Birds

During our week study of birds we did some really exciting activities:

We made paper mache bird's eggs. We did this as a class activity making one egg, but you could even have every child make their own egg and then paint it. Please be aware that this is a time consuming task (having an egg for everyone) and that it will take over night to dry.

If you haven't paper mached before it is really easy. You use a blown up balloon, any size or shape is fine. Cut up newspaper into about two inch by 5-7 inch pieces. The mix I used is just glue and water. You want a liquid consistency. Dip the newspaper pieces into mix, using fingers to remove excess mix, then put paper onto the balloon, smoothing it flat as you go. Cover entire balloon, except where you tied the balloon at, and then let dry. Drying usually works best by hanging, or sitting in a cup, or being placed on wax paper. After balloon has dried thoroughly, you can pop the balloon and then if you want paper mache over the hole.

We also made binoculars. Using empty toilet paper rolls, we allowed the children to paint two of them. After they were painted we glued them together and let them dry over night. Then using a hole punch we put two holes on the outside of one end of the rolls and attached yarn long enough to hang on the child's chest. At the end of the week we went "bird watching" using our binoculars to see with. I also let the children use them during center time and when we went to the playground, they aren't that sturdy and we repaired many of them throughout the week, but the joy of the children's play was well worth it!

Some things you might want to discuss:

Birds that fly and those that don't.

Wings, feathers, beaks, nests, eating habits, color of their eggs...

Books to use:

Baby Bird by Joyce Dunbar

Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert

Bird Song by Audrey Wood