q is for quail (year 3, week 24)

Birds is probably one of the most popular learning topics for springtime.  Outside our window, we can hear them calling to us after the long, silent winter, and it makes us want to learn more about them.  Plus, there are many different types of birds to study, so each year can be focused on a different species.  We did hummingbirds one year, and this year the kids wanted to learn about robins and eagles.








This is our classroom (kitchen) wall this week.  It's an assortment of bird and life cycle pictures.  I love how they prompt the kids' conversations.

Monday
Today was an exciting day of introduction to our bird week.  We saw robins in the yard and looked online to find out if they were male or female.  At one point today, we had a woodpecker banging on our house near the window.  And, after dinner, we saw two rainbows.  It's springtime!

During nap time, Dragonfly played with a backyard bird sensory bin.  The substrate was dry 15 bean soup, which Dragonfly declared felt SO good between her fingers.  Then, I added two nests from the craft store, a fake chicken egg, a little cosmetic jar with hummingbird egg-sized beans in it, and the toob of birds.  Dragonfly was disappointed that I didn't have more eggs in the bin, but soon started assigning different beans to each bird species.  She was so excited to get to play with the robin and the woodpecker after getting to see them for real today.  She is now determined to catch a bird.

Rest of the Week
It's springtime, so we talked about birds as we saw them and played outside a lot.

Dragonfly (age 5) has made a jump in maturity lately.  She went from never wanting to comb her hair to brushing it everyday and insisting that I braid it for her.  She has gotten very particular about her appearance and wants to only wear what she wants to wear (sad day for Mommy).  All her outfits must be matching down to the accessories.  On the day of this picture, she was wearing a long sleeve pink shirt, a long pink skirt, skinny jeans, silver sparkle shoes, pink hair bands, and a pink headband with silver sparkles.  She's my little lady.


Tadpole (age 3) hates having his picture taken and hates getting dressed.  Perhaps I'll get him cornered long enough to add his picture to this post.





Skimmer (age 4) is obsessed with monster trucks and Star Wars right now.  He's been driving his truck through the mud all day long.  It's a constant struggle to keep the mud outside.

He walks into a room humming the Darth Vader theme.  He's dreaming of a light saber (in the meantime, I've gotten him to brush his teeth with this brush).  He's been asking for a Star Wars bedroom.  He surprises me daily with his learning and explorations.













Blog Posts About Birds
- Hummingbird Unit
- N is for Nests
- backyard birds 3-part cards

Printables
- predator and prey matching
- birds and their nests matching
- parts of a bird labeling activity
- parts of a bird mini book
- birds and their eggs matching
- bird hatching sequence
- male and female birds matching
- 50 birds around the world
- bird puzzle and labels
- preschool pack
- kindergarten pack

Ideas
- Safari bird toob
- bread grating for bird food
- candy bird nests
- bird songs book
- drink like a hummingbird
- super simple bird food sensory bin
- bird flashcards
- egg counting into nests
- comparing birds and reptiles
- measuring bird seed
- cheerio bird feeder
- eating worms with a clothespin beak
- making/painting bird houses
- giant nest
- robin sensory bin