Yesterday we were lucky enough to have duck eggs delivered to nursery. Over night three ducks hatched and then this morning the last two ducks have hatched, I even managed to capture a video of the last one hatching!

The children will be able to come up to the top landing (outside the Nest) in groups with staff throughout the week to see the ducks, but parents and carers are also welcome to come and have a look with their child at the beginning and end of the day, as long as it doesn’t get too busy on the landing.

Our special visitors are all hatched and are exploring the brooder box on our top landing space. Staff are seizing opportunities to visit the ducklings with children across the nursery sessions and they are proving to be fascinating, creating lots of curiosity and excitement and encouraging lots of questions to explore together! They’ve all hatched now and we have 5, all with their similarities and differences to support our discussions further.

A key aspect of learning within this first hand experience for children is around showing care for the ducklings when they observe them by using ‘little voices’, discussing their basic needs around eating, drinking and keeping warm, exploring their growth and the features of their body and ensuring we wash hands after any stroking or handling of them when they are ready with support of nursery adults.

Can we ask families who visit our ducklings encourage the same and avoid opening the brooder crate, avoid handling the ducklings without the presence of nursery adults and encourage as ‘little a voice’ as possible when you are 1 -5 years old and super excited! This will help us all to continue to enjoy this experience together.

Please share any comments (or actions) your child makes about the ducklings with key adults as this all informs our knowledge about children’s interests, their development and next steps in their learning – as well as sharing in capturing their responses which we love to hear about!

They are growing by the second! 🦆🦆