Ready for some hands-on science exploration?
Eggs are a great way to introduce kids to early STEM ideas. They’re easy to find (if you visit a grocery store). They spark a wide range of conversations. And, when eggs hatch, they turn into all kinds of adorable baby animals!
While this list of activities can be adapted for most students, it’s meant for preschool and early elementary-age kids.
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If you want to avoid shopping on Amazon, I suggest checking Bookshop or your local bookstores instead.
Build a bird nest:
Challenge your students to design and construct a bird nest! Start by gathering a variety of materials for the nests.
Supplies:
- Sticks to add structure
- String or mud to hold the nest together
- Leaves, moss, and other soft materials to line the nest
Ask your students to look photos of nests and compare different kinds of nests. Some small birds build simple grass nests with larger nests. Large birds, like eagles or an osprey nest use large branches to construct their massive nests.
Need ideas for different kinds of nests? You can find some of my favorite children’s books about birds and eggs here.
Students can either layer the sticks on mud or practice weaving them together using string or grass. For an extra challenge, ask students to experiment with different kinds of nests, to see what it stronger. For a slightly simpler version, check out this glue-based nest from Great STEMS.
Once students have built the frame, line the nests with soft materials.
Reflect on this project! Ask students to think about how birds build nests without hands or lessons to guide them.
Decorate an egg:
This project sounds like an Easter activity, but it’s not! Instead, it focuses on camouflage and the different ways animals protect their eggs.
Supplies:
- Paper, either blank or with the printed templates from my activities packet below
- Art supplies (crayons, markers, or watercolor paints)
- Images of bird eggs
For this project, students will look at different kinds of eggs, especially different colors of eggs.
Some birds (robins) hide their nests in trees, so they don’t need elaborate camouflage. Others (sand pipers and killdeer) lay their eggs on open ground. These eggs need splotches and speckles to help them hide.
Look at images of eggs and notices which ones have small splotches, and which ones have large streaks. Think about where animals hide their your eggs. In the grass? On a beach? On a rocky cliff? Then draw and color your own eggs, inspired by these natural designs!
Model a frog’s life-cycle:
Have you used life-cycle activity pages in the past? This project is a fun chia-seed twist on the usual paper-and-scissors activity!
Supplies:
- Chia seeds, soaked in water overnight.
- Playdough and clay
- Images of frog eggs and other parts of a frog’s life-cycle.
Use the photos to study the different stages of a frog’s life-cycle. The chia seeds represent the frog’s eggs. Use the playdough to create three of the stages–tadpole, froglet, and adult. If you have a larger class, divide students into groups. You can assign a student or a pair of students to each stage.
If you want a simpler version for younger kids, you can use the frog life-cycle in my egg-themed activity pages. You can download the full set at the bottom of this post. I recommend creating the chia seed eggs anyway–they’re a great sensory element to add to this activity!
Plan an egg-citing treasure hunt:
Some birds are great at hide-and-seek. They hide their nests high up in trees or deep in caves, to protect their eggs from predators.
You can adapt a traditional Easter egg hunt or plan a scavenger hunt based around different kinds of nests. Plant clues to help kids learn about the animals who build nests.
For another type of scavenger hunt, check out this article about one school’s dinosaur-themed treasure hunt.
Looking for more?
Be sure to get my set of egg-citing activity pages!
I’ve shared these activity pages on my blog a while ago. Recently, though, I decided to clean them up and add some extra projects. (After all, I have a lot more practice now, after completing several activity books!)
If you want to read Who Laid the Egg? while you are working on the activities, it’s available on Amazon now. It’s not necessary to have the book to do the projects, though!
You can also watch this video read-aloud version of the book.
This video uses the first edition of Who Laid the Egg?. The link above goes to the new edition available, which has nearly the same text, but updated illustrations.
Do you have any fun egg-themed activities? I’d love to hear what you’ve learned about eggs and the animals who lay them!
Interested in Learning More About Eggs?
Riddles for kids to solve. Word scrambles. STEM challenges. Coloring pages, and more!
These activities were originally created for my picture book, Who Laid the Egg? They’re great for preschoolers and younger students who want to learn about birds or other animals who lay eggs. (Plus, you’ll get updates on my other books and kids activities!
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