Our Animals

There’s no doubt that children and adults alike are drawn to all creatures great and small! Preschoolers at LVPPP have the opportunity to interact with a variety of animals. Some of our animal friends include:

Stick Bugs

They aren’t every adult’s favourite, but most children are absolutely enthralled by these intriguing green bugs who actually do resemble sticks! These guys live in our classroom year-round, and travel home with various families for holidays. They feed on blackberry bushes and enjoy a good water misting everyday.

Chicks

For the past several years we’ve been incubating chicken eggs in February, and hatching chicks! This is one of the highlights of the year for any animal lover. It’s a great test of patience for the children as they count down the days until they hatch, and prepare the class for their arrival. We usually host an informal open house for enrolled children and their siblings when the chicks are a few days old. When they start to outgrow their space, the chicks go to a wonderful farm on Vancouver Island to live out their lives.

Butterflies

Another lesson in delayed gratification! In the spring we take eggs, who hatch into caterpillars, then eventually build their chrysalis and hatch as gorgeous butterflies! These local butterflies are called Painted Ladies, and they entertain us during our final months of preschool in the spring by fluttering around the classroom and dining on fruit. Children are taught how to encourage the butterflies to climb onto an outstretched finger. When the weather gets warm enough we release them outside to carry on their life cycle.

Lambs

From the same farm as our chicks, we were overjoyed to have a visit from a young lamb this year. Olivia the lamb was one month old, and we held a special gathering one afternoon to welcome her to LVPPP. The children were excited to learn about what it takes to raise a lamb and how her fleece would one day be turned into yarn.

Ants, Fish, Snakes and Snails

Last but not least, we can’t ignore our resident aquarium fish, the ant farm, or the snails we find in our playground. We also have occasional visits from preschool pets (allergies permitting), Wildlife Rescue Association, and we’ve been known to host some slithery snakes at our annual Pumpkin Patch fundraiser.