Future Bird Watchers

So this year I wanted to add something to the school year besides the normal things the kids have to learn. In March we do an insect study and we do a different theme every month, but I wanted to do something that there was no time limit too.  If it took a month..good. Two months..great. The whole year...wonderful!

So, I started a bird study unit. The kids are always seeing different types of birds in the yard anyway, so we might as well learn something about them!

The kids are loving this study unit! They are really learning a lot. (and so is mommy)

The first day we did a simple activity of learning the parts of a bird. Simple yet fun! The kids also made a booklet of different types of birds. I made it from a file folder and glued pictures of birds onto the inside, but made it like flaps. The name and information about that type of bird would be glued under the picture of that bird. We made it a game where I would say the name of a bird and describe it. The kids had to point to the bird they thought I was talking about. Then I would show the correct answer and the kids had glue the info behind the correct bird. This made a great way for the kids to study and learn about the birds. The also got a bird's watching book where they had to put stickers of the birds by their name. When they see that bird, they need to fill in the blanks under it to tell when and where and what they were doing when they spotted that bird. We have seen a couple of hard to find birds and we learned that we have a wood pecker in our back yard! There is also an owl that is in a tree in the front yard. We haven't seen it yet, but we sure do hear it come bedtime!

Minnie (me)  working on her File Folder Book

Super Boy showing his book is all done!

We are lucky enough to be down the street from a nature park. Four days after our bird study started I found out they they were doing a bird watching nature tour. So, the kids and I were there for sure! The kids had so much fun and it was funny watching them trying to find birds in the trees and at times being side tracked with spider webs on branches. (yuck)  My youngest was also doing some snake hunting, which I am pleased to say that no snakes were seen!  

The kids were super excited about the bird tour!

On the look out!

Every day we do some type of review and I also add a game to our lessons. The kids love playing bird bingo! Instead of yelling out BINGO, they have to chirp like a bird! Makes for lots of laughs!  We have also made some bird feeders from gallon milk cartons and pine cones that we picked up after our bird tour. The birds are really loving our yard and the kids love watching their feathered friends stop in for a bite to eat!
We also did a fun art project by painting the bottom of their foot brown and then coloring some area red to make a robin. They came out great!

We're on month two so far and it doesn't look like we're ending this study unit any time soon!