Birds

Some of our most favorite learning experiences are those that are spontaneous.  The turtle in our tub and raising tadpoles to frogs both bring back such great memories...and they happened without any planning on my part (in the beginning anyway).  Recently, we found a bird's nest in a potted plant on our front porch.  We loved looking at those tiny babies so we traded in our frog books for books about birds.  And "birds" became the theme around our home.

We filled our book basket with these titles:

Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman (reader)

A Nest Full of Eggs by Priscilla Jenkins (reader)

Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert (reader)

Guess What's Growing Inside This Egg by Mia Posada (reader)

The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman (reader)

Birds by Kevin Henkes (reader)

About Birds by Cathryn Sill (reader)

An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston (reader/written in cursive)

Backyard Birds by Jonathan Latimer (resource book)

Eyewitness Explorers: Birds by Jill Bailey (resource book)

DK Eye Wonder: Birds by Samantha Gray (resource book)

Thunder Birds by Jim Arnosky (resource book/beautiful illustrations)

Birds, Nests, and Eggs by Mel Boring (resource book)

Draw 50 Birds by Lee Ames (art resource)

During "book basket" time, Old Crow would enjoy reading through these titles.  Crazy Horse and Memphis Belle also loved some of the fun readers.

Along with the book basket, here are some activities we did to enjoy our time learning about birds.

1.  Observe the bird's nest daily...but never touch.  The no touching part was also a daily lesson. ;)

From our window we could see the mama bird bring food to the nest.

We pulled out our Bird Handbook and learned that our birds were House Wrens. 

2.  Take a nature walk and look for other nests.  Before we left our yard, we had already found three.

3.  Read aloud Mr. Popper's Penguins.  Once we completed the book, we also enjoyed the movie.

4.  Once the baby birds left our nest, we removed the nest and investigated.

We carefully looked through the nest to see what materials the birds used.  

We found pinestraw, twigs, leaves, grass, and hair. 

5.  We gathered our own natural materials and created a nest craft.  Memphis Belle enjoyed being the Mama Bird.  During our readings, we learned that the male House Wren builds several nests and lets his mate choose the one to use.  So Old Crow didn't mind this project...he enjoyed being the Daddy Bird. :) 

6.  We created bird feeders using an empty toilet paper roll, peanut butter, and bird seed.

Super simple and lots of fun!

7.  Old Crow used the book Draw 50 Birds to learn how to draw a bird.  The book gives step-by-step instructions.  He chose a falcon.  

8.   To complete our study on birds, we plan to visit our local bird sanctuary.

I'll end with this wonderful email we received from a friend who knew we were studying birds.  

Only a creation by God could have the knowledge and wisdom to complete such a perfect home.

Jenny

"I know every bird in the mountains,

and the creatures of the field are mine."

Psalm 50:11

Penguins!

We have been a penguin-crazy family for a while now.

Back in 2010:  Old Crow dressed as a penguin for Halloween and Crazy Horse was an eagle.

That same year we visited the penguin exhibit at the zoo and they HAD to have a penguin "pet."  They still sleep with these penguins.

In 2011, we visited the GA Aquarium and viewed the penguins from an underwater tunnel.  We were all fascinated.

So I wasn't surprised when we recently began to talk about penguins a lot.

After watching the movie, Happy Feet, the kids became fascinated by penguins all over again. 

It is amazing how much factual information they can learn from a fictional cartoon.  They began talking about where penguins live, how they "sing," how the daddy takes care of the egg, and lots more.  It's all they could talk about.  So I began to gather books and activities to help them learn even more.

These are the books (both fiction and non-fiction) that I checked out from the library and added to our book basket:

The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins

The Little Penguin  by A.J. Wood

Penguins by Penelope Arlon

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

Tacky and the Emperor by Helen Lester

National Geographic Kids: Penguins! by Anne Schreiber

Little Penguin: The Emperor of the Antarctica by Jonathan London 

I found these great Montessori style penguin cards and printed out the 17 different species of penguins.  We could match the picture with the information about each type of penguin.      

Old Crow picked 4 penguins from the list.   He measured their height and marked them on the wall.  Then they each took turns to see which penguin was their same size.  They thought this was too funny!

Old Crow also did a mapping activity.  He colored the places on the map where penguins can be found.  He learned from our books (and it was reinforced with this activity) that penguins only live south of the Equator. Penguins do not live in the Arctic.

We also pulled out a past issue of Big Backyard and read about the Little Blue Penguin.  He's the smallest of all penguins.  I can't say enough good things about this magazine.  Sidenote:  Big Backyard has now been renamed Ranger Rick Jr.

Old Crow also practiced carrying the egg around on his feet.  He realized this was hard work!  He had to be extra careful not to let it touch the "ice."  :)

For an extra activity, we put together this globe puzzle.  Old Crow loved that penguins were pictured on Antarctica.

There are so many other fun activities.  Check out my Polar Animals Pinterest Board.  

That's all the time we had for penguins.  The boys now want a penguin as a pet.  I keep trying to tell them that it isn't such a good idea. ;)

We did, however, get a new pet.  Tadpoles!  Stay tuned to read about our journey with tadpoles.  They have now sprouted their back and front legs.  Amazing!  

Jenny

Heading Down Under: Christmas in Australia

Today our travels took us down under as we entered the fascinating world of Australia.  From beginning to end, our day was filled with appointments, urgent phone calls, performances, dress rehearsals, etc.  So we just had to make the most of our day and use what time we had.  We weren't able to get to everything I had planned, but those will be great activities for next year. ;)

  Using the globe, Old Crow and I reviewed the 7 continents and we noted that Australia wasn't just a country but a continent as well.  I stamped his passport and we began our day by reading Wombat Divine  by Mem Fox...Wombat and other Australian animals audition for parts in the Nativity play.  It's a sweet Christmas story that centers around the wombat.  

After reading this story, we had such a fun time learning all about the wombat.  We used the internet to look at pictures and youtube videos of this cuddly looking creature.  Then Old Crow remembered that one of his Big Backyard Magazines had an article about little blue penguins...an animal also indigenous to Australia.  So he went off to fetch that magazine so we could read about them also.  Well when we opened the front cover, there was the wombat.  Funny how those things work out. ;)

So after getting a good laugh at this, we read about the little blue penguin and also watched videos of them.  And now Old Crow wants one as a pet. :)

Well back to Christmas in Australia...

*It is summer in Australia and very hot.  So people often spend Christmas

at the beach or swimming pools.

*Common Christmas foods are turkey, ham, and of course pudding.

*Carols by Candlelight began in 1937 and occurs every Christmas Eve.  Last night we were able to take part in our church's own Carols by Candlelight.

It was such a blessing to hear the Christmas story in song!

*One popular Australian Christmas song is Six White Boomers...it's the idea that when Santa reaches Australia he changes into cooler clothes, gives his reindeer a rest, and uses kangaroos instead.

We watched the video of Six White Boomers.  

Then I found a kangaroo puppet activity to go along with this song.  He took it a step further and created much more.  He amazes me!

We ended our day with the completion of his Australia notebooking page.  

Here are a couple of other ideas I wish we would have had time for (hopefully we can hit these next year.)

1.  Christmas Crackers (also known as Bon Bons) are a Christmas tradition.  They are pulled in the manor of wishbones and when pulled opened there is a popping noise and little treats.  You can buy them already made from places like Amazon or kids can create their own.  Here are directions.

2.  Bake Lamingtons...a popular Christmas dessert in Australia.

Here is Martha Stewarts's recipe.

3.  Get my hands on the books An Aussie Day Before Christmas and

An Aussie Night Before Christmas.

Merry Christmas! 

...said with Australian accent   ;)

Jenny

P.S.  Next stop on the Christmas train is China.

Tuesday's Top 10: Let's Talk Turkey

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, turkey is on everyone's mind.  Old Crow even dressed up like one today...with tail feathers, beak, and all.  Here are our top ten turkey activities!

1.  Science...Learning about Turkeys

Old Crow is interested in all things turkey...from their wattle to what they eat.  So we will be researching turkeys by looking on the internet and by reading books.  Here are some graphic organizers to facilitate his research.

2.  Craft...Pinecone Turkeys

These adorable turkeys are not only fun to make, but they will be great table decorations for our Thanksgiving feast.

3.  Nature Study...Leaf Turkey

After taking a nature walk and collecting fall colored leaves, we'll use them to create this turkey art.

4.  Math...Thanksgiving Store

We'll use our money skills to shop for items for our Thanksgiving meal.  Creating a shopping list would also be a great writing activity.  If you don't have food pictures like the ones shown in the picture, magazine cutouts would work too.

These fact family turkeys also make a great turkey-themed math activity.

5.  Art...How to Draw a Turkey

These step-by-step directions can be found here.  We'll follow these directions to learn how to draw a turkey.

6.  Writing...Turkey's Plea to Farmer

  Old Crow loves reading Turkey Trouble and this free download on persuasive writing goes along perfectly.

We'll also complete these precious cards and send them out to family and friends.  They are a free download on Teachers Pay Teachers.

7.  Phonics...Gobble Gobble Sound and Blend Game

This free download from Teachers Pay Teachers is a sound and blend game.  Great way to practice phonics with a turkey theme!

8.  Vocabulary...Thanksgiving Bingo

Bingo is always a fun game, and it is perfect for holidays and themed celebrations.  Here is a free Thanksgiving Bingo download.  

9.  Craftivity:  Handprint Turkey with "I'm Thankful for..."

This idea came from the First Grade Parade.  Too cute!!  They could even be laminated and used as placemats.

10.  Read, Read, Read

Sprinkled in between all of these activities will be tons of great books!  There are so many great ones that it would be impossible to list them all.  Here are just a few turkey books.

        

      

Well, that's all the time I have for turkey talk.  If you would like more ideas, check out my Thanksgiving unit Pinterest board and my Tuesday's Top 10:  Learning about Pilgrims.

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!  

Jenny