2-3: The Discovery Hub

This week has been the Big Garden Birdwatch and we have been observing the birds in our garden. Across the week, we have been exploring activities linked to caring for and observing birds.

The children have explored observing the birds as we moved around the various outdoor environments. The children looked at the trees and sky to search for birds. As we walked around the garden, the children could hear the birds yet struggled to see them. The children suggested “birds hiding” and “come back later”. We have been looking at photos of birds and explored labelling the features such as eyes, beak, wings, feathers and legs. The children noticed some of the birds, making connections to own experiences “in my garden” and “the big pigeon”.

In the playdough area, the children have been using their skills from last week to roll the dough into a ball to create a body for the bird. The children explored adding feathers into the playdough as wings. They used language such as “feathers”, “wings” and “flying” during their play.

On Wednesday, we talked about what the birds need and the children suggested “food”. We discussed if the birds like to eat the same food as we do. As we talked about the bird’s food, we discussed what we would put it on and “a plate” or “the floor” were the suggestions. The children were very keen to see what was in the bag and explored having a look at the bird feeder, testing lifting up the lid and moving the handle. We talked about what we could put in it – “sandwiches”, “burgers” or “chips”. We then looked at the bird food in the bag and looked closely at the seeds in the balls of bird food. Together, we counted how many balls to put in. The children all took a turn to make sure the lid was on before walking around the garden to select a tree to hang the feeders on. After placing them on the tree, we poured some water onto a plate for the birds to have a drink. It was lovely for the children to see a robin eating from the bird feeder, as we looked out of the window and while walking back from the decking. The children were so excited that there was a bird eating the food they had put out.

We explored creating telescopes in the sticking area to help our search for the birds in the garden. The children experimented using pva glue and glue sticks to stick their decorations onto their paper. We used the telescopes in the Nursery to search for birds in the trees.

In the water tray, we explored cleaning the penguins as they had been covered in paint. The children used water and cloths to clean the penguins which they enjoyed. They showed sustained focus for a period of time. Once the penguins were clean the children asked to paint them again to repeat washing them.

Parents as Partners

Over the weekend, while out and about or in the house, you may wish to discuss the birds you can see. We have been discussing with the children the features of the birds such as wings, feathers, beaks, eyes and the colour of their appearance. You may wish to explore making your own telescope to use to search for the birds at home. We would love to see and hear if you saw any birds over the weekend!

Our book this week has been A busy day for birds –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Rjqntotz0. While exploring the book, we have been creating the sounds for the different birds and acting out the actions in the book such as trying to stand on one leg and flapping our wings.

Our Song of the week has been 3 little ducks. The children have enjoyed taking turns wearing the masks to have a go being the duck. Some of the children are beginning to use their fingers to try and represent numbers using their fingers.

The Nursery Team