Yorkshire's eggs-traordinary wildlife

Can you solve the clues to work out who has laid each egg?

Here's what you need to do:

For grown-ups:

- Print off the pictures of the eight eggs and hide them around your house our garden (make sure that those completing the challenge aren’t peeping!)

For little ones:

- Print off your handy animal fact files, get your magnifying glass out and start searching!

- When you find an egg, solve the clue to work out which animal has laid it… the fact files feature some egg-cellent information to help solve the mystery!

- Check your answers on our website and have fun by participating in the eggs-tra activities listed on the fact file!

Download the eggs and clues Download the fact files

Reveal the answers

Watch Sara's video to get started

Meet some of Yorkshire's creatures that start life as an egg

Accessible online version

If you don't have access to a printer or would prefer to complete the activity online, you can examine all the eggs and clues and then use the online fact file below to solve who laid which egg!

Online fact files

Below are eight species who have lost their eggs! There's a little bit of information about them all - can you find their eggs and match them to the animal who has lost them?

Once you've reunited all the eggs and their parents, there's some 'egg-tivities' for you to do next!

A smooth, whitish marine creature with red spots and big black eyes swims through seaweed near the seabad

Catshark

Egg fact

I lay my eggs in individual cases known as 'mermaids' purses'. Each egg case has long, curly tendrils so it can safely attach itself to seaweed.

Did you know?

They may be called 'catsharks' but their young are called 'pups'!

Helping me and my home:

If you find an empty egg case on the beach, you can take part in the Great Eggcase Hunt.

An orange worm-shaped fish with evenly spaced silver scales down it's body and a horizontal stripe on it's head

Pipefish

Egg fact

Just like seahorses, male pipefish carry and care for their eggs!

Did you know?

Pipefish are masters of disguise - their long thin bodies are often hard to spot in the shallow rockpools along Yorkshire’s coast. Why not have a game of hide and seek?

Helping me and my home:

Help our marine wildlife by reducing how much plastic you use and buy.

Snail-type creatures with white bodies and brown shells on the seabed

Common whelk

Egg fact

I lay up to 2000 eggs in a spongy mass on the seabed. Look out for empty egg cases on the beach.

Did you know?

I'm the largest sea snail in the UK. Adults are 5-10cm long. Can you find something the same length?

Helping me and my home:

Next time you're at the coast, see what you can spot in a rockpool - return everything to where you found it once you're finished.

A bird with a black back and white front, orange beat and orange feet (c) Amy Lewis

Puffin

Egg fact

I lay one single egg in a little burrow or hole in a cliff. Both mum and dad help keep the egg warm for around six weeks before it hatches.

Did you know?

Impress family and friends with the fact that baby puffins are called 'pufflings'.

Helping me and my home:

Do a litter pick wherever you live to help stop rubbish getting into our seas.

Yellow-green snake coiled with tongue out looking to the left of the screen (Danny Green/2020VISION)

Grass snake

Egg fact

I love compost heaps and lay 10 to 40 eggs in rotting plants, incubating them until they hatch in early autumn.

Did you know?

I'm the UK's longest snake species (up to 150cm in length) but I'm harmless to humans! Can you slither along the ground and show off your best 'hiss'?