School getting out may not always be a good thing. Children need stimulation, and during the summer months, many young children turn to the TV and video games for stimulation, which is not only detrimental physically but also offers very little educational stimulation. Even those shows that advertise themselves as "educational" may do very little to stimulate the mind.

This becomes a problem that many parents face during the summer months. What can you do for your child to keep them entertained, and also educationally stimulated? A great way to keep a young child’s mind stimulated is by coming up with a great summer project, such as having them raise their very own chickens.

There are many tools around that help make hatching eggs easy. Many online websites sell incubators at low cost. An incubator is a machine that keeps temperatures at a perfect balance for hatching eggs. These same sites also sell fertilized eggs, making the work for you 50% less. Once these eggs are set up in their incubator, it typically takes 19 to 21 days for the average egg to hatch. Parents can take this time to teach their children how to properly care for their soon to be flock.

A second way to stimulate a child’s mind is by choosing different eggs. By choosing different eggs to hatch, this gives parents the opportunity to teach their children the differences between the birds that may hatch from these eggs. Different eggs also have different patterns, colors, or designs on their shells. Games can be created from these eggs, and children will love the chance to spot the differences. Many sites not only offer chicken eggs, but may also offer duck or quail eggs. Websites may also offer these chicken, duck, or quail eggs on sale if you purchase something from their site. By browsing the web for deals, you can find specials as good as purchasing an incubator and get a dozen free eggs with purchase.

Once these eggs hatch, children will be given the opportunity to not only learn responsibility from raising their own flock, they will also be given the opportunity to learn about different behaviors of these birds. By monitoring their new flock, they will be able to learn what kind of foods they like, how they behave towards their fellow flock mates, and even how they may hunt for their own food! These children will have constant stimulation, new educational information to pass on to others, and they are sure to love taking care of their very own flock of chickens, ducks or quails! Plus, children will love the opportunity to think up names for the members of their flock.

When school gets back in session, the children that watched TV for the entire summer will enter back in knowing only what was told over the TV, having no experiences outside of video games. But the children that raised their own chickens, quails, or ducks, will enter back into school with new experiences and information that they can pass onto their friends, and even teachers!