Our Feathered Friends 2018

Our Feathered Friends

Sign up here.
Who: Dr. Carla Gull from Inside Outside Michiana with six years of experience with nature preschool playgroups will facilitate the study group. The group is open to 3 to 6-year-olds with a caregiver.  A minimum of 8 children must sign up, with a maximum of 15 children in the target age range.

What: A STEM unit on Birding for Preschoolers from Mass Audubon. Birding topics will be explored through nature exploration, playtime, story time, and art projects.

Where: mostly at Carla’s house just north of Goshen off of 15—address will be given to confirmed participants

When: Fridays (see below), 9:30-11:30 am, please arrive on time and make a commitment to all sessions

Why: Early childhood is the perfect time to connect to the wonders of nature!

Cost: Free—a nice donation for supplies and other nature education supplies is welcome and appreciated.

Dates:

August 17-What do you know about birds?

August 24—What are feathers? How do they help birds?

August 31—How are beaks useful to birds? Why are they different?

September 7—What sounds do birds make? Are they all the same?

September 14—What are nests? How are they made? How do they help birds?

September 21—How do birds survive?

September 28—NO MEETING

October 5—What is migration? Why do birds migrate? Do all birds migrate?

October 12—Birding celebration!

Please wear weather appropriate clothing and shoes as we will be outside.  If cancellations/rescheduling are needed due to inclement weather, watch for a message by 8:30 am on the day in question.

Sign up here. 

Hedbanz and Birding

What a fun evening! My youngest wanted to play Hedbanz and my 11 yo had a stack of cards from an Indiana Young Birders Club quiz at the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival nearby. The Shopkins Hedbanz version is even cheaper right now. We thought, why not combine them. At first, we were going to use laminated bird pictures I have (which could be done), but the uniform size of these Discover Birds of America playing cards worked really well. The Sibley Flash Cards or Professor Noggin cards would also work. Bird Bingo would also give some selection as well. We played "sevens," naming the birds as we put our cards down after. We know the scientific name of an anhinga is anhinga anhinga as a result of kids interacting, too!

We play twenty questions a fair amount so are used to asking yes/no questions, often starting with more general questions and moving to more specific questions. It seems like we started asking these types of categories:

• Type of bird--backyard, feeder, aquatic, bird of prey, woodpecker, warbler, etc.
• Habitat--where would we find the bird
• Size--sparrow sized, robing sized, duck size, Canada goose size or larger
• Color--red, black, yellow, etc.
• Food preferences--fish, berries, bird seed
• Behaviors--perch in tree, in the water, wading, etc. 
• Type of feet or beak

I almost felt like we were going through the questions in the Merlin Bird ID app. :-)

Honestly, this could work with any nature topic--trees, leaves, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, animals in general, etc. We had a lot of fun and am sure we will play it again soon! How might you use Hedbanz to learn more about nature? What games do you enjoy about nature?

We like nature and games! Here is a link to other nature related games we've enjoyed. Find a podcast about beginning birding and other resources here. 

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PODCAST: Beginning Birding in Early Childhood

Beginning Birding in Early Childhood

PODCAST LINK! 

Beginning Bird Books and Activities--lots of great resources, such as the Audubon birds and books I mention

Make your own bird guide

Growing Up Wild--curriculum for early childhood with some birding units

Flying Wild--birding curriculum for K-12, but can be adapted to preschool

I didn't talk about this beyond dress up/dramatic play in the podcast, but these wings (aff link) have been well loved. There are several different kinds, including butterflies. There is a lot of pretending to be birds with these. 

Check your local parks and Audubon Society to learn more

Birding in Indiana and What's this Bird? Facebook groups

Merlin Bird ID App

Stanley Clark and birding project

Our Feathered Friends Preschool Birding Curriculum

Migratory Bird Treaty Act for the US—easy explanation

Cannot keep birds nests, feathers, parts of birds in the US 

Want to take better birding pictures? My 8 yo son has been taking great pictures with this Nikon CoolPix P900! (off link) Photos by Carbon Gull--he is the 4 year old who got the Identiflyer and Birds of Indiana for his birthday! His list for our birding challenge is getting longer and he asks to go out many times a week! 

ARTICLES:

Teaching and learning about birds in the early years – A few ideas to for getting started; Ann Smith 2009 Teaching Science

For the Birds

Jan. 2008, YC Young Children

Russo, Calurciello, and Kelly

QUOTE:

Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird? –David Attenborough

Book PICKS:

April Pulley Sayre

Vulture View

My review: https://insideoutsidemichiana.blogspot.com/2012/11/vulture-view.html?m=0

Find it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2Fy0r28 (aff link)

Woodpecker Wham

My review: http://insideoutsidemichiana.blogspot.com/2015/05/woodpecker-wham-book-review.html

Find it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2GkMwtu (aff link)