The custom of giving at Easter celebrates new life. There are lots of creatures that hatch from eggs. Print off the ‘Things that Hatch’ trail and hide the eggs around your home or garden. When you find them, match them to the eggs on this sheet and learn a little more about these creatures. Things that Hatch

Crocodiles

Everyone knows that crocodiles are fearsome hunters. But did you know that they once lived alongside the dinosaurs? These dino era crocs were much bigger than the ones we have today though. Some of them were double the length of a modern crocodile and weighed as much as four tractors (8 tonnes).

However in spite of being the vicious predators we know and err, love? Female crocodiles make surprisingly good mums. When the baby crocs are ready to hatch from their eggs, they start to make noises which their mother can hear. She then digs them up and carries them to the water in her mouth, being careful not to crush them with her big sharp teeth.

Chickens

Fun fact: there are more on earth than there are people. 25 billion chickens to be exact, compared with only 7 billion people! But what came first, the or the ? Answer: the egg as the first chicken would have come from two different who weren’t quite chickens, but together laid an egg that hatched the first that was.

Chickens are cleverer than you might expect as well. For example, they can recognise the faces of over 100 different people or animals. Not only that, but a female chicken can lay over 300 eggs a year. Impressive, huh?

Dinosaurs

Even though the dinosaurs died 65 million years ago, the remains of dinosaur eggs have been found in over 200 different places around the world. Some of them are 146 million years old!

Dinosaur eggs were rounder than bird eggs. Have you ever wondered why bird eggs are oval instead of round? It’s because round eggs might roll out of birds’ nest and get broken on the ground. Dinosaurs didn’t worry about this though, because they didn’t make their nests in trees, therefore their eggs could be rounder.

Fun fact; the smartest dinosaur was the Troodon (True-o-don). It was only as smart as a chicken, but remember what we said earlier about chickens remembering faces? Do you think you would like a dinosaur to remember your face?

Black Beetles (Insects)

Insects such as Black Beetles are another type of animal that lay eggs, although insect eggs don’t have a hard shell like bird eggs do and definitely we don’t eat them for breakfast with beans or soldiers!

Another interesting thing about insect eggs is that when they hatch, the babies do not look like smaller version of their parents. Instead they hatch into smaller, wiggly creatures called larvae. These larvae then start munching away on food so that they can get bigger and stronger. Once they are ready, they will form a special protective shell called a pupae (pew-per) to spend the winter in. Once the spring comes, the larvae hatches again, but this time into a fully grown adult. Phew, what a lot of work!

Goldfish

Did you know that goldfish can lay up to 1,000 eggs at a time?! That’s a lot of eggs! However, unlike some of the other animals we’ve read about, goldfish actually make really bad parents. In fact sometimes they even try to eat their own eggs!

The lucky eggs that survive sometimes only take three days to hatch. These baby goldfish are called fry.

Goldfish are actually quite smart. They can recognise faces, sounds, shapes and colours and they can also see ultraviolet light (which us humans can’t). Some people like to say that goldfish only have 3 second memories, but actually they can remember things for over five months!

Penguins

Penguins live in groups called colonies. How many penguins do you think the biggest penguin colony in the world has? Answer; 2 million penguins. Can you imagine trying to find your friends in that crowd!

Penguins have wings, but did you know they can’t actually fly? Instead they flap them to help propel them through the water to catch fish, which they have to swallow whole because they don’t have teeth. Yuk!

The biggest type of penguin is called an Emperor. They live in some of the coldest places in the world, so when they lay an egg, they have to balance it on their feet to stop it from touching the ground and freezing. Clever, right?

Parrots

Parrots are a very clever type of bird that mostly come from tropical areas. In total there are 393 species of parrot and some can learn up to 1700 words and ask questions about themselves (such as what colour they are).

Parrots lay from 2 – 8 eggs and the male and female take turns sitting on them in the nest to keep them warm. This process is called incubating. When the chicks hatch, they are blind for the first 2 weeks, although a parrot is not considered completely fully grown until it is 4 years old.

Even though there are 393 types of parrot, there is only one type that cannot fly. They are called kakapos and they come from New Zealand.

Frogs

If you thought goldfish could lay a lot of eggs (1000) then prepare to be blown away by how many eggs can lay…drum roll please…4000! These eggs are known as frogspawn and the babies inside them turn into tadpoles (also known as polliwogs) in the same way that insects turn into larvae before they become adults. When they break out of the frogspawn, tadpoles look like little fish, but after a few weeks they grow legs and start to breathe air instead of breathing underwater.

Frogs are over 265 million years and today there are over 5000 different species (which is even more than the number of eggs they lay).

Snakes

Did you know there are no snakes in Iceland, Ireland, Greenland, New Zealand or Antarctica? And did you also know that snakes don’t have eyelids? How wild is that?!

Snake eggs have a much softer shell than bird eggs, which means that when the baby snakes are ready to hatch, they can rip through the shell with a special ‘egg tooth’ they are born with. Once they have hatched, the egg tooth will naturally fall out, a bit like human baby teeth.

Some snake mothers stay and keep the eggs warm (which is called incubation, remember?) but all snake mums leave once the babies hatch. That means that as soon as they’re born, young snakes are on their own.

Turtles

How do you tell the difference between a turtle and a tortoise, since both of them have hard shells? Answer; tortoises live on land and turtles live in the sea. However both lay their eggs on land in holes called nests which they then cover over with sand or dirt.

Baby turtles are called hatchlings and like snakes, they’re on their own from the moment they’re born. Once they dig themselves out of their nest, baby turtles have to scurry down the beach to the water, trying to avoid predators (such as birds) on the way.

Like a lot of the other animals we’ve talked about, turtles have been around for a long time. 200 million years in fact! In total there are 200 different turtle species, although sadly 129 of these are now endangered.

Platypus

Platypuses are funny looking animals. They have the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver and the feet of an otter. In fact, the first scientists who studied one in the 1700s said it was a fake that had been sewn together of different animals!

Platypuses live in burrows and the mother incubates the eggs until the babies hatch out. Because platypuses are mammals, the babies are born blind and hairless and rely on their mother’s milk until they are four months old, when they take their first steps out into the world.

Platypuses are pretty cool, but if you want to see one you’ll have to go to Australia. We know that other type animals existed at one point, because we have fossils, but the modern platypus is the only type left.

Crabs

After a female crab lays her eggs she attaches them to her body to protect them while they develop. Just like insects, baby crabs first of all develop into larvae, at which point the mother releases them into the water to float around and find food. As the baby crabs grow, they keep shedding their skins until they become full adult crabs.

Have you ever wondered why crabs walk sideways? It’s because of the shape of their legs. Walking sideways is more efficient for them. They can walk forwards, they just choose not to.

Cool fact; a crab’s shell is made of a type of glucose (sugar) called Chitin. Bonus cool fact; crabs talk to each other by drumming or waving their pincers.

Ostrich

The ostrich is the world’s biggest bird and comes from Africa. It can’t fly, but makes up for that by being able to run at 40 miles per hour and by being powerful. One kick can kill a human or a lion!

Ostriches live in small herds of about 12 birds. There is an alpha (top) male and an alpha female, although others females in the herd often lay eggs too. The herd creates one nest which all of the eggs go into (with the alpha female’s in the middle). The alpha female and the male then take it in turns to incubate the eggs.

Ostrich eggs are much bigger than regular eggs. How many chicken eggs do you think it would take to equal the weight of one ostrich egg? Any guesses? Answer; 24!

Chameleon

In total, there are 202 different type of chameleon, half of which live in Madagascar. You can tell a chameleon by their salad tong hands, their extendable tongues and their eyes, which can move separately from each other.

Females dig holes to lay their eggs in, although the number of eggs they lay depends on the species of chameleon. Some only lay a few eggs and others can lay up to 200 eggs! Most of these eggs take between 4 – 12 months to hatch, but there is a type that takes up to 2 years!

Chameleons are famous for being able to change colour using special skin crystals, but actually only some species can do this.

Spiders

Bad news arachnophobes, spiders are found on every continent apart from Antarctica and there are over 48,000 species, only one of which is a herbivore. Even worse, some tarantulas can live for up to 25 years!

Female spiders can lay up to 2,000 eggs (more than a goldfish, less than ) but what they do with the eggs depends on the species. Some mothers will attach the eggs to their webs to keep them safe, while others carry them around on their body. Fun fact; baby spiders are called ‘spiderlings.’

Don’t worry too much though, because in the whole of the 20th century, only 100 spider bites caused death, whereas there were 1500 deaths from jellyfish strings. Nevertheless, 50% of woman and 10% of men are frightened of spiders. Owls

Owls are known for being nocturnal (awake during the night) and also for being fearsome hunters. This is partly because of their excellent long distance eyesight (which means they can see their prey from high up in the air) and also their special feathers which allows them to fly silently.

Because owls don’t have any teeth to chew their food, they swallow their prey whole and then regurgitate (bring back up) the bones and bits they can’t digest into something called an owl pellet. Scientist use these pellets to learn what owls eat. Gross, huh?

Baby owls are called owlets and rely on their parents to feed them and keep them safe when they are young.

A bit like crabs who shed their skins, owlets are born naked before developing soft downy feathers, these then eventually moult (fall off) to make way for their full adult feathers.

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