Learning about birds is a great way to bring nature to your window and spark excitement for learning with your students! I am going to give you my 3 easy tips to learn about birds in kindergarten and beyond.
#1 Create A Bird Feeder Station
Let’s talk backyard birds or as I call them, bird feeder birds. Adding a bird feeding station to your outdoor space or outside your window is an instant way to bring nature in no matter where you live. I introduce bird feeder birds in the winter because when the snow is on the ground it is a great time to bring them in. I then continue it into the spring and summer. We have a bird feeding station outside our big front window all year. So if you aren’t ready to get outside in the extreme cold this is a great way to bring nature to your window and spark learning for your kids or students. I am going to give you three tips for success.
- Keep it Full- Don’t let it get empty for long.
- Bird Junk Food- Heavily processed bread products are junk food for birds. Check out the links below for my go-to feeds for my feeding stations
- Variety is best- Just like us, different birds like different food so a provide different types of feed and feeders so you can attract the most variety of birds. The bigger the variety the more exciting!
What To Type of Feeders To Use At Your Bird Feeder Station
✔Mesh Sock for the Goldfinches
✔Nectar Feeders for Hummingbirds. I LOVE the ones that attach to the window so the kids learning about birds get a great show!
✔Suet Feeders for Woodpeckers. These are easy to fill and lower maintenance. I like getting a big box so I never run out!
✔Platform Tray Feeder for Mealworm Dishes or shelled peanuts for Bluebirds
✔Jelly Feeders for Orioles. Look in your Bird Guide to see when Orioles visit your state.
✔Bird Feeder for the variety of bird seed that will attract a variety of birds. This is great for when you first being to learn about birds.
#2 Get Kids Involved When Learning About Birds
Kids love to be involved and help! When they are involved in the process of setting up the feeder they will have ownership and it will spark their curiosity and create excitement for learning. So give kids the job to fill the feeder every week. Yes, some feed might fall to the ground, but the trade off is worth it.
There are so many Kids’ activities to have them make their own feeders. A quick search on google will give you a ton.
My go-to is fat to hold together the seed is coconut oil, the solid kind, and a mix of feed. For mass class production, I use paper cups or cookie cutters. I like coconut oil because I use it for everything anyway, it doesn’t smell like peanut butter. I had a traumatic experience when my daughter painting our playroom with a jar of peanut butter when she was two and I was busy with her baby brother. But if peanut butter is your thing it is great for attracting birds.
#3 Bird Guides Are Key For Learning About Birds
Bird Guides are game-changers for sparking and extending learning. I am always a huge advocate for teaching kids the names of animals it heightens their awareness and love for creating not to mention vocabulary. I love having a kid-friendly guide that they can have ownership over and A Peterson Guide for the adult. This is important because if you are like me I don’t know all the names, and looking it up together has so many lessons wrapped in this one activity. Things to look for when looking for a kid version, I like it to have easy labels, arrows pointing to important identifying markings to look for on each bird, and easy for them to handle. If you can’t find one you like, head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store, Teaching Comes Alive Outside, and check out mine.
If you are like me, you will get just as excited as your kids or students. When we teach kids to slow down and notice the different species of birds, the colors, and movements they are learning so much. On our recent trip to the mountains and then to Florida my kids extended their learning to birds we don’t normally see in Indiana. So creating this habit will provide so much learning today and every day after.
So how it looks in my class. We have two types of bird guides we use. We have our bird feeder birds and our nature walk birds. That is the easiest way I found to make it manageable for learning about birds with preschoolers and kindergarteners. We have an adventure hunt, which is like a scavenger hunt and we have adventure cards that they add to their backpacks so it is always ready and waiting when they observe a bird. Every time they ID a certain bird they get a bead to add to their ring. This provides a hook to keep them zooming in and noticing birds around them. Start off simple. Don’t overcomplicate it, but just give it a try. I’d love to hear your ideas or takeaways so connect with me on Facebook or Instagram!
If you want to learn more ways to get your class outside to learn, check out my FREE Outdoor Learning Blueprint Video Series!
Stay Safe & Go Get Outside,
Elizabeth
P.S. If you want to listen to me chat about learning about birds with kids check out this podcast episode.
