergarten life science curriculum.

Education Week Article - Teacher Keeps Up Long Tradition of Hatching Chicks With Kindergartners

Additional Resources

• Hatching Chicks in the Classroom: Everything You Need to Know - A Teacher's Journal 

• A Chick Hatches - Embryo Development Wheel

• St Vrain Teacher Ideas - Please share your thoughts and how you introduce Little Peeps to your students

Little Peeps Mystery Science Connections

Explore the Mini Lessons below to connect your Little Peeps experience to Mystery Science 

What is a SchoolAI Space? - Spaces are AI-powered chatbots designed to help students learn. Every space has built-in monitoring & controls for teachers. In this case, your students can talk to the baby chick inside its egg as it gets ready to hatch. Try It Out! 

Learn More about SchoolAI and Spaces Here

Little Peeps Video Collection

Little Peeps Google Slide Presentations

Sanitation Concerns - As long as you know what to do, classroom hatching projects are easy to keep sanitary. Practicing safe handling techniques in the classroom protects both students and chicks. Wash hands with soap and water before and after handling eggs or chicks. 

St Vrain Science Safety Update - January 2023

The Little Peeps program is ok for our Kinder students as long as the following conditions are met. (Full State Regulations below)

• Eggs and live birds must be enclosed in an incubator or brooding box at all times.

• Once chicks hatch they must be contained in the brooding boxes at all times and removed from the building within two weeks.  

• Children in kindergarten may not handle the eggs or their enclosures. 

• All staff and children who participate in the embryology unit must thoroughly wash their hands prior to meals and snacks.

• Additional information, including training for new teachers and how to request an incubator, will be provided by the Science to Go staff in the near future. 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF COLORADO 6 CCR 1010-6 

Live poultry (e.g., chicks and ducklings), reptiles, and amphibians shall be prohibited as pets in classrooms with children kindergarten age or younger. Because infections from these animals spread via fecal-oral transmission (hand to mouth behaviors), use of these animals in other classrooms where children engage in frequent hand to mouth behaviors is discouraged. 

1. Embryology units involving the incubation of poultry eggs are allowed under the following conditions: 

a. Eggs and live birds must be enclosed in an incubator or brooding box at all times.

b. The incubators and brooding boxes shall be placed on a nonabsorbent, smooth, and easily cleanable surface. Flooring beneath shall be non-carpeted and easily cleanable. 

c. The areas surrounding the incubators and brooding boxes shall be washed, rinsed, and disinfected at least daily with an approved disinfectant meeting the criteria listed in 6.7.6 (F)(1). The disinfectant used shall have a contact time of five minutes or less. 

d. Once chicks hatch they must be contained in the brooding boxes at all times and removed from the building within two weeks.  

e. Children in kindergarten may not handle the eggs or their enclosures. 

f. Staff and children in first grade and subsequent grades involved with the care of the eggs or live birds shall thoroughly wash their hands with soap and running water immediately after handling eggs, birds, or enclosures. 

g. All staff and children who participate in the embryology unit must thoroughly wash their hands prior to meals and snacks. h. Hand sanitizer shall not be used in place of handwashing in accordance with 6.7.6(D).