As it starts to warm up in the spring, lots of new creatures arrive on the scene, including baby birds and birds that migrated south for the winter and are returning with the spring. There are lots of fun ways to learn about birds, so let’s get going!
First you might want to talk about the life cycle of a bird. This craft from I Heart Crafty Things is specifically about chickens, but of course you could color your bird in different ways to have it represent a different bird if you want. (The book From Egg to Chicken is another great way to teach the life cycle of birds to younger kids.)
Observe birds outside more easily by making them bird feeders. You can make them out of egg cartons, like this one from Crafts on Sea, or out of fruit rinds, like this one from Thimble & Twig.
Make a cute bird’s nest craft using a paper plate and dot markers with this tutorial from 3 Dinosaurs. Or have kids go on a scavenger hunt in the yard or on the playground so they can make their own nests. All the details are at The Crazy Outdoor Mama.
Embark on the Journey has a lovely backyard birds unit study with printables you can download when you enter your email address. It has three-part cards, a word scramble, journal pages for recording observations and more.
If you want to add some STEM to your bird learning activities, you can learn about how to build a nest and give it a try with this STEM challenge from Views from a Stepstool. This gives you a chance to talk about the things birds use to make their nests and how they actually do it to keep their eggs safe.
Or you can learn about how different kinds of bird beaks work for the kinds of jobs they need to do, with this experiment from Left Brain Craft Brain. It will get kids thinking about what different birds eat and how the shape of their beaks makes it easier to access that food. Kids will have lots of fun with this one as they find the best tools to use on different “foods.”
