Theme: birds
We had a small, but mighty, group this morning! Our theme was birds today. Ms. Paige read the story, Owl Babies by Martin Waddell. It’s about three baby owls whose mother disappears. The biggest owl is wise and determines that she will come back–perhaps she left to get them food. The littlest owl, the funniest, just yells, “I want my mommy!” on nearly every page. We were cracking up. You can listen to and watch the animated version of the story with your naturalist(s) by clicking on the video link below.
We also listened to the book About Birds: A Guide for Children by Cathryn Sill. It taught us all about characteristics of birds, including what they look like and where and how they live. It showed a neat picture of different types of bird beaks and sources of food, which led right into our activity outside at the pavilion.
Ms. Paige and Ms. Rachel set out a few containers of pretend bird food, including playdough “meat” on a bone, plastic fish, purple “nectar,” popcorn “bugs,” leaves, and rubber worms. Then, they showed us pictures of birds for us to match to the various food items. Our choices were shorebirds, hummingbirds, hawks, herons, ducks, and woodpeckers. Next, we used utensils that represented each of their beaks to collect the food. We each used scissors, pipettes, chopsticks, tweezers, a strainer, and tongs. Without looking at the photos, can you try to guess which bird, beak (tool), and food go together?
After being birds for a while, we went on a bird-watching hike around the Nature Center. We saw and heard lots of chickadees singing, “Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!” Because it is going to snow quite a bit today, these birds are out and about eating so they can hide during the storm. After watching the birds for a while, we spent some time sledding down the Nature Playscape tunnel! We took turns, shared our sleds, and had a blast. We ended the day coloring on the rug and looking at the different birds inside–owls, hawks, eagles, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, ducks, and loons. We are so lucky to have so many different kinds of birds in Northern Michigan!
