Birds ‘N Butterflies

This program is presented as a series and involves four one-hour sessions once a month from May through August. This series could be extended for more than four months or it could be held once a week, there is a lot of flexibility. Each session has a specific theme, “Track Tricksters,” “Birds N’ Butterflies,” “Life on the Prairie,” and “Wet N’ Wild Wetlands.” These themes are for the spring/summer months and can easily be changed based on the season. For this series, parents must attend with their child.

Materials

• Toilet paper rolls (without toilet paper on them), stickers, markers, crayons, stapler – to make ‘magic binoculars’
• Pictures of birds that live in your area, pictures of butterflies, stuffed birds, and display of butterflies – old calendars often have great pictures.

Set Up

Prior to this session, you will need to collect cardboard toilet paper roles to make binoculars with. To get the binoculars ready staple two rolls together.

Procedure

First, talk to children about birds using posters, stuffed birds, and pictures. Talk briefly about the adaptations that birds have, different beaks for eating seeds, bugs, etc.; different colors for where they live; different nests, show pictures of nests and the birds that make these nests.

Activity 1: Make Magic Binoculars (indoors)

Then explain that we are going to make our own binoculars to view birds. Hand out the cardboard binoculars and let the kids decorate them with markers, crayons, stickers, etc.