A House for Hermit Crab

We have 3 class pets - hermit crabs. It's always interesting to see how children interact with them - some are hesitant about touching them while others pick them up and carry them around. This week our focus is on the Eric Carle book, A House for Hermit Crab. I should mention that during circle time I had the 3 crabs in a container at the circle. I just let the crabs roam free (even walking close to my shoes) while we were singing, counting and reading; a great way for the children to observe the crabs and watch to see where they were traveling to...... a bit distracting, yes, but why not?!
                                                             

There are a lot of fun facts about hermit crabs that we will be learning about this week --- Did you know that hermit crabs have 12 legs? (You only see 6 of them) Also, hermit crabs put sea anemones on their shell to help disguise themselves, so they are better protected from prey. 

Today we built "homes" for the hermit crabs, even though we know they carry them on their backs! It was neat to see how the children designed these homes and made sure the hermit crabs were enclosed and couldn't escape!

It takes team work to put a house together.

The crab waiting patiently for its home to be complete. 

First time holding the hermit crab!

The house is done - the crab is inside, can you see it?

Clever idea - to put the smaller homes inside another larger home. 

Can you see them hermit crab inside the smaller home?
You might need to look through the magnifying glass to see it!