Patient Like A Bird

Patient Like A Bird

Momma Birds have much patience when it comes to sitting on her eggs to hatch them. Many go for long periods of time without food and water while they wait for the baby birds to hatch.

Ask the students how long they think it takes to hatch the eggs of the following birds.
Robin 12 – 14 days
Chickens 21 days
Hawk 28-35 days

Pick one of the birds above or one of your own choosing and post a picture of the bird in the classroom. Using sticky-notes or writing on the whiteboard/chalkboard, note the number of days it takes to hatch their eggs. Every day, decrease the number (on Mondays, decrease by the number of days not in school) and count down until the bird’s eggs are hatched. Use this as a reminder of how patient this momma bird needs to be.

Use a picture of eggs in a nest (see download link for an example) to help the students identify when they are not patient. In the egg in the front that you can see the whole egg, have them write down an example of when you need to be patient. In the other eggs, write down something that can help them have patience. Some examples are below:
Waiting in line
Sing a song in your head
Play a quiet finger game

Waiting for your turn in a game
Cheer the other players
Think about what you can do on your turn
Pay attention to the game

You can choose for all the students to write the same thing or they can think of their own. For younger students, you may just want to have them draw a picture of what they look like when they are waiting patiently.

 To process this activity, ask these questions:

• Did you like thinking about birds hatching eggs?
• What would happen if the momma bird was not patient and left her eggs for too long?
• What happens when we become impatient?
• Can you see a benefit to being patient?
• Next time you are impatient, can you remember the momma bird?